Consumer Sentiment, Retail Sales, Cisco Earnings: Still to Come This Week
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Fast Company
a minute ago
- Fast Company
5 common Amazon scams and how to avoid them
Amazon is the the most efficient, popular online retailer. So maybe it shouldn't be surprising that it's a gold mine for scammers. These individuals, bless their blackened hearts, are adept at crafting new and increasingly plausible ways to trick the unsuspecting—and posing as Amazon is an easy way to attract attention. So, with a healthy dose of skepticism, let's examine a few of their more popular ruses. And, more importantly, how to avoid becoming the next victim. 'Your Account Is On Hold!' This particular chestnut arrives via email, often with a subject line designed to induce mild panic. It's adorned with a passable Amazon logo and a link, invariably urging you to verify your details or update your billing information. How to avoid it: Amazon, for all its technological prowess, rarely communicates critical account issues via unsolicited links in an email. Outsmarting this one can be done the same way you outsmart just about every other phishing email out there. Make sure to examine the sender's address. Does it genuinely end in '@ Or is it a peculiar string of characters, perhaps including ' somewhere? The latter is a strong indicator it's a scam. In the message itself, are there peculiar grammatical constructions or spellings that suggest English might not be the author's primary language? These subtle imperfections are often telltale signs, though they're getting harder to spot thanks to AI. And finally, resist the urge to click. If there's genuinely an issue with your Amazon account, manually navigating to in your browser and logging in will reveal all. Any legitimate alerts will be visible there. The 'Unexpected Refund' Text Message This rather sneaky tactic involves a text message, ostensibly from Amazon, informing you that a recent purchase of yours has failed some sort of routine inspection. Perhaps it's being recalled, or simply isn't up to Amazon's exacting standards. The good news, the message purports, is that a full refund is due, often without the hassle of returning the offending item. All you need do is click the convenient link provided to claim your compensation. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, among others, has recently issued warnings about this particular brand of mischief. How to avoid it: Excitement for an unexpected windfall should be tempered with a healthy dose of doubt. For starters, while Amazon does send legitimate texts, an unsolicited refund notification, particularly for an unspecified item and without requiring a return, is highly suspect. Clicking the link in the text message will, in all likelihood, lead you to a meticulously crafted phishing page that looks just like the official Amazon login page—just waiting to collect your Amazon credentials, payment information, and any other personal details you're willing to volunteer. Should you harbor even a fleeting thought that the message might be legitimate, bypass the text entirely by logging into your Amazon account via the official website or the app. Any legitimate refund or recall information will be clearly displayed within your order history or official notifications. The 'Accidental Over-Refund' This is a somewhat more sophisticated deception. You might receive a call or an email asserting that Amazon has, through some inexplicable error, refunded you too much for a recent return. The request is for you to remit the 'overpayment,' often via the purchase of gift cards or a wire transfer. How to avoid it: Before doing anything, consult your actual bank statements or Amazon account to confirm the alleged overpayment. It's almost certain you'll find no such anomaly. When it comes to Amazon's refund protocol, the company's internal processes are reasonably sophisticated. Should a genuine error occur, the company would rectify it internally, not solicit funds from you via questionable methods— certainly not gift cards! And if anyone purports to be from Amazon and requests remote access to your computer to 'correct' a refund issue, it's time to end the conversation. Amazon will never, ever, ever ask for access to your computer. 'Your Order Has Shipped!' Wait, what order? This particular trick plays on a combination of alarm and curiosity. A plausible-looking order confirmation arrives in your inbox for an item—often expensive— that you most certainly didn't purchase. The objective is to prompt you to click the 'Cancel Order' or 'View Details' link in a state of agitation. How to avoid it: Bypass the email entirely. Log into your Amazon account and go to your 'Orders' section. If the supposed order isn't there, it's a fabrication. Though generally ill-advised, should you feel compelled to examine a link, hover your mouse cursor over it and observe the URL that appears. If it deviates significantly from then it's best left unclicked. The 'Mystery Package' Brushing Scam This particular oddity is less about financial theft and more about system manipulation. You receive a package from Amazon, addressed to you, containing an item you never ordered—often something inexpensive and utterly random. The purpose? A third-party seller is using your details to create fake purchases, allowing them to post fraudulent positive reviews under your name, thereby artificially boosting their product's standing. How to avoid it: While seemingly harmless, receiving free—albeit often useless— goods does indicate your personal information is being exploited. Do a good deed by contacting Amazon customer service and reporting the unsolicited package. The company takes a dim view of such practices. And given that your address is being used, a periodic review of your credit report for any other unusual activity is probably in order.
CBS News
2 minutes ago
- CBS News
Pittsburgh Steelers fall in Sportico's annual NFL franchise value rankings
The Pittsburgh Steelers have dropped two spots in Sportico's annual ranking of the most valuable National Football League franchises. The Steelers are ranked the 17th most valuable franchise in this year's ranking as Sportico says the organization is worth $6.51 billion, a 17% increase in their value compared to last year. Despite dropping two spots in the rankings, the Steelers' value has increased just over $1 billion since last year. Sportico lists the Dallas Cowboys as the No. 1 most valuable team at $12.8 billion. The most valuable teams from last year are unchanged with the Cowboys, the Los Angeles Rams, the New York Giants, the New England Patriots, and the San Francisco Giants rounding out the top five. While the Steelers dropped two spots, they still remain the most valuable among teams in the AFC North Division, ahead of: The average value of an NFL franchise currently sits at $7.13 billion, according to Sportico's valuations.
Digital Trends
31 minutes ago
- Digital Trends
At last, a humanoid robot masters the chore we all hate
A couple of weeks ago, we watched in awe as Figure's humanoid robot grabbed clothes from a laundry basket before deftly depositing them in a washer. It was all very impressive. In a follow-up that offers a glimpse of a future where humans can finally ignore this wretched chore, Figure has shared another video showing the same robot folding freshly washed towels before placing them in a pile. Today we unveiled the first humanoid robot that can fold laundry autonomously Same exact Helix architecture, only new data — Figure (@Figure_robot) August 12, 2025 The California-based tech company said it's the first humanoid robot capable of folding laundry 'fully autonomously,' a statement that will surely cause millions of people around the world to call out at once: 'So where can I get one?' Well, more on that later. Recommended Videos To conduct the process, Figure 02 uses the same Helix Vision Language Action (VLA) model that the company has already deployed for industrial logistics tasks, but now with a new dataset for laundry folding. To be clear, the robot performs the laundry task without teleoperation or specialized hand-coded instructions, relying instead on an end-to-end neural network. As you can see, the robot uses multi-fingered hands to competently pick towels from a pile. It also performs different folding strategies, recovers from errors such as grabbing multiple towels at once, and carries out fine manipulations — just like a human. The video demonstrates real advances in one of the areas that robotics engineers still find extremely challenging: manipulation of objects, especially soft, flexible ones. Indeed, the robot's impressive ability to handle the humble towel looks like an exciting step toward such machines being able to cope with other non-rigid items, opening them up to a plethora of other tasks in a broader range of settings. 'Folding laundry sounds mundane for a person, but this is one of the most challenging dexterous manipulation tasks for a humanoid robot,' Figure said in a post on its website. 'Towels are deformable, constantly changing shape, bending unpredictably, and prone to wrinkling or tangling. There's no fixed geometry to memorize, and no single 'correct' grasp point. Even a slight slip of a finger can cause the material to bunch or fall. Success requires more than just seeing the world accurately — it demands fine, coordinated finger control to trace edges, pinch corners, smooth surfaces, and adapt in real time.' While Figure is currently focused on deploying its humanoid robot in industrial locations, it will — tantalizingly for all of those laundry haters out there — begin testing it in home settings this year. Figure has yet to mention pricing and other purchasing details for individual customers, so for the time being at least, the laundry will continue as a regular chore for most folks. But this humanoid robot certainly offers hope …
