If you’re reading this, something worth knowing just happened.
TODAY’S TECH ALERT
The weakest lock
Image: ChatGPT/Kim Komando
🤯 WOW! The same criminal crew has talked its way into Brinks Home and ADT in four months, exposing more than 10 million people between them. No malware, no code. Just a convincing voice on the phone to an employee who wanted to be helpful.
The Short Version: Your alarm still works. Your phone is the problem. Five rules below.
📖 Read time: 2 minute
Brinks Home is one of the biggest names in home security. Alarms, cameras, 24/7 monitoring, that little yard sign that says don’t even think about it. On Aug. 3, the company confirmed burglars got in anyway. Not through a window. Through the phone.
On July 13, a crew called ShinyHunters phoned Brinks employees and sweet-talked them through a fake login. That’s the whole trick. No Hollywood hacking, just a convincing voice. Once inside, they took more than 4.9 million records, including 1.1 million customer contact files and 3.8 million support chat logs. Brinks caught it July 20 and refused to pay. So the crooks dumped 41 gigabytes on the dark web.
📞 A pattern, not a fluke
This same crew pulled an identical stunt on ADT in April. They voice-phished one employee’s sign-on, exposed 5.5 million people, then leaked 11 gigabytes when ADT refused to pay. That was ADT’s third disclosed breach since 2024.
And remember Wyze? In 2024, roughly 13,000 customers were shown camera thumbnails from other people’s homes. About 1,500 tapped one. Before that, Wyze left 2.4 million customer records sitting open online, including Wi-Fi network names.
The industry that sells you locks keeps leaving its own back door propped open.
🚨 What this is NOT
Your alarm still works. Brinks says the crooks hit office systems, not the sensors on your doors or the cameras in your hallway. No sign Social Security or card numbers were in the pile.
💣 Why it’s still dangerous
Those support chat logs are the real problem. Crooks now know what actual customers said to actual Brinks agents. That’s everything they need to sound legitimate: your name, your setup, maybe that billing hiccup from March.
Expect polished calls, texts and emails about verifying your account, lapsed monitoring or breach refunds.
🔑 Lock it down
Treat every call or email from any security company as fake until proven real. Hang up, then dial the number on your bill.
Never share a verification code with a caller. Real companies don’t ask. That code IS the burglary.
Watch for the refund con claiming the company owes you money if you’ll confirm your card. It’s a scam every time.
Brinks or ADT customer? Change your password, and turn on two-factor authentication tonight.
One house rule covers all of it. Money and passwords never move on an incoming call.
They talked their way past the people who sell dead bolts. Turns out the weakest lock in the building answers on the second ring.
📱 Text-worthy: Brinks Home got hacked, 4.9 million records leaked. Same crew hit ADT in April by phoning an employee. Your alarm’s fine, but any call from your security company asking you to verify anything is a scam. Hang up, call the number on your bill.
🎯 Send this to someone who has a security sign in the yard and answers every call.
Photo credit(s): ChatGPT/Kim Komando