How do I tell whether a web address is really the site I think it is?
Where the real domain sits in an address, why everything before it can say anything at all, and the lookalike tricks that survive a quick glance.
beginner8 min3 min read
Security & Privacy
The few habits that actually protect your accounts.
131 guides in Technology
How do I tell whether someone has stolen my identity?
The early warnings people miss, the three credit files to check and how to get them free, and what to do the moment you find something that is not yours.
beginner25 min3 min readMy phone says an unknown tracker is moving with me — what should I do?
Both iPhones and Android phones now warn you when an unknown Bluetooth tracker is travelling with you. What the alert actually means, the innocent explanations to rule out first, and what to do if it is not innocent.
beginner20 min8 min readSomeone has taken over my WhatsApp — how do I get it back?
How the six-digit code gets taken, the re-registration that takes the account straight back, and the PIN that stops it happening twice.
beginner20 min3 min readWhy is my two-factor code not arriving by text?
The mundane causes first — signal, the wrong number, a full inbox, a delay — and then the serious one to rule out. Plus why moving off text codes is the permanent fix.
beginner25 min5 min readWhy is the top result in a search sometimes a scam?
Anyone can pay to sit above the real result, and criminals do. Why the top of a search page is the least trustworthy part of it, the four things they impersonate most, and the two habits that make it a non-issue.
beginner20 min7 min readHow do I check if a website is safe to buy from?
Quick checks that identify most fake shops, and the payment method that protects you when they do not.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I tell whether someone else has access to my phone?
The five routes someone actually gets into a phone, how to check each of them, and why the answer is usually a shared account rather than hidden software.
intermediate40 min4 min readI read out a one-time passcode — what happens now?
What the code was actually authorising, why the message you were sent already told you, and the order to work in during the next thirty minutes.
beginner30 min3 min readWhat is 159 and when should I ring it?
The short code that connects you to your own bank, why it exists, which banks and networks take part, and the one habit it is designed to replace.
beginner6 min3 min readWhich two-factor method should I actually use?
Text message, email, authenticator app, push approval, hardware key and passkey ranked by what each actually defends against, and how to choose per account rather than in general.
beginner12 min3 min readHow do I share passwords with family safely?
Use the sharing built into a password manager, and never send credentials by message or email.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I tell if an online relationship is a scam?
The pattern these follow, the requests that identify one regardless of how the relationship feels, and how to help someone without driving them away.
beginner20 min4 min readI feel stupid for being scammed — how do I get past that and act?
Why intelligence is not what these attacks target, what the delay actually costs in money, and a short script for telling the bank and telling a person.
beginner15 min3 min readIs my phone listening to my conversations to target adverts?
An honest answer to the most common privacy question there is — what the evidence actually shows, why the coincidences feel so precise, and the tracking that genuinely explains them.
beginner8 min3 min readIs this job offer or recruitment message a scam?
The upfront-fee version, the task-and-commission version, the money mule version, and the checks that identify all three before you have lost anything.
beginner10 min3 min readShould I let my browser save my passwords?
What the browser's built-in manager does well, the three specific things it does not, and when moving to a dedicated manager is worth the afternoon.
beginner15 min3 min readShould I use a VPN?
What a VPN does and does not do, when it genuinely helps, and why most of the marketing is overstated.
beginner20 min2 min readWhat should I do if my data was in a breach?
Assessing what was exposed, changing what matters, and the ongoing vigilance that follows a serious breach.
beginner45 min2 min readWhy does my browser say the security certificate is not valid?
What the warning actually checks, why the commonest cause is your own clock, and how to tell a harmless local problem from the one case where the warning is doing its job.
beginner20 min6 min readWhy does one leaked password put my other accounts at risk?
Credential stuffing explained properly: what actually happens to a leaked password, why the site it leaked from barely matters, and why email is the account that decides everything.
beginner8 min3 min readHow do I help someone who is being scammed and will not believe me?
Why the person defends the scammer, what to do instead of arguing, the bank and safeguarding routes that exist, and how to keep the relationship intact for afterwards.
intermediate30 min4 min readHow do I untangle my accounts and devices after a relationship ends?
The order to work in — email first, then the shared account layer, then devices, then the household — and the specific things people forget until months later.
intermediate1 hr 30 min4 min readHow do I wipe a device properly before selling it?
The order of sign-outs and resets that removes your data and unlinks the device from your accounts.
beginner1 hr2 min read
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Product and option comparisons with explicit criteria, rather than a single recommendation.