My friend Lisa called me last night, voice shaking. Someone had cleaned out her PayPal. Then her Amazon. Then they tried her bank. Three accounts in 40 minutes. The criminals never touched her passwords. They didn’t have to.

They had her email.

10 SIMPLE CYBERSECURITY RESOLUTIONS FOR A SAFER 2026

Think about what lives in yours right now. Bank statements. Medical results. Your retirement account, your mortgage company, every streaming service, every store you’ve ever bought anything from. And here’s the part that should stop you cold: every password reset link on the planet gets delivered straight to your inbox.

A criminal doesn’t need to hack your bank. They just need your inbox. One account. Every other door swings wide open. That’s not a flaw in the system. That’s how email was designed to work. And most people protect it with the same password they’ve been using since the Bush administration.

Nope. Not anymore.

The criminal goes to your bank’s website. Click “forgot password” and type in your email address. The bank sends a reset link to your inbox. The criminal, already inside your email, clicks it, creates a new password and walks right in. Then they do it to your Amazon. Your PayPal. Your brokerage. Your health insurance portal.

Each account takes about 60 seconds. It’s less effort than ordering a pizza.

The FBI calls this account takeover fraud, and it cost Americans $2.7 billion last year alone. The part that should really bother you: 81% of victims said they thought they were “pretty careful” about security beforehand. (Their words, not mine).

BE AWARE OF EXTORTION SCAM EMAILS CLAIMING YOUR DATA IS STOLEN

If your email password is under 16 characters or reused anywhere else, change it today. I use NordPass ($1.43 a month) to generate passwords that look like a cat walked across my keyboard. You remember one master password. It handles the rest. That’s the whole deal.

Two-factor means even if someone steals your password, they still can’t get in without a second code. Good. But here’s what most people don’t know: SMS text codes can be hijacked through something called a SIM swap attack. A criminal calls your cell carrier, sweet-talks a customer service rep and transfers your phone number to their device. Now your “secure” text codes go straight to them.

Use Google Authenticator instead. It generates codes on your physical phone, not through your carrier. Go to your email account’s security settings and swap SMS verification for an authenticator app. Takes five minutes.

NEW EMAIL SCAM USES HIDDEN CHARACTERS TO SLIP PAST FILTERS

Every time you clicked “Sign in with Google” to access some website or app, you handed that app a key to your email. Some of those apps can read your messages. Some can send emails posing as you. I did this audit last year and found 34 apps with access to my Gmail. Thirty-four. Apps I’d completely forgotten existed, still holding a master key to everything.

Go here right now: myaccount.google.com > Security > Third-party apps with account access. Revoke anything you don’t recognize or actively use. Gone.

Your bank has a fraud department. Your credit card has zero-liability protection. Your email? Nobody’s covering that one but you.

Twenty minutes. Three moves. Lisa wishes she’d done it on a boring Sunday afternoon instead of a panicked Tuesday night.

Your inbox is either a fortress or an open door. There’s no in between. And unlike your front door, this one doesn’t even need a deadbolt. Just strong security.

Kim Komando is America’s Digital Goddess, heard on 510 radio stations nationwide. For more tips on staying safe online, visit Komando.com.

Actor Vince Vaughn said late-night talk shows have all become the “same” and are too “agenda-based” for people to watch.

“I think that the talk shows to a large part became really agenda-based,” Vaughn said Tuesday. “They were going to [evangelize] people to what they thought. You know what I mean? And so people just rejected it because it didn’t feel authentic. It felt like they had an agenda. It stopped being funny and it started feeling like I was f—— in a class I didn’t want to take. You know? I’m getting scolded.”

The “Wedding Crashers” actor made the remarks on Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast after Von noted how late-night shows have been struggling after only targeting “White redneck kind of people” in their comedy routines.

MARK NORMAND SAYS LATE NIGHT IS ‘DYING’ — HOW THE STAND-UP COMIC KEEPS UP IN A CHANGING COMEDY SCENE

Vaughn added that people have likely become more drawn to podcasts over late-night shows for authenticity and to “feel like people are having a real conversation.”

“If you look at what happened to the talk shows and why their ratings are low, it’s got only to do with the fact of what you just said, which is they all became the same show. And they all became so about their politics and who’s good and who’s bad. And it’s like, imagine sitting next to someone like that on a f—— plane,” Vaughn said.

VINCE VAUGHN DISCUSSES BACKLASH HE RECEIVED AFTER THE ACTOR WAS SEEN CHATTING WITH TRUMP EARLIER THIS YEAR

Vaughn has been criticized in the past for images of himself interacting and acting cordial with President Donald Trump going back as far as 2020. Last year, he visited the White House and took a “Wedding Crashers” parody photo with the president.

Von asked whether he had ever felt ostracized by Hollywood because of his beliefs and actions.

“I got along with people for the most and always was, you know, always try to be honest about who I am. But yeah, there’s times you felt like it would have been easier. It’s almost like a career move. You know what I mean? But I was always the other way too. Like I’m not jumping on 100% this or this because I have opinions on both sides. There’s s— I don’t agree with at all and then there’s s— I don’t agree with at all,” Vaughn said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Vaughn has described himself as a libertarian and said that he ultimately believes in “allowing individuals to make choices.”

“I’d rather say let people make their choices, and they can make different choices and have the consequences of their choices,” he told The New York Times in 2024.

The state of Minnesota is suing the Trump administration for access to evidence related to a series of shootings involving federal agents that sparked condemnation from Democrats during a federal crackdown on illegal immigration. 

The lawsuit, filed in Washington D.C., by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO), the state, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, names the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, as well as the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as defendants. 

The suit seeks evidence related to the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and non-fatal shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, an illegal immigrant, saying federal authorities are intentionally withholding the materials. 

TRUMP CONFIRMS FEDERAL REVIEW OF MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING THAT KILLED NURSE: ‘REVIEWING EVERYTHING’

Federal and local authorities have sparred over information about the shootings, which occurred during the administration’s massive crackdown. 

“It is extraordinary that we need to file this lawsuit at all,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said. “Cooperation between federal and state law enforcement in Minnesota is entirely routine: local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies on the ground in Minnesota have decades of relationships with each other and share a desire to solve crime and keep people safe.”

“It should go without saying that we share jurisdiction with the federal government in this case: these incidents happened in Minnesota and fall under state law, regardless of the fact that federal agents are involved,” he added. 

Minnesota officials have blamed federal agents for the shootings, despite immigration authorities facing opposition from anti-ICE agitators while trying to arrest criminal illegal immigrants.

“These shootings are just three examples of the violent actions committed by federal agents in Minnesota during the Surge,” the complaint said. “Federal agents also carried out illegal stops, sweeps, arrests, and dangerous raids in sensitive public spaces. The Surge created widespread fear among Minnesota residents, both citizens and noncitizens.”

GOP SEN. CASSIDY BREAKS WITH TRUMP OVER DEADLY SHOOTING BY BORDER PATROL AGENT IN MINNEAPOLIS

Good was shot and killed on Jan. 7 when she attempted to ram her vehicle into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, DHS said. 

Pretti was fatally shot on Jan. 24 while confronting agents, which sparked outrage among critics of the surge. Sosa-Celis was shot on Jan. 14 after authorities said he attacked them with a shovel.

However, charges against the Venezuelan national were dismissed after video evidence suggested the officers involved may have made “untruthful statements,” ICE Director Todd Lyons said at the time. 

Operation Metro Surge ended soon after the Pretti shooting and federal agents were pulled out of Minnesota in February. 

The lawsuit alleges that the federal government’s policy of withholding evidence is unlawful and prevents local authorities from fulfilling a core duty to the people of Minnesota.

“That responsibility rests primarily with Minnesota’s law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities — in this case, Plaintiffs — who must gather the evidence, evaluate the facts, and decide whether Minnesota criminal law was violated,” it states.