Plus: Meta officially kills encrypted Instagram DMs, the Trump administration targets “violent left wing extremists,” leaked documents reveal Russia's school for elite hackers, and more.
If you have ever checked your child’s grades online, submitted a college paper through a school portal, downloaded homework assignments, or received messages from a teacher through a classroom app, there is a good chance you have used Canvas, a nationwide learning management system that was just in a massive data breach.
This is exactly the moment McAfee+ Advanced was built for. With our built-in Scam Detector to flag risky links, QR codes, and deepfakes; Identity Monitoring that alerts you when your data appears where it shouldn’t; and Personal Data Cleanup that removes your information from the dark web and data brokers, McAfee+ Advanced is an all-in-one solution for protection after a data breach.
Now let’s get into what you need to know about this breach:
Who Is Behind the Canvas Breach?
The ransomware group ShinyHunters is claiming responsibility for the attack. The group alleges it stole roughly 275 million records tied to nearly 9,000 schools and educational institutions worldwide.
How Did the Canvas Cyberattack Happen?
Instructure, the company behind Canvas, confirmed a cyber incident affecting its cloud-hosted environment. The attackers later posted claims about the breach on their leak site, where ransomware groups pressure organizations into paying by threatening to release stolen data publicly.
What Information Was Stolen in the Canvas Breach?
The stolen data reportedly includes:
Student names
Teacher and staff names
Email addresses
Student IDs
Course and enrollment information
School-related records
ShinyHunters claims the breach exposed roughly 275 million records and more than 231 million unique email addresses.
How Could the Canvas Data Breach Impact Families and Students?
Even if financial information was not exposed, this kind of data can still be extremely valuable to scammers. Criminals can use real school names, real classes, teacher names, and student information to create highly convincing phishing emails, fake school alerts, scholarship scams, tuition scams, or password reset messages.
A scam message referencing your child’s actual school or assignment is much harder to spot as fake.
This is what a Canvas message might look like when forwarded to your email inbox. Hackers claim to have millions of these types of messages.
This is a real message from Canvas from a community college professor after yours truly took an anthropology class for fun during the pandemic. It’s full of links to apply for programs and reach out to professors. It has exact details about courses I’ve taken.
While this correspondence is real, it’s exactly the type of messaging that scammers could fake and replicate, replacing real links with fake “paid” opportunities to pursue degrees.
Now think of the millions of messages and specific scenarios scammers have access to, to create dubious and convincing scams. That’s why protecting yourself after a breach is key.
What To Do Right Now
Here are some actions you can take immediately ot protect yourself after this breach:
Change you or your child’s Canvas password immediately, and update any other accounts where they reuse that password
Turn on multi-factor authentication(2FA) on parent and student accounts wherever the school permits it — Instructure’s own post-incident guidance specifically called out enforcing MFA as a recommended precaution
Ask your school what identity protection is being offered if sensitive data was involved
Consider placing a credit freeze on your or your child’s file to block new accounts from being opened in their name
Avoid clicking links in any messages that reference the breach, go directly to the official site instead
And that, my friends, is issue number one in this week’s This Week in Scams. Let’s get into what else is on our radar in cybersecurity and scam news.
Fake Amazon Recall Texts Are Targeting Shoppers
Your phone buzzes. It’s a text from an unknown number, but the message looks official.
“Dear Amazon Customer, we are writing to inform you that an item from your March 2026 order has been identified for recall.” There’s an order number. A link at the top of the message. A note about quality standards and a refund waiting for you.
It looks real. It has the Amazon logo, the branded formatting, even a reference to the “Amazon Customer Safety Team.” The only thing it doesn’t have? Any connection to Amazon at all.
A photo of a scam recall text I received this week. Luckily Scam Detector flags the link as risky if you try to click.
This is a fake Amazon recall scam, and it is making the rounds right now. The goal is to get you to click that link, which takes you to a site designed to harvest your login credentials, payment information, or both.
If you get a text like this, do not click the link. Go directly to amazon.com in your browser, log in, and check your orders and messages from there. Amazon does not initiate recall or refund processes through unsolicited texts with outside links.
What Is a Fake Amazon Recall Scam And How Does It Work?
A fake Amazon recall scam is a text message or email in which criminals impersonate Amazon to convince you that one of your recent orders has been flagged for a product recall. The message directs you to an external link leading to a phishing site designed to steal your Amazon credentials, credit card details, or personal information.
Red Flags To Watch For
The text comes from an unknown number, not a short code or verified sender
The link goes to a domain that is not amazon.com
The message asks you to complete a refund through an external link
Small typos or awkward phrasing appear in what looks like official communication
The greeting says “Dear Amazon Customer” rather than your actual name
What To Do If You Get One
Do not click the link
Go to amazon.com directly and check your orders and account notifications
Where McAfee Steps In (So You Don’t Have to Guess)
Scams today are layered. A fake email leads to stolen credentials. A breach leads to targeted phishing. And those follow-ups are getting harder to spot.
With McAfee+ Advanced, multiple layers work together so you’re not left figuring it out after the damage is done:
Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast
With the launch of the first 16 satellites, Russia begins construction of a network for satellite internet that aims to cover the entire country by 2030. But getting there won’t be easy.
Thousands of schools around the US were paralyzed on Thursday after education tech firm Instructure shut down access to its Canvas platform following a breach by hackers going by the name ShinyHunters.
Chrome users were caught off guard by a 4-GB Google AI model baked into Chrome, sparking privacy concerns. The good news: You can easily uninstall it. The bad? You might not want to.
According to McAfee’s 2026 State of the Scamiverse report, Americans now spend 114 hours a year trying to figure out what’s real and what’s fake online. That’s nearly three full workweeks lost to second-guessing messages, alerts, and links.
And when scams do succeed, they move quickly. The typical scam unfolds in about 38 minutes, leaving little room for hesitation.
That creates a gap: People want to check before they act, but the tools haven’t always met them in that moment.
ChatGPT + McAfee is designed to close that gap, bringing scam detection directly to a platform people are already using to ask questions and make decisions.
And it’s available to anyone. You don’t have to be a McAfee subscriber.
This isn’t just detection. It’s guidance in the exact moment you’re deciding what to do.
Instead of guessing, you can paste a message or drop in a screenshot and get a clear explanation of what’s risky, and what to do next, powered by McAfee’s threat intelligence.
What You Can Do with ChatGPT + McAfee
With this integration, checking something suspicious becomes as simple as asking a question.
Paste a message. Drop in a link. Upload a screenshot.
McAfee analyzes it and explains what’s going on clearly and in context.
Here’s how it works:
Feature
What it does
How it protects you
Link safety check
Paste a suspicious URL and get a reputational analysis based on McAfee threat intelligence
Scam links are often designed to look legitimate. A quick check helps avoid phishing and malware
Message analysis
Submit texts, emails, or social messages for evaluation
Many scams now rely on urgency and tone. Analysis helps surface subtle red flags
Screenshot uploads
Upload screenshots of messages, emails, or posts for review
Scams don’t always come as clean text. This makes it easier to check what you’re actually seeing
Clear explanations
Get a breakdown of why something is flagged as risky or safe
Not just a warning—an explanation that helps you recognize patterns next time
Guided next steps
Receive recommendations on what to do next
Helps prevent escalation, especially in moments of uncertainty
It’s a quick, accessible way to get answers in the moment. But it’s just one part of a broader system designed to protect you more comprehensively.
Behind the scenes, ChatGPT + McAfee is powered by the same intelligence that fuels McAfee’s broader scam protection ecosystem.
When you submit something for review:
Links are checked against known threat signals
Messages are analyzed for scam patterns and language cues
Results are translated into clear, human-readable explanations
The goal isn’t just to flag risk. It’s to help you understand it.
A New Way to Stay Ahead of Scams
Scams aren’t slowing down. If anything, they’re becoming more convincing, more personalized, and harder to detect.
That’s where ChatGPT + McAfee comes in. But this is only one part of a much bigger system designed to protect you before, during, and after a scam attempt.
With McAfee+ Advanced, multiple layers work together so you’re not left figuring it out after the damage is done:
Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast
Companies like Lovable, Base44, Replit, and Netlify use AI to let anyone build a web app in seconds—and in thousands of cases, spill highly sensitive data onto the public internet.
To stop children from bypassing its age checks, Meta is revamping its age-verification tools with an AI system that analyzes images and videos for “visual cues,” such as height and bone structure.
It's not just you. Scammers, hackers, and other cybercriminals are complaining about “AI shit” flooding platforms where they discuss cyberattacks and other illegal activity.
Using a 1930s trade law, Homeland Security targeted the man—who hasn’t entered the US in more than a decade—following posts on X condemning the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
The exploit, dubbed CopyFail and tracked as CVE-2026-31431, allows hackers to take over PCs and data center servers. The Linux vulnerabilities have been patched—but many machines remain at risk.
You’re scrolling through Facebook or TikTok and see it.
A flash sale from a brand you recognize. A limited-time investment opportunity. A job posting that promises quick money.
The ad has comments. The account looks polished. Maybe someone you follow even liked it.
So you click.
From there, things move fast. You’re pushed to act quickly, enter your information, or send payment before the “deal” disappears. And just like that, the money is gone or your account is compromised.
This isn’t an edge case anymore. According to new FTC data, nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to a scam in 2025 said it started on social media, with total losses hitting $2.1 billion.
That’s why McAfee+ Advanced includes comprehensive protection designed to help you spot and stop scams at every step, including McAfee’s Scam Detector, which flags suspicious links and messages and explains why they may be risky, along with identity and privacy tools that help protect your information if a scam slips through.
How Social Media Ad Scams Work
A social media ad scam is when scammers use paid ads, fake profiles, or hijacked accounts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok to promote fake products, services, or investment opportunities in order to steal money or personal information.
Step
What happens
What to do
How McAfee helps
1
You see an ad, post, or DM promoting a deal, job, or investment
Don’t engage immediately, even if it looks legitimate
Scam Detector flags suspicious links and messages before you interact
2
The ad links to a website or moves you into DMs
Avoid clicking unfamiliar links or continuing off-platform
Safe Browsing helps block risky or newly created websites
3
You’re pressured to act quickly or “secure your spot”
Slow down and verify the company independently
Scam Detector explains urgency tactics and why they’re risky
4
You’re asked to pay, share login info, or download something
Never send money or credentials based on a social media interaction
Identity Monitoring helps protect your personal data if exposed
5
The product never arrives, the investment disappears, or your account is compromised
Report the scam and secure your accounts immediately
Personal Data Cleanup and monitoring help reduce ongoing exposure
Red Flags To Watch For
Deals that feel unusually cheap or urgent
Ads linking to unfamiliar or slightly misspelled websites
Requests to move conversations off-platform quickly
Payment requests via apps, crypto, or wire transfer
Accounts with limited history or inconsistent engagement
And that is the first part of This Week in Scams! This Friday we’re taking a different format to talk about this new FTC data and all that it reveals.
Let’s keep digging in:
FTC Report: Social Media Scams Are Now The Most Costly Fraud Channel
New data from the FTC shows just how dominant social media has become in the scam landscape.
Social media scams drove $2.1 billion in reported losses in 2025
Losses have increased eightfold since 2020
Investment scams alone accounted for $1.1 billion of those losses
Where Scams Are Happening And What’s Changing
Category
What to know
Most common scams
Shopping scams lead, with over 40% of victims reporting purchases from social media ads that never arrived
Most costly scams
Investment scams drive the biggest losses, often starting with ads or group chats showing fake success
What’s changing
Scammers are using platform tools like ads, targeting, and profile data to reach people more precisely than ever
OpenAI is rolling out Advanced Account Security for people concerned that their ChatGPT or Codex accounts could be potential targets of phishing attacks.
The war in Iran has drawn attention to arrests in the United Arab Emirates over online content, but the legal framework behind that enforcement has existed for years.
AI agents may soon be buying your stuff for you. The FIDO Alliance has teamed up with Google and Mastercard to try to ensure that shopping in the near future isn't a complete disaster.
A 31-year-old engineer and self-described indie game developer is suspected of firing shots at the annual event attended by President Donald Trump, high-profile media figures, and US government officials.
Plus: Spy firms tap into a global telecom weakness to track targets, 500,000 UK health records go up for sale on Alibaba, Apple patches a revealing notification bug, and more.
A new scam making the rounds takes a familiar delivery trick and upgrades it with hyper‑realistic messaging and a QR code that looks safe to scan.
But don’t be fooled.
It’s the same delivery scam playbook scammers have relied on for years, just repackaged with better design and more convincing details.
You get a message with a notice that looks something like this, a real message received by our team and tested against McAfee’s Scam Detector.
This is an example of the scam message we received, impersonating the USPS.
That added layer of realism is what makes this version more dangerous. But it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. McAfee’s Scam Detector flagged both the suspicious language and the QR code in this message before any interaction.
If you receive something like this, pause. Do not scan the code.
You can also protect yourself with McAfee’s Scam Detector, which flags suspicious links and messages, including delivery scams and QR‑based attacks, and explains why they may be risky.
What is the USPS QR Code Scam and How Does it Work?
The USPS QR code scam is a phishing attempt where scammers impersonate postal services and use QR codes instead of clickable links to direct victims to malicious websites.
Once scanned, the QR code can lead to a fake USPS page that asks for payment, login credentials, or personal information.
How the scam works
Step
What happens
The red flags
What to do
How McAfee helps
1
You receive a text about a delivery issue or missed package
Requests for small “redelivery” or “processing” fees are not normal
Exit immediately and do not submit anything
Scam Detector explains why the page is risky, and Identity Monitoring supports you when if your info gets out.
What To Do If You Get This Message
Do not scan the QR code
Go directly to the official USPS website to check tracking
Delete the message
Report it as spam
Monitor your accounts if you interacted with it
And that, my friends, is scam number one in this week’s This Week in Scams.
Let’s get into what else is on our radar.
A Major Health Data Breach Exposes 500,000 Records
A massive health data incident is raising new concerns about how sensitive information is handled and shared.
According to reporting from the Associated Press, data tied to 500,000 participants in a major U.K. health research project was found listed for sale online. The dataset included biological and health-related information, though it did not contain direct identifiers like names or contact details.
Access to the data had been granted to research institutions, but that access has since been revoked. Authorities say no purchases were made, and the listing has been removed.
Still, the situation highlights a growing reality: once data is accessed or shared, control over it becomes harder to guarantee.
What This Breach Says About Data Privacy
Scams are no longer isolated events. They are layered.
A data breach does not just stay a breach. It becomes fuel for future scams. Exposed information can be used to make phishing messages more convincing, personalize attacks, and build trust with targets.
That is why detection alone is not enough anymore. Protection has to account for both incoming threats and what happens when data is already out there.
How McAfee Protects You In A World of Scams and Data Breaches
McAfee+ Advanced gives you multiple layers working together so you are not left figuring it out after the damage is done:
Identity Monitoring alerts you if your personal info shows up where it should not, so you can act fast
Personal Data Cleanup helps remove your information from data broker sites, making you harder to target in the first place
Scam Detector flags suspicious texts, emails, links, and even deepfake videos before you engage
Safe Browsing helps block risky sites if you do click
A US surveillance program that lets the FBI view Americans’ communications without a warrant is up for renewal. A new bill aims to address mounting lawmaker concerns—with smoke and mirrors.
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