Meta Rolls Out New Scam Detection; WhatsApp Gets Parent-Linked Kid Accounts, Nvidia Making Open Source Open Claw Competitor; Your Tire Monitors as Tracking Device

Meta has launched new scam detection on its Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp platforms. Thenextweb.com reports that just last year the company removed 159 million scam ads last year and took down 10.9 million accounts linked to criminal networks. Now, the tentpole feature of the added scam protection is one for Facebook…it flags suspicious friend or follow requests before users act on them. When a request arrives from an account with no mutual connections, a different country location, or a suspiciously recent join date, Facebook will display a warning. WhatsApp also gets a new layer of protection. Device linking fraud has become a bigger issue…where you link your phone to a tablet, for example. Bad guys can spoof your account and get access. Scammers have been tricking users into scanning malicious QR codes, sometimes under the pretense of a customer service call or technical support request, which links the scammer’s device to the victim’s WhatsApp account. The app will now display a warning when it picks up a suspicious device linking request…and it will show where the request originated. On Messenger, on-device analysis automatically flags messages from unfamiliar contacts that match the patterns of common scams, fraudulent job offers, fake investment pitches, work-from-home schemes. Users get a warning, and have the option of sending the conversation to Meta AI for a cloud-based second review. 

WhatsApp has introduced a new set of parent-supervised accounts for kinds under age 13. According to TechCrunch.com, The company said that these accounts will only have access to messaging and calling, and won’t be targeted with any ads. While the company rates its apps 13+ on both the App Store and Play Store, many pre-teens use WhatsApp to communicate with parents, as WhatsApp said it is introducing this feature after feedback from parents. To set up the account, tor he parent will need both their own device and the child’s, to authenticate the account with QR codes. By default, the parent gets an alert when a pre-teen adds, blocks or reports a contact. The parent also gets an alert if the youngster changes their name of profile picture, or when they are getting a new chat request; joining, creating, or leaving a group; a group turning on disappearing messages; and deleting a chat or a contact. All these settings are protected by a six-digit PIN that parents can set and change from their own device. The kid accounts have no access to Meta AI, Channels, or Status. The messages are still end to end encrypted. When the kid gets older, they get a message that they can convert to a regular account…but the parent can use their supervisory power to delay that by 12 months…so age 14. That still seems pretty young for unsupervised child activity. 

We’ve mentioned OpenClaw here a time or two…the system that lets users direct ‘always-on’ AI agents from their personal machines, using any number of underlying models. Arstechnica.com says now Nvidia is now getting set to launch its own open source agent platform to compete with OpenClaw. Nvidia’s platform is dubbed NemoClaw, and they have already demo’ed it to Salesforce, Cisco, Google, Adobe, and CrowdStrike. Earlier this month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC that OpenClaw was “the most important software release probably ever.” The sudden interest in OpenClaw has seemingly driven a run on Mac Mini hardware with unified memory that’s well-suited to running the tool. NemoClaw will run on machines without using Nvidia’s own GPUs. 

You probably think of a device that can be planted under your car or something like an AirTag being used to track you by authorities, a crazy ex, or others. Well guess what? They don’t need any of that.Almost every modern car has something built in that allows tracking you. Bgr.com notes that it is your tire pressure monitoring system…TPMS. The system sends continuous signals so that if one of your tires is low on air, you get a warning….the little light on your dash, or in some cars it even shows you which tire. For less than $100 bucks, people can make a receiver that can pick up your car tire signals from up to 164 feet away…even if your car is moving or on the other side of a wall. A Spanish study revealed that someone using a very simple device can track the unique signal tires send out, meaning they can know if the same car has been tracked before. Over time, this can build out a pattern of someone’s routines such as when they arrive and leave for work, when they go home, or what day they head to the grocery store and to which one. Researchers are imploring manufacturers to fix this problem quickly! 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.