RECOM Blog

A person received a text from her bank asking whether she had made an online purchase of a $1,200 laptop. The charge was put on hold, awaiting her response. The message appeared legitimate because it came from a number that had previously sent valid fraud alerts. Person replied, “No.” The bank texted back that because the purchase was unauthorized, the card was frozen and person was instructed to call its fraud department.

If you haven’t done this already, sign up to receive text messages, emails and even phone calls from your financial institution so they can reach you in various ways about suspicious activity for every one of my bank accounts, credit cards and investment accounts.

So, when you get that text, email or phone call, double-check it’s truly your financial institution trying to reach you. Look up the phone number on the back of your debit or credit card or statement to call your bank. DON’T rely on an online search, you have to be careful you don’t land on a fake site.  While waiting to speak with a bank representative check your email for additional notifications about the compromised card.

Rather than hacking your phone or spoofing your bank’s number, fraudsters use automated bots to submit your email address to hundreds of online sign-up forms simultaneously. The scammer’s objective is to flood your email inbox so you overlook real-time alerts from your bank. This buys the thief or criminal syndicate time to complete unauthorized transactions, hide account change notices or access other compromised accounts.

Here is how to protect yourself if this happens to you:

·         Treat a flood of messages as a warning sign. If you get swamped with an unusually large amount of email, assume a financial account or credit card has just been breached and respond to any real-time alerts right away.

·         Resist the urge to respond to the messages. Except for contacting your financial institution, don’t do anything else. Cybercriminals often link email bombing with bogus help desk impersonation scams. They want to trick you into granting them remote access to your computer so they can steal data or charge you fraudulent fees, or both. Don’t click on anything”. If you’re not sure what to do, you can get free help by contacting the Identity Theft Resource Center at 888-400-5530 or visit idtheftcenter.org.

·         An offer of help is part of the con. If someone calls or sends a pop-up offering to clean up your inbox, ignore it. It is not Microsoft, Apple or Google calling. It’s most certainly the scammer reaching out.

·         Check your accounts immediately. Log into your banking and credit card apps to check for pending charges you haven’t authorized.

·         Do a search before you purge. Look for terms such as “password,” “order confirmation,” or the names of your financial institutions to preserve key alerts.

·         Then, do a deep dive into your email. Look for authentic alerts hidden in the noise. After making sure that no financial notifications were buried in the pile, the reader said, “I did bulk deletions for most of the items.”

Under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act, you can avoid being held responsible for unauthorized charges, provided you notify your card issuer within 60 days from the date it sends out your credit card statement.

Although email bombing isn’t a new scam strategy, its frequency has exploded in the past couple of years. Cybersecurity firm eSentire reported that email-bombing and impersonation attacks surged 1,450 percent in 2025 compared to the year before, with fraudsters using the inbox flood to distract their targets.

There are several reasons why you may receive an email notifying you that your password is about to expire. These include:

• You haven't changed it in the last 365 days
• We've asked all admin users to change their passwords for security reasons

To better protect your account, WildApricot passwords expire after 365 days. In the event WildApricot requires you to change or update your password prior to the expiration date, you will be notified by email and a pop-up notification from your WildApricot admin backend.

Password requirements

• 12 characters or more
• both upper and lower case letters
• at least one number
• at least one of the following special characters: #?!@$%^&*- 
• no spaces

Note: WildApricot passwords are case-sensitive.

Beat the phone tree. When the robot answers, say, “I need to cancel my service” or “I’m returning a call.” Straight to a human. Asked for your account number? Hit #. Stuck in a loop? Babble some nonsense three times, and most systems transfer you.

The secret button on the back of your iPhone.... Double-tap the back of your iPhone, and the flashlight comes on. Triple-tap for a screenshot. You choose. Settings, search Back Tap, assign double and triple. Works through most cases.

Make your passwords impenetrable. Pick four random words, like coffee-tractor-maple-September, that would take centuries to crack. Of course you will need to memorize it or write it down.....

Can I trust a text claiming to be from the IRS? The agency is changing its mind about SMS alerts. Here's what it will and won't send to your phone

Story by Chris Morris  Aug 21 2026

There’s a prominent page on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website that says, in part, “Taxpayers need to remember that the IRS will not contact them by text message. (1)“

Under new digital rules, though, the tax agency may, in fact, reach out to people via their phones, but not for anything to do directly with their taxes.

How do I know if the IRS is texting me?

It’s important, before anything else, to point out that the IRS will only text you if you opt in for messages. If you haven’t and get a text purporting to be from the agency, it’s almost certainly a scam.

If you have opted in, pay attention to the short code that sends the text. That’s the number that will appear on your phone as the sender. Short codes aren’t phone numbers; they’re 5- or 6-digit numbers designed for high-volume, automated messaging. You’ve likely seen them if a site has texted you a code for two-factor authentication.

The IRS uses two short codes: 91040 and 34381. The short code you will see depends on the type of text sent (3).

Why would the IRS be texting me?

The IRS will only text taxpayers for three reasons:

1. News bulletins — These alert you to new regulations and criminal investigations into tax cases. It’s a text version of the agency’s press releases.
2. Upcoming appointments — If you have an in-person appointment with a representative at the IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center, you can elect to receive confirmations and reminders. These will let you know when it’s your time to be seen or confirm you have checked in, but they will never send a clickable link.
3. Callbacks — Rather than waiting on hold to speak to an IRS agent, which can chew up more than 5 hours at peak times, the IRS will let you get in the queue for a digital callback service (4). The IRS will send you a text right before it calls you back. These alerts come only from the short code 34381.

What red flags should I look for?

If the text is written in a high-pressure tone, mentioning penalties or requesting immediate contact, it’s likely a scam.

Any links that come in a text from the IRS should also send up a red flag. Clicking those will likely send you to a Website that is used to steal your personal information (1) or plant malware.

Additionally, be on the lookout for a phone number to call. The IRS doesn’t send those out.

“The IRS urges taxpayers not to click links or open attachments from unexpected messages and to report suspicious IRS-related emails, DMs and texts,” the agency wrote in its 2026 Dirty Dozen report (5). “The IRS reported over 600 social media impersonators during fiscal year 2025.”

3-second tech genius: Want a Facebook photo without all the buttons and junk around it? Skip the screenshot. 

In the Facebook mobile app, tap the photo to open it, hit the three dots, then choose Save to phone.

It drops straight into your gallery, full quality. No cropping required.

Story by Kazim Alvi

USB drives remain a popular storage option, and it's largely because they are cost-effective and compact. There's also a major downside: USB flash drives typically last less than HDDs and SSDs. So naturally, the moment something feels off, many users simply copy the data, delete it from the USB drive, and throw the drive away. However, this is a risky approach, since it's possible to recover deleted files from a flash drive, or any other drive for that matter.

That's because when you delete the data, it's not actually wiped from the drive, but simply no longer referenced. The system basically marks that part of the drive as available for new data, but unless new files are written to it, the data is not completely wiped. While you, or the operating system can't see it, the data is still there, and a third-party tool can recover it. 

This means you should take additional measures before tossing a flash drive, even after you have deleted the files or performed a quick format. There are a few options, ranging from full format and data overwriting, to physically destroying the USB drive, with the latter being the most effective. In the end, it comes down to your plans with the old USB drive, whether you are giving it to someone or getting rid of it for good.

Wiping and overwriting can protect your data

Formatting the drive is an easy way to delete its contents, but the type of format you choose is just as important. On Windows PCs, a quick format isn't the right choice when you are discarding the USB drive, because it only deletes the index. Instead, what you actually need is a full format. It takes a lot longer because the full format goes a few steps further, checking the drive for bad sectors and writing zeroes to the drive. There's still the possibility that some advanced data recovery software could retrieve the files, but it's extremely unlikely. To perform a full format in Windows, open File Explorer, right-click on the USB drive, select "Format," uncheck "Quick Format," click "Start," and confirm the change. On macOS, open Disk Utility, select your USB drive from the list, and click on "Erase." If you see "Security Options," click on it, drag the slider to the extreme right, and then proceed with the format. This essentially writes over the data multiple times, minimizing the chances of recovery. However, the option isn't available for all drives.

Another effective, and perhaps simpler option is to use a dedicated drive formatting program. They are available for both Windows and macOS, just keep in mind that you should select a software that explicitly supports flash drives. This is important, because flash drives and HDDs store data differently, and using software designed for HDDs may not necessarily work with flash drives.

Destroying the USB drive is the safest option

If there's sensitive data on the drive, whether presently or in the recent past, the safest option is to physically destroy it. Of course, the approach is only feasible if you are tossing the USB flash drive and not handing it over to someone else. But this is, by far, the only way to ensure that your data cannot be recovered.

Keep in mind that simply smashing the casing or USB connector won't do much good, because the data is stored on small memory chips embedded into the circuit board — you will need to remove the casing and specifically damage that small chip. While doing so, you must exercise caution as fragments can fly off, causing injuries. Also, if you have a drill, you could drill a hole in the memory chip. After you have destroyed the flash drive, make sure to safely dispose of it.

That said, it's important to understand when each measure may be viable. If the flash drive only had non-critical data, a full format may be enough for most users. But if the flash drive stored critical or personal files for years, physical destruction makes the most sense.

If you or a loved one ever falls victim to an impostor scam, here are the immediate steps to take.

• Contact your financial institution. Call the fraud department directly using the number printed on your physical card, or look it up online. However, even then, you have to be careful not to land on a fake page. Freeze all compromised accounts. Ask for new account numbers.
• Change your passwords: Update your credentials for online banking, email and primary accounts. Enable Two-Factor Authentication using an authenticator app.
• Disconnect remote access: If you allowed someone to access your computer or tablet, turn off your WiFi connection immediately, uninstall the software, and have a professional inspect the device for hidden malware.
• Don’t answer calls you don’t recognize.
• Report the crime. You might feel ashamed or embarrassed, but still come forward and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
• Contact local police and the DMV. Provide details of the scam and specify what information you provided, such as a copy of your driver’s license. Keep a copy of the police report number; state agencies and banks often request it. If your license information has been compromised, contact your state’s motor vehicle department.
• Freeze your credit file. Place a “security freeze,” also called a “credit freeze,” with all three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This blocks lenders from pulling your credit report, effectively stopping scammers from opening new credit cards, auto loans or personal loans in your name.
• Monitor your credit history: Regularly check your credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. You can do this once a week.

More autos hit with 'park outside' recall

Already 2026 has hit the second-largest number of vehicles with an NHTSA "park outside" safety recall. 2023 was a standout because of two recalls of 3.35 million Hyundais and Kias.  Click the Park Outside link for the HTSA.gov recalls website and check your vehicle for recalls.

An estimated 3.2 million vehicles nationwide currently have an outstanding “park outside” recall, according to vehicle history provider Carfax, which described the surging numbers as “concerning.” The recalls also create new headaches for drivers, who suddenly wonder where it is safe to park their vehicles.

Standard safety recalls, which still make up the vast majority of formal notices, are usually thought of as being dangers tied to driving — brakes failing or air bags exploding.  But the risks covered by park-outside recalls don’t stop when the car is off.  They can pop up anytime. That makes them a distinctive danger, experts said. “It can be a giant disaster when cars catch fire and no one is there to see it,” said Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety.

The rise in park-outside recalls is being driven by the growing number of electronics and batteries packed into modern vehicles, involving ordinary wiring, seat motors, starter relays, high-voltage batteries and more, according to experts.  “The engine is off, but the circuits are still hot, and they stay hot all the time.,”  “There is a lot more electronics in vehicles today, and that means more stuff can go wrong.”

Kane said vehicles today also run hotter and have more components packed tightly under the hood, providing more opportunities for fires to start. “If something goes wrong, even if you park the car, the temperatures stay higher for longer than they used to,” he said.

This summer has been with flooded with park-outside recalls compared with previous years. Eight campaigns were announced in June and July alone, such as when NHTSA issued a notice, “Urgent Park Outside Warning Issued for 1 Million Jeeps,” blaming an electrical connection issue tied to power-steering pumps.

In the first seven months of 2026, there were 17 park-outside campaigns covering about 1.7 million vehicles, making this year among the busiest since NHTSA first created the park-outside designation more than a decade ago.