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The callers were very convincing, claiming that they'd detected fraudulent transactions and had locked your account for security, and would unlock it once you proved your identity. They'd then get you to transfer money to yourself to confirm everything was okay, when in fact, you were actually transferring money to the overseas scammers posing as you.

So many Royal Bank clients in the Greater Victoria area got these scam calls earlier this week, that all local RBC bank branches posted warning signs on their doors!

As shown in the screenshot, most of the calls appeared to be coming from a number in Airdrie, Alberta, but that was a scam, too…they were coming from overseas.

If you get a call from someone claiming to be from your bank or credit union, hang up, and call your branch or the number on the back of your client card or credit card.

The American background check service National Public Data (NPD) was hacked back in April, and NPD has now admitted that the hackers got the personal info of billions of Americans and others who have a US Social Security number.

Hackers who've been identified as being part of the notorious hacking group USDoD, have been offering for sale on the dark web troves of NPD info including names, phone numbers, social security numbers, and mailing address(es). This past week, NPD finally admitted it had been hacked, and recommended those affected take a number of steps to safeguard their identities, including freezing their credit, and putting fraud alerts on their files at big credit bureaus.

If you have a US Social Security number, (not a Canadian SIN), you can find out if you're included in the hacked info, by going to a website set-up by cybersecurity firm PenTester…

If you do, it takes you to a real-looking log-in page for your bank or credit union (but with the wrong address at the top). They're hoping you'll give them your log-in info so they can start stealing your money. NEVER click on links in texts or emails like this! The CRA will NEVER text you, and if they email you, the email will NEVER contain a link for you to click on.

Feel free to bookmark that page, as we'll keep updating it with screenshots of the latest scams!

It also includes unlimited international texting. Chatr is the ultra-budget carrier owned by Rogers.

Note that this deal includes USA calling only, not data-roaming, so if you're going to be going to the USA, this is not a good plan for you. This is a prepaid service, so no credit check and no contract.

Chatr is also offering a $29 plan which includes 20GB of data and unlimited Canada-wide calling. That plan is available from any Chatr dealer, but does not include the $25 London Drugs gift card.

Freedom's back-to-school deal gives you 50GB/month of 5G data which you can use in Canada, the USA and Mexico, plus unlimited international texting, and unlimited domestic calling in Canada/USA/Mexico plus unlimitred calls back top Canada from the USA or Mexico, for $35/month.

This is a no-contract offer, so you can cancel or change plan at any time, and Freedom will guarrantee the rate for 18 months.

If you plan to travel beyond Canada/USA/Mexico, you can move up to their $45/month plan which gives you 75GB/month of Canada/USA/Mexico data and unlimited calling and texting, plus 10GB of data roaming in 89 other countries.

This is a three-licence package, good for one year on three devices, any combination of Windows, Mac, and Android devices. (Not needed on iPhones or iPads). This deal is good till Aug. 29, and is also available online at the link below if stores are sold out…

Items start at #10, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more security items above!

The proposed BC Supreme Court class action settlement relates to checked baggage fees which Westjet charged, but was not actually allowed to charge under its tarrif at that time.

It covers people anywhere in the world who paid a fee for their first checked baggage for a WestJet flight booked directly with WestJet with Canada domestic flight tickets issued on or after September 15, 2014, and for travel between October 29, 2014 to July 29, 2017, or international flight tickets issued on or after November 3, 2015 for travel between January 6, 2016 to February 27, 2019.

The proposed settlement will go before a BC Supreme Court Justice on October 11. If approved as expected, the class action lawyers will set-up an online portal where you'll be able to submit a claim.

After lawyer's fees are deducted from the $12.5 million, the rest will be divided-up amongst those who submit valid claims, and will be issued in travel credits which you'll have up to 24 months to use.

There's nothing for you to do right now, except to check your records, and see if you paid a checked baggage fee during the dates in question.

More info is in the link below, which is WestjetBaggageFeeClassAction.HammerCo.ca.

When Quebec-based Vidéotron bought Freedom Mobile as part of the Rogers buyout of Shaw, they also bought IPTV firm VMedia, and that company has developed their TV app. Freedom is also wholesaleing Rogers internet in this area, and also Telus and Bell internet back east.

Freedom's home internet prices range from $39/month for Internet 25, to $90/month for Gigabit (Internet 1000), with the best value (for individuals) being Internet 75 for $50/month.

You can get more info on Freedom Home Internet at www.freedommobile.ca/en-CA/home-internet

Freedom's TV service is IPTV (Internet Protocol TV), which means you don't get a TV box. You instead access the service via an app on your smart TV, or via a TV plug-in like an Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, or Amazon Fire stick. No contract or credit check as its a prepaid service.

Not having to supply set-top boxes is allowing Freedom to offer much lower prices than Telus and Rogers: $10/month for Starter TV which gives you at least 23 HD channels, including all major Canadian and US networks. If you want sports, that's just $19/month more. News & entertainment channels are $20/month. Or, you can order just the channels you want for $3 per channel per month or 10 for $17.50 ($1.75/channel), or 20 for $30/month ($1.50/channel).

I've created a PDF of the pricing options for both Freedom home internet and TV…

Rogers, which bought Shaw, is phasing-out the use of wired Gateway TV boxes, and replacing them with wireless Rogers Ignite 4K HDR TV boxes, which offer much sharper and richer video quality and 7.1 surround sound, and can be used anywhere that there's a power outlet — no more needing a cable outlet nearby. Rogers Gateway TV boxes will stop working on September 9.

If you still use a Gateway TV box (or boxes), you should have received several emails from Rogers, plus an urgent letter by postal mail (like the one below shared by Tech Talk listener Bruce), urging you to contact Rogers to get new equipment before Gateway service is shut down on Sep. 9.

If you (like Bruce), live in an older house which has chicken-wire mesh in the walls which blocks WiFi signals, there are two ways for you to use the new Rogers Ignite xi6 TV boxes:

There's a glitch in the current operating system for Apple iPhones and iPads which can cause your device to momentarily freeze.

The issue arises if you type the sequence “":: (two quotation marks followed by two colons) — into the search bar of the Settings app, or the App Library search bar. When this combination is entered, the device freezes momentarily, disrupting normal usage.

This also happens if you type “”: followed by any character (two quotation marks, followed by a colon and any fourth character).

The freeze only lasts for a few seconds and then your device resumes working normally.

This glitch — it's just that, a glitch, and not a security flaw — appears to have been introduced with iOS 17 but has only now been found; Apple is expected to fix it with their next update, which might not be till iOS 18 is released this fall.

If you add a credit card (or cards) to an iPhone Apple Wallet, you can do more than just use your iPhone to pay for purchases without the merchant getting your card number.

You can also designate one credit card to be your Express Transit Card, and then you can just tap your iPhone to ride Translink/SkyTarin/SeaBus in Greater Vancouver, for example, instead of having to buy and load a Compass Card. Same for Seattle instead of buying an Orca Card, or a BART card in San Francisco, or a PRESTO card in Toronto, or a Tube card in London, et cetera, worldwide.

The credit card which you select (no debit cards) will now work automatically without requiring face ID or your fingerprint or passcode; just hold your iPhone near any supported transit reader.

There are now more than 40 of them, and they're in a separate Travel Tech Tips notes, which you can find on our Home Page, or on the toolbar at the top of any of our Notes.

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says that based on his sources, a launch event on September 10th could reveal the new iPhone 16 lineup, as well as the Apple Watch Series 10 and two different sets of new AirPods in time for them to go on sale as soon as September 20th.

The new iPhones are expected to be similar the current iPhone 15 models, but with larger screens on the Pro models (reportedly going from 6.1" to 6.3" on the Pro and from 6.7" to 6.9" on the iPhone 16 Pro Max) plus with the addition of a dedicated camera button.

The new iPhones are expected to come with a big bump in processing power thanks to a new generation of processors, in order to enable the phones to handle AI tasks on the device in the name of privacy.

Meanwhile, AppleInsider.com says it's learned all the camera specs for the new models…

Sonos users will have to continue using the current and hugely disliked iOS app, with the company's CEO making it clear that it's not technically possible to roll back to the older app.

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence, continued the apology tour with assurances about the app, and admits he had been hopeful of a re-release of the old app, referred to as S2, but it turns out that it's not possible. He says he's been told that their engineers have made too many changes to key software elements to ever go back.

Spence adds that, as a "silver lining," Sonos is now focused on getting the new software working properly for consumers.

As promised in a previous apology, changes are on the way, including making the set-up process of new products more reliable. The company is also keen to reduce the number of "something went wrong" errors that users encounter.

The Copilot name and logo is staying, but some of the names are getting more wordy, while others are getting simpler.

The Verge's Tom Warren, in his latest (paid) newsletter, says Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365, the current name for the paid business version of the service, will be cut down to just Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Warren also reports that Microsoft individual productivity apps that use Copilot will actually get more complicated brand names in the near future. For example, the name Copilot in Word will change to Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word. The same Microsoft 365 Copilot brand will reportedly be added to Microsoft's Copilot features for Sales, Service, and Finance services.

Business users who access the chatbot in Microsoft 365 Copilot will also see a new name soon, Business Chat.

These changes are expected to be announced next month, when Microsoft unveils a new set of skills that Copilot will be capable of handling.

The FAT32 file system (FAT stands for File Allocation Table and the “32” part refers to the fact that it uses 32 bits to identify data clusters on a storage device) supports volumes up to 2TB (2000GB), but for almost 30 years, Windows has had an arbitrary partition limit of 32GB.

In a blog post, Microsoft says that limit is finally being removed from Command Line formatting, although for now, if you right-clock and run the Format option, the limit still remains.

It'll hopefully be completely removed in a later Windows 11 build!

Current Fitbit smartwatches, the Sense 2 and Versa 4, will continue to be available but Google, which bought Fitbit last year, says “Pixel Watches are our next iteration of smartwatch for Fitbit.”

Apple will soon let iPhone and iPad users in the European Union choose default apps for phone calls, messaging, keyboards, password managers, and more. These options will be available later this year in a new “Default Apps” section in Settings.

In the spring of next year, Apple says it will also let users set default navigation, translation apps, and call spam filter apps. Along with these new options, iPhone users in the EU will add the ability to delete the App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos, and Safari apps. The only apps Apple won’t let users delete are Settings and Phone.

No word when or even if these options will be made available here in Canada or elsewhere.

Ford now says it won’t release any new electric vehicles until it can ensure profitability on the models within the first year of launch.

Ford is canceling its electric three-row SUV and delaying the launch of a new electric pickup truck until 2027. The Expedition-like SUV had already been delayed to 2027; with its cancellation, the company will now pivot to making new gas and hybrid-powered three-row SUVs.

Ford will also prioritize a new commercial EV van that will begin production in Ohio in 2026.

AirTags have been used in California before to find car thieves, and they've been sent in the mail to uncover the site of secret intelligence agencies in Germany. Now a repeat victim of theft from her mailbox at the Los Alamos Post Office in Santa Maria Valley, has used one to track down the culprits.

Fed-up with her mail being constantly stolen, the woman got fed up and mailed herself an Apple AirTag. On discovering that it, too, had been stolen, she notified the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office that she was tracking the device.

Deputies went to the location, recovered the package with the stolen AirTag as well as mail stolen from a dozen other people, and arrested a man and a woman who are facing a raft of charges.

Videos start at #40, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more tech news items above!

40) Watch AppleInsider.com's reveal of all the new expected new iPhone 16 lineup's camera specs and features…

41) Watch Apple's powerful new ad called The Relay, featuring eight athletes with and without disabilities training and competing side-by-side…

42) ICYMI: Watch Celine Dion nail "L'hymne L'amour" from atop the Eiffel Tower in the rain at the opening of the Paris Olympics…

43) Watch Crash #184 at "The Can-Opener" bridge known as 11'8"+8, as a big truck hits the bridge and then almost backs into an ambulance…

44) Watch a first look at the new "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" TV series, set in the years when Christopher Pike helmed the USS Enterprise…

45) Watch Mia Asano and Døvydas Maščinskas wing "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" on the Huntington Beach Pier…

46) Listen: from 30 years ago this week, "Let Your Spirit Take Flight", the theme of the 1994 Commonwealth Games opening ceremonies here in Victoria…

47) The winners of Apple's 2024 "Shot On iPhone" Photo Contest.

48) Listen: a half-hour summary of C-FAX 1070's coverage of the 1994 Commonwealth Games here in Victoria, from 30 years ago this week: