July 19 & 20, 2025 Show Notes
Moss Street Paint-In / Northwest Deuce Days / Weekend Edition
🎙️ Show airs live
Saturday: 10:05am-Noon PT
🔁 Rebroadcast
Sunday: 1:05pm-3pm on C-FAX
🎧 Podcast
Anytime
Your crew this weekend:
Cst. Berle Zwaan
Saanich Police, and founder of Outsmart The Scammer Fraud Prevention Society
email: BZwaan@SaanichPolice.ca
1) Watch out for fake Rogers "Overdue Balance" emails
The emails (like the screenshot below from astute Tech Talk listener David) look very convincing…
A few clues: the sender is displayed as Shaw_canada_ebill, the account number is wrong, it comes from a gibberish @gmail.com address, and is addressed to "Hi member", not to you. It also contains several typos, with Rogers several times spelled as "Roger". What's the scam?
They're hoping you'll click on one of the links, which takes you to a fake Rogers.com sign-in page, where they're hoping you'll give them your log-in info. If you do, they'll advise that they're sending you a security code, and ask you to type it into the box. But, behind the scenes, the overseas scammers are actually trying to sign into your account, and if you give them the security code that Rogers sends you, that'll let them in, and they can then change the password to lock you out, and then change your email password to lock you out of that, and they can then start stealing your identity and money.
NEVER click on links in emails or texts that claim to be from companies you deal with!
Always go directly to that company's website and log into your account there.
2) Watch out for scam work-from-home job recruiting texts
The texts come from a variety of senders (almost always from @gmail email addresses), as shown in the screenshots below, but they all have one thing in common — they offer great pay for flexible part-time work from home with the money paid to you each day…
If you're interested, you're encouraged to send a text or WhatsApp message to a number in the USA.
There are three potential scams here:
1) You'll be encouraged to complete an online application form, which they'll review, and then within a day, you'll be 'approved', but in order to be hired, you'll have to pay an up-front 'processing fee', and if you do, you'll never hear from them again.
2) You'll fill out a simple application and quickly will be 'hired', and will get paid for your training. But, in order to get your money, they'll set-up a crypto-currency account for you. They'll deposit your 'pay', but then advise that you have to keep a minimum amount in the account to keep it active, and theyu'll ask you to deposit money to reach that minimum. If you do, they'll scoop that money and close the account and you'll never hear from them again.
3) You'll be asked to download an employment application, but if you do, you'll actually be downloading malware which harnesses the power of your computer (if it's powerful enough), for crypto-mining.
NEVER respond to job-recruitment texts like this! They're all scams.
3a) If you get a call from someone claiming to be from Bell, Telus, or Rogers, offering you a much cheaper phone plan, it's likely a scam
The caller will know your phone number and what carrier you're with now, and will offer to give you more data and for less money than you're paying now.
In my case, Simon, who claimed to be from Bell, offered me unlimited worldwide calling and phoning and 20GB of international data for just $30 a month if I would switch to Bell from Freedom Mobile. When I asked him to confirm that in writing, he texted me the message screenshotted here.
One of the clues — besides the poor sentence structure — is that Bell does not currently offer a plan that includes international data roaming! Another clue is that the phone number which sent the text is not a Bell number, it's unassigned.
If you agree, the caller will ask for your email address to send you the new agreement, and your mailing address where they can courier your new SIM card, and then they'll advise that you'll get a text from your current carrier asking you to confirm that you're switching carriers, and if so, to reply with YES.
If you do that, you'll have just given the scammers permission to take over your phone number!
Within minutes, your phone will show "No Service", and all calls and texts to what was your phone number, will then be routed to the scammers, and your now-former carrier will be powerless to reverse the process. The scammers will then use your email address to trigger password reset text-codes for your bank, email accounts, and other accounts, so they can steal your money and your identity.
NEVER reply "YES" to a text from your carrier asking if you are changing carriers, unless you're doing that either in-person with a new carrier at their store or kiosk, or if YOU initiated a carrier change by going online to the website of a budget carrier that has no kiosks.
3b) If you get a call from someone claiming to be from Telus, or Bell, or Rogers, offering a great deal on a new phone, it's likely a scam
The caller will offer you a new iPhone or Samsung Galaxy phone for a great rate, and if you sound unsure, they'll even offer to email you the details to you can see it's 'real', as shown in the screenshot of the email which I got from 'Sandra' at (supoosedly) Telus…
There are lots of red flags in this email, the first being that it's from an address @telusmobilitys.com — an obvious misspelling. It also talks about the rate including VAT — here in Canada, we pay GST, not VAT which is in Europe. It also talks about the iPhone being delivered by U.P.S (it's actually UPS), and says its covered by American Family Insurance, which doesn't operate here in Canada.
What's the scam? It's actually quite ingenious.
If you accept the offer, the caller will explain that Telus is going to text or email you a security code to confirm your identity, and they'll ask you to give them that code. The code actually is then used by the scammer to order the phone on your Telus account — at full price. When you get the phone a few days later and see the full price, you'll presumably return it using the return label in the box. But that shipping tabel does not send it back to Telus, but instead to a mailbox belonging to the scammer, who then takes your phone and sells it and disappears. When you contact Telus after getting your bill for the new phone, they'll say they never got the phone back, and you're on the hook for paying for it.
DO NOT buy a new phone — or change your phone plan — from someone who calls you.
If you think you're dealing with someone from a carrier, get their name and number and then call the carrier directly — do NOT call the caller back at the number they gave you!
Tech News Of The Week
Items start at #10, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more security items above!
Tip: if an item in these Show Notes has the icon on the right in the upper-right corner, you can click/tap on it to make the additional info open in a new tab.
10) Rogers has launched free public beta-testing of satellite-to-mobile text messaging
Rogers Satellite is a new service that enables text messaging through low-earth orbit satellites, utilizing SpaceX's Starlink technology.
This service is designed to provide connectivity in remote areas of Canada, where traditional cellular networks may not reach. It allows users to send and receive text messages, including emergency texts to 911, from virtually anywhere in the country.
You can test-drive this ground-breaking (sky-breaking?) new technology for free until the end of October — even if you're not a Rogers customer — if you have a smartphone that can accept an additional phone number via an eSIM.
After the beta-test ends at the end of October, Rogers says the charge for having satellite-to-phone service available will be $10/month for the first 12 months, and then $15/month after that.
Read more about the new service, and sign-up if you want for the beta trial, at the link below…
11) All the major carriers are now offering International Travel Passes, with Rogers/Fido and Bell being the latest
In response to Freedom Mobile's very popular no-extra-cost "Roam Beyond" offering, Rogers/Fido and Bell have followed the lead of Telus/Koodo and are now offering add-on Travel Passes that let you use your phone in other countries for a fixed-price add-on.
11a) Rogers / Fido
Rogers and Fido have four different "Roam Like Home" Travel Pass offerings, for travel to the USA, Europe, Mexico/Caribbean, and International, and in 14-day and 30-day options, and they're offering introductory pricing until the end of September…
Rogers/Fido "Roam Like Home" Europe Travel Passes can be purchased up to 60 days before your trip, and take effect once you arrive in an included European country. Here's the current list…
Aland Islands, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azores, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England (UK), Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madeira, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Northern Ireland (UK), Norway, Poland, Scotland (UK), Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom (UK), Vatican City, Wales (UK).
Rogers/Fido also offer Mexico/Caribbean Travel Passes for the same prices ($60 for 14 days or $70 for 30 days), and they work in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Island, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Saba, St. Barts (Saint Barthelemy), St. Eustatius, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos.
They also now offer International Travel passes, which work in 185 countries…
The current Rogers/Fido 185-country list is Afghanistan, Aland Islands, Albania, Algeria, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Azores, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bonaire, Bosnia, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Cayman Island, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Congo (People’s Republic of), Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Curacao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Easter Island, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England (UK), Estonia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guyana, French Polynesia, Galapagos Islands, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madeira, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma), Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Ireland (UK), Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Rwanda, Saba, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Scotland (UK), Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, St. Barts (Saint Barthelemy), St. Eustatius, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (US), Uruguay, US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix), Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wales (UK), Western Samoa, Western Sahara, Yemen.
Rogers/Fido have USA Travel Passes for $50 for 14 days or $60 for 30 days, and yes, they include Hawaii and Alaska, as well as Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix)
11b) Telus / Koodo
Telus and Koodo are now offering a 14-day Asia Travel Pass, in addition to travel passes for Europe, the USA, and Mexico…
A two-week Asia Travel Pass from Telus costs $70, and lets you use your phone in Asian countries just as you would use it here, including unlimited calling within the country you're in, and back to Canada, and you get the same data allotment there as you do here.
The $70 rate works out to $5 a day, which is much better than the $16/day which Telus charges for internmational roaming.
Telus also offers a 7-day USA Travel Pass for $40 ($6/day), a 7-day Mexico Travel Pass for $60 ($8.50/day), and a 14-day Europe Travel Pass for $50 ($3.60/day).
11c) Bell / Virgin Plus
Bell and Virgin Plus have started offering a 14-day European "Roam Sweet Roam" Travel Pass, as well as a 7-day Mexico/Caribbean Travel Pass…
- Seven-day Caribbean and Mexico roaming – $70
- 14-day European roaming – $70
Bell and Virgin Plus do not currently offer a USA Travel Pass; they charge $13/day for the USA, and $16/day for other countries.
Bell's budget brand, Virgin Plus, also sells a Data Travel Pass which gives you a bucket of data (but no calling or texting) which you can use when outside Canada.
11d) Freedom Mobile
Canada's 4th national carrier, Quebec-based Freedom Mobile, includes Canada/USA/Mexico calling and roaming in almost all of their plans, plus "Roam Beyond" service at no extra cost that lets you use your phone just like here, in more than 120 countries.
Freedom has three plans from which to choose, each with a different amount of "Roam Beyond" data…
If you're only planning one or two international trips in the next few months or year, you can save money by going on a cheaper Canada/US/Mexico plan from Freedom Mobile, and then buy a 30-day "Roam Beyond" travel pass just before you head overseas. Freedom has a choice of two options:
- $30 for 5GB of 5G data good in 120+ countries + unlimited calls within a country and back home
- $50 for 10GB of 5G data good in 120+ countries + unlimited calls within a country and back home
These passes work on both Canada-only and Canada/USA/Mexico plans.
13) If you're a Rogers/Fido/Chatr customer and have a OnePlus, Sony, Asus, Nubia, or Xaiomi phone, you may soon lose service
Rogers will be pulling the plug on its ancient 3G service at the end of the month, but if an accidental early shutdown in some areas is any indication, its going to affect a lot of people who have phones that should not be affected — phones that are brands which Rogers does not sell.
The issue is that when Rogers shuts down 3G service at the end of this month, customers will all have to be using a phone that supports VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) technology, with LTE standing for Long Term Evolution — basically 4G+.
The problem is that many phones from lesser-known brands which Rogers does not carry, including OnePlus, Xiaomi, Nubia, Asus and Sony — are not being recognized by the Rogers network, so even though many of them are VoLTE-compliant and should work after the 3G shutdown, they'll be cut-off.
This surfaced last week when Rogers accidentally prematurely shut down 3G service in some areas, leaving hundreds of people who should not have been affected, without service.
So, here's our updated advice: If you're on Rogers, Fido, or Chatr, and have a OnePlus, Xiaomi, Nubia, Asus or Sony phone, or any other older and/or budget phone, use the online tool below to see if you'll be affected by the 3G shutdown. If you get the message, “We couldn’t locate your device. We’re unable to certify that your device is compatible with the Rogers network", take your phone to a Rogers store before the end of the month.
To use the tool below, you'll need your phone's IMEI number. To find that number, go to your phone app and bring up the keypad and tap *# 0 6 # and your IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity number) will be displayed. Click the link below and type in that IMEI…
Here's more on the issue from MobileSyrup.com…
14) London Drugs is now carrying one of our top CES 2025 finds: "Tonies" toys to help keep kids entertained and off screens
With more than 200 audio-equipped figurines to choose from, Tonies were one of the hottest gifts for young children during the 2024 holiday season in the USA, and now they're available here!
You play by placing a RFID-enabled Tonie (named after the daughter of the inventor) atop the player, which starts it telling stories and playing games. You tap on the side to go to the next track. You can also record your own songs and stories for your kids or grandkids. Your first pack, which includes the player, costs $139 CAD and additional Tonies — complete with their own stories and games — are $29 CAD. Tonies are now available in the toy section at London Drugs stores!
Madi Howeth demo's a Tonie on the air on "Tech Talk" at CES 2025 (the black cord is running to Alan's audio gear so listeners could hear the sound produced by the Cookie Monster figurine).
Here's our live demo of Tonies on our special "Tech Talk" show from CES on January 11, 2025…
Josh's son has a Yoto…
15) iPhone 17 launch expected for week of September 8
Apple's iPhone 17 launch event is expected to happen in the second week of September, continuing Apple's traditional event scheduling.
According to Mark Gurman in Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, he reasons that Apple usually waits until the week after Labour Day to bring out new iPhones. Based on that, it's anticipated that the event will take place in the week of September 8.
As for which day, Gurman adds that Apple favors Tuesdays, with some exceptions in recent years. A Monday event on September 8 could happen, but a September 9 or 10 event is more likely.
As Apple doesn't hold events on Fridays, that rules out September 12, while it has also similarly avoided September 11 launches as a matter of respect.
16) Apple's "Hearing Test" and "Hearing Aids" feature in iPods Pro 2 now available in 13 more countries — but still not here in Canada
In September 2024, Apple introduced a slate of new, clinical-grade hearing aid and hearing aid features to the AirPods Pro 2. The features included a hearing health test, allowing AirPods Pro 2 to function as hearing aids, which Apple calls "clinical grade" for moderate hearing loss.
Apple has now expanded the list of countries that can use these features, adding 13 more countries for a total of 169 countries.
Canada is one of the few countries not yet on the list because health is a provincial responsibility, and health authorities across the country have not yet given their approval. Companies that sell hearing aids stand to lose a lot of business once Airpods Pro 2 can be used as hearing aids, and they're lobbying hard to keep the approval from being given.
Here's the official explanation from the BC Ministry of Health…
When the Ministry contemplates regulatory scope of practice changes (including the removal of restricted activities), significant policy work is required to support any possible changes, including:
- cross-jurisdictional scans of present issues and labour mobility;
- extensive consultation with stakeholders, including the public and other health regulators;
- assessment of the financial implications to the patient and government;
- assessment against other Ministry regulatory priorities (e.g. opioid crisis);
- safety and implications of the service for the public, if the service is provided by an unregulated provider.
Since the intended purpose of the Apple AirPods Pro 2 hearing features may be to treat hearing conditions, the use of this product for this purpose may be considered a restricted activity under the Speech and Hearing Health Professionals Regulation in BC. Currently, the Ministry is not engaged in policy work to consider removal of restricted activities in BC, including in relation to dispensing of wearable hearing instruments.
Here's the current list of countries from Apple…
18) Apple's 'F1: The Movie' box office set to pass $400 million USD this weekend
"F1" already had by far Apple's highest opening weekend in theatres, but now it's expected to cross $400 million USD this weekend, becoming one of star Brad Pitt's most successful movies.
In 2024, the question was whether Apple could ever produce a truly hit movie, and "F1" was believed to be its last attempt. Then in late June 2025, it opened to a record — for Apple — of more than $55 million from 3,661 theaters across the US.
The film opened internationally at the same time, and the global box office take was predicted to surpass $300 million by mid-July. Instead, at time of writing on July 18, 2025, the film is estimated to have earned $399,481,913 worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
F1: The Movie is playing here in Victoria at Silver City Tillicum, Cineplex West Shore and Cineplex downtown. It'll be coming soon to IMAX Victoria.
19) Future Apple keyboard could have one key that can pop out and be used as a mouse
Apple will not let go of an idea where a single key on the MacBook Pro keyboard could be taken out, used as a precision mouse, and then popped back in again.
"Deployable Key Mouse," is a newly-granted patent, yet Apple must be really serious about this idea because it was previously granted a near-identical patent for an application filed in 2022 — and in 2020.
It's the work of prolific Apple inventor Paul X. Wang, whose previous research includes plans for a glass keyboard, and who here has a novel idea for using and storing a removable mouse.
What this patent application proposes is that a regular keyboard, such as that on a MacBook Pro, might feature one special key that is removable. Take that Shift key — or perhaps the "Global" key from the Magic Keyboard — and there's your mouse. Your very, very small mouse.
20) Thursday was World Emoji Day 2025
To mark the occasion, here, in order, are the top 10 emojis used in North America so far this year…
If you want to see which emojis are being used the most arounmd the world, EmojiTracker.com has a dashboard displaying that in real time…
22) We've also started compiling a list of our favourite phone apps
The "Our Favourite Apps" list — which will have a lot more added in the coming weeks — is on our home page, and you can also get to it by going to Tech-Talk.ca/apps.
Felicitación (congratulations) to our former homestay student, Majo, who just graduated with honours from Grade 12 at her school in San Rafael, in Mexico!
Majo finished with a grade average of 9.7 out of 10, including 10/10 in Calculus 12. Along with her parents Mario and Josefina, we're very proud of Majo!
We'll reunite with Majo in Paris on Monday, where we'll be joined by five of her fellow Parklands international students from around Europe, with whom she became good friends while here.
…and finally, our "Sign Of The Week"…
And so it goes…