What is cache on my iPhone? Cache is a collection of temporary files that apps and websites store locally on your device to speed up loading, browsing, and your overall session. For example, Safari saves images or scripts from sites so they don’t have to download again. It’s helpful, but too much cache can slow your iPhone down, so clearing it regularly keeps performance smooth. Also: Cookie pop-ups don’t have to be a fact of life online – how I block them and whyClearing cache only removes temporary data, not your bookmarks, messages, photos, or passwords. Offloading an app also preserves your data and settings if you want to reinstall it later, but deleting an app wipes everything for a full reset. Is cache the same as cookies? Cache and cookies aren’t the same. Cache stores copies of images, scripts, and other elements so websites load faster next time. Cookies, on the other hand, save personal data like logins, preferences, and shopping cart items. While clearing cache removes saved page files, deleting cookies erases your logins and settings, requiring you to sign in and reconfigure preferences. How often should I clear the cache on my iPhone? It depends, but a good habit is to clear your browser cache monthly and restart your iPhone daily or at least once a week. You should also regularly offload or delete apps you don’t use, especially if they’re taking up too much space or acting glitchy. Can I clear cache in other browsers or apps? Yes. Browsers like Firefox and Edge have their own cache-clearing options. But in my experience, many apps don’t let you manage cache. Some of the more popular ones do, like TikTok and Snapchat, which you can find directly in their settings. Can you block cookies on an iPhone? You can block cookies in Safari. Turning them off stops sites from tracking you, but it can also break some websites or limit features. So you’ll need to weigh privacy against usability. If you’d like to block cookies in Safari, follow these steps: Go to Settings > Safari > Advanced.Toggle on “Block All Cookies.”Also: The best secure browsers for privacyThere are also third-party extensions — such as Ghostery More

SOPA Images / Contributor / Getty Images ZDNET’s key takeaways PayPal and Venmo experienced an outage Friday morning. Affected accounts couldn’t send or receive payments. PayPal has since fixed the problem, and Venmo and PayPal are working again Did you have trouble with PayPal or Venmo this morning? You weren’t alone. The problem has been […] More

The call comes. And your instinct is to react instantly.
Screenshot by ZDNet
We all think we’re invulnerable. Until life events — or callous cyberscamming sorts — prove otherwise.

One momentary lapse of judgment, one careless moment of instant reaction, and we can descend into a hole from which it’s hard to emerge.A particularly cruel scam involves preying on those — the elderly or those not well versed with officialdom, for example — who are most willing to believe an official-sounding phone call is real.The caller may claim — as did one I received the other day — that they’re from the “Department of Taxes.” They may claim that a member of your family has been arrested and needs to have their bail paid. And, as panic may set in, the request is simple: you can make this all go away with some gift cards.See also: Shopping online? FBI says beware of these holiday scams and phishing threats.That may sound completely scammish to most, but not to all. Yet, how can you get through to the most vulnerable?Cybersecurity platform Scam Spotter, a non-profit collaboration between the Cybercrime Support Network and Google, is trying something different. Instead of dire warnings that may not get through in a relatively dire world, it’s gone for the action movie treatment.

Its new ad shows us a grandmother receiving a call late at night.”Your granddaughter has been incarcerated in a foreign jail,” begins the robotic voice. “She has provided your number as a family representative to pay her bail. The only form of payment we accept is gift cards.”Because that’s the currency of most foreign countries. Everyone knows that.In this case, however, instead of presenting grandma as a victim, Scam Spotter turns her into an action hero.

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She’s not going to pay with gift cards out of fear. She has quite another gift in mind.Fortunately, she’s adept at driving very fast, leaping very high, piloting a helicopter, skydiving with accuracy, and disabling horrible little men.She rescues her teenage grandaughter with consummate aplomb, as this message appears: “If it sounds unbelievable, it probably is.”A lesson for life, not merely for scams.See also: Google disrupts massive phishing and malware campaign.Scam Spotter’s website offers simple rules to go by when you receive one of these calls: Don’t fall for the apparent urgency of the situation. Double-check the details. (There really is no Department of Taxes.) And never, ever send anything to these people.”No reputable person or agency will ever demand payment on the spot,” says Scam Spotter.The scammers keep doing it because people keep falling for it. Scam Spotter is, at least, trying a different way to attack an issue that causes so much needless suffering.One can only hope it works. Or begins to work. Or has at least a tiny effect. More

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged 474 individuals for participating in COVID-19 scams and fraudulent activity. 

To some cybercriminals, the coronavirus pandemic is nothing more than an opportunity for profit. We’ve seen everything from fake COVID ‘treatments’ and protective equipment suppliers touting their goods online to phishing email and text vaccine appointment campaigns, and now, dubious vendors are going so far as to try and sell counterfeit vaccines and proof documents in the underground. Law enforcement worldwide has tried to clamp down on such activities and organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO) are constantly releasing advice on the latest scams. In an update published last week, the DoJ said that 474 defendants to date have been publicly charged “with criminal offenses based on fraud schemes connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.” The US agency says that these alleged criminals are responsible for trying to fraudulently obtain at least $569 million from consumers and the US government itself across 56 federal districts.  Investigations conducted by law enforcement have revealed a variety of scams including operations targeting the US Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, and Unemployment Insurance (UI) scheme, all designed to assist businesses and citizens during the pandemic.  In total, 120 individuals have been charged with PPE fraud, including:Business owners inflating payroll expenses to secure large loansShell company creators with no actual payroll applying for financial helpOrganized criminal gangs submitting carbon-copy applications for loans under the names of different companies

One of the department’s latest COVID-19-related convictions centered around Dinesh Sah, a resident of Coppell, Texas. The 55-year-old pleaded guilty last week for conducting fraud to obtain $24.8 million in PPP loans and laundering the payments.  When it comes to EIDL, designed to provide SMB loans, criminals have also applied for assistance on behalf of non-existent, new, and shell companies.  UI fraud is rife, too, with at least 140 individuals suspected of committing these activities. The DoJ says suspects include “identity thieves to prison inmates” who have conducted identity theft to apply for unemployment benefits. In one case, a defendant from Virginia pleaded guilty to obtaining close to half a million dollars on behalf of individuals ineligible for UI, including those currently incarcerated.  “We will not allow American citizens or the critical benefits programs that have been created to assist them to be preyed upon by those seeking to take advantage of this national emergency,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the DoJ’s Civil Division. “We are proud to work with our law enforcement partners to hold wrongdoers accountable and to safeguard taxpayer funds.”  In other coronavirus news, Facebook has frozen a page belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for repeatedly breaking the social media giant’s rules on COVID-19 misinformation, including the promotion of fake herbal cures for the disease. As a result, the Venezuelan official will be unable to post for 30 days. False coronavirus claims were previously deleted and hidden by Facebook and Twitter after being published by former US President Donald Trump. Previous and related coverage Have a tip? Get in touch securely via WhatsApp | Signal at +447713 025 499, or over at Keybase: charlie0 More

When is October Prime Day 2025? This year, Amazon’s October Prime Day sale runs on October 7 and October 8. The annual sale will last for two days in the fall, and you can expect to see a range of deals on household goods, tech gadgets, and electronics, including laptops, PCs, and headphones. Are headphones really cheaper on Prime Day? Yes, you can find headphones at discounted prices during Prime Day. I spend a lot of time testing headphones and tracking their retail and discounted prices. All of the headphones, earbuds, and Bluetooth speakers included in this list are discounted from their original sale price. How did we choose these October Prime Day deals?ZDNET authors only write about deals that interest us personally and include products that we own or want to buy. Our experts looked for deals that were at least 20% off (or are normally not on sale, as is often the case with Apple devices), using established price comparison tools and trackers to determine whether the deal actually represents value for your money.We also explored customer reviews to find out what matters to those who already own and use the products and deals we’re recommending. Our recommendations may also be based on our own testing. More