Ask the tech expert: My friend's aunt claims she's good with crypto and is encouraging me to invest $10,000  - but I'm afraid it's a scam

Dear Kim,

A new Facebook friend says she has an aunt who is really good with crypto. 

After a little struggle with names, I verified they are real people. 

The aunt showed me three trades where I made 15 percent with a $500 investment in 10 minutes while I watched on WhatsApp. 

I have lost no money at this point. 

I wanted to know your thoughts before I give the aunt $10,000. 

— Jim from Sacramento, California

Dear Kim, A new Facebook friend says she has an aunt who is really good with crypto. I wanted to know your thoughts before I give the aunt $10,000

Dear Jim 

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Jim. This is a classic pig butchering scam. 

I know it all feels like things just fell into place — and that's the point.

How am I so sure? What's happening here is following the exact script these criminals use. I'll outline it for you.

Cold outreach: It starts with a random text, friend request, DM or comment. 

Sometimes, the person claims it's the wrong number — or they just liked your profile picture. They're friendly and chatty. 

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't keep talking if I hit the wrong number.

Feeding time: Your new friend slowly builds up your trust. 

They want to know about your life, maybe send you photos and tell you about what they're in. 

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After a while, money comes up. It's usually under the guise of an investment opportunity. 

They did so well in crypto that they want to share it with you, too.

Fattening the pig: This is where money changes hands — but only a small amount. 

They'll ask you to test with a small investment. Surprise, your money is growing already! 

The person might send you a video, photos or even an account to log in to where you can see how well your investment is going. 

Slowly but surely, they'll convince you to add more and more to the account.

Slaughter: Now you're convinced and have invested even more. At this stage, victims can be in for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Higher net-worth targets might have millions sitting with the scammer. 

You may realize something is wrong in this phase and ask to remove your money. By now, it's way too late. Enough pushing and the scammer disappears — along with all your money.

It's time to unfriend and block your new pal.

Dear Kim, 

I am a 32-year-old woman with an overprotective single father. This week, I found out he secretly planted an AirTag on my car. 

I value my freedom and privacy very much. I often go out of my way to erase my social media presence. 

Dear Kim, I am a 32-year-old woman with an overprotective single father. This week, I found out he secretly planted an AirTag on my car

I make sure that only a handful of selected friends can contact me and even fewer know what I'm up to. When I was alerted that an unknown AirTag (which I immediately knew where it came from) was following me, I was furious.

I called my father and confronted him. He was surprised I found out and refused to tell me where it was. 

I eventually found the AirTag hidden under my car, glued to a magnet. I honestly just want to disappear and never see him again. 

What do I say to him to make it clear this is not OK?

Dear reader, I'm afraid you're too old for this.

You're in a tough spot – you love your dad but not his controlling nature. It's unreasonable for any father to slap a hidden tracker in a grown daughter's car. 

You definitely need to talk it out with him. 

Explain that hiding a tracker means he doesn't trust you and respect your independence.

He's bound to stress he only put the tracker on your car because he loves and worries about you. 

After all, he's been the only one who raised you. 

That's great, but there are better ways to show it.

Maybe you can call or text him more often to calm him down. 

Tell him that when you're traveling, you'll share an itinerary. Take a self-defense class. 

Be sure he knows that you will turn on real-time tracking if you're ever in a ride share.

You'll only feed the beast if you enable location sharing on your phone or use an app like Life360. You need to set boundaries.

Finally, a few details about Apple AirTags. The AirTag needs to be within approximately 33 feet or 10 meters of an iPhone or other device for its Bluetooth signal to be detected. 

You obviously use an iPhone because it alerts you when an unknown AirTag is near.

For Android users, the process is slightly different. To detect AirTags using an Android device, you can download the 'Tracker Detect' app from Apple, which is available on the Google Play Store. 

In case you are wondering how long the AirTag battery lasts, it's about a year.