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Our promise
Sources & last-checked dates
Every fact in this guide traces to an official, authoritative source, and every page shows the date it was last checked.
How we check our facts
Every figure and recommendation in *Not Born Yesterday* comes from a government agency, a recognized standards body, or a respected security source — never from a company paying to be included. Each page is dated so you can see when it was last checked.
The main sources we rely on
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) — fraud-loss figures and the Elder Fraud Report.
- FBI — public guidance on AI voice-cloning and family "safe words."
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — scam and payment guidance, reporting channels, and the free credit freeze.
- Microsoft — research on how two-factor blocks automated account attacks.
- NIST — current password guidance (length and passphrases over forced complexity).
- IRS, Social Security Administration, and Medicare — how these agencies really contact you.
- U.S. SEC / Investor.gov — checking whether a broker or adviser is registered.
- CISA — consumer guidance on updates, home networks, and backups.
- Have I Been Pwned — the free data-breach lookup.
When we last checked
All sources on this page were last verified June 2026. If something important changes — a tool is discontinued, a rule changes, or a new scam appears — we update the affected page.