Honor matches Apple, Samsung, and Google with new update promise for its flagship phones – but how long is 'too long'? - Related to google, 'too, victims, long, begging

Deepfake scam calls are costing British victims hundreds each time - here's how to stay safe

Deepfake calls are claiming thousands of victims, research finds.

The top scam for British victims was fake HMRC calls.

AI deepfake fraud calls are dominating the scam landscape, and are costing British consumers millions of pounds.

A new research from Hiya has detailed the rising risk and deepfake voice scams in the UK and abroad, noting how the rise of generativeAI means deepfakes are more convincing than ever, and attackers can leverage them more frequently too - even going as far as to target businesses and C-suite executives, making deepfakes one of 2024’s biggest cybersecurity dangers.

AI lowers the barriers for criminals to commit fraud, and makes scamming victims easier, faster, and more effective, and the average successful fraudulent call costs the British victim £595 - so here’s what the investigation reveals.

Hiya says it flagged [website] billion global suspected spam calls in Q4 alone in 2024, - 123 million calls per day. Of these, 22% were marked as nuisance calls, and 9% were fraudulent - which may not sound like much, but it means one in ten unexpected calls could cost you hundreds if you’re not careful.

A survey confirmed 26% of UK residents have received voice deepfake calls in the last 12 months - and of those, 40% reported being scammed, 35% reported losing money, and 32% had personal information stolen.

The subject of these was primarily financial and banking scams, making up 11% of the deepfakes, followed closely by insurance, holiday booking, delivery service impersonations (all 8% each).

Overall, Global Anti-Scam Alliance estimates a staggering $[website] trillion was lost to scams worldwide in 2024 - and deepfakes are slowly becoming one of the tools of choice for criminals.

“As we reflect on the last quarter of 2024, it is apparent that AI-powered fraud is becoming more sophisticated than ever, posing a serious threat to consumers and businesses alike," noted Alex Algard, CEO of Hiya.

The top scam in the UK was an impersonation of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - in which victims are told that a criminal case is being taken out against them for tax fraud, and even an arrest warrant has been issued in their name.

This type of fraud aims to panic victims, convincing them that they are in trouble - urging them to hand over bank details, financial information, or personally identifiable information (PII).

It's critical to note that even if the ‘only’ thing a scammer gets access to is your personal data, this still leaves you at a serious risk of identity theft, as criminals will take out loans, credit cards, or bank accounts in your name.

The research comes shortly after another recent study showed when 2000 people were shown deepfake content, only two of them managed to get a perfect score - so everyone should be on their guard.

Voice and video deepfakes are arguably more dangerous though, as they can be seriously convincing. We recommend establishing a safe word with your family and close friends (anyone who might feasibly call you in an emergency) - so that you can be confident that you’re speaking to who you think.

Outside of friends and family, be very wary of any call from someone claiming to be your bank, or a software firm, or any organization with services you use regularly. If your ‘bank’ or HMRC calls, search up their number, call it, and ask to be transferred through to the same person.

Don’t give your information over to someone over the phone, and make sure you change your passwords regularly, and keep unique passwords for every site that holds sensitive information. If you need advice, we’ve compiled a list of the best tricks for creating a secure password.

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Honor matches Apple, Samsung, and Google with new update promise for its flagship phones – but how long is 'too long'?

Honor has showcased a commitment to providing seven years of Android OS and security updates to its latest Magic series devices, including the Honor Magic 7 Pro.

The move brings the burgeoning smartphone manufacturer in line with Apple, Samsung, and Google, all of which provide seven years of software and security updates to their respective flagship smartphones (Apple promises at least five years of updates, but the enterprise regularly tends to previous-generation iPhones beyond that period).

Previously, Honor handsets were typically supported with five years of updates. The best honor phones from 2024 – namely the Honor Magic 6 Pro, Honor Magic V3, and Honor 200 Pro – will remain subject to this original commitment, with the in recent times released Magic 7 Pro becoming the first beneficiary of the business’s new stance.

“By guaranteeing long-term software and security updates, Honor provides Magic Series owners with the confidence that their devices will remain up-to-date, secure, and feature-rich – maximizing the value of their investment and extending the lifespan of the devices,” Honor stated in statement accompanying the announcement, which was made at MWC 2025.

It’s clear, then, that the move is as much a display of Honor’s faith in the longevity of its smartphone hardware as it is a commitment to sustainability (it aligns the brand with the EU's Circular Economy and Ecodesign regulations).

The answer to that question has, I think, changed since Apple began offering seven years of updates to its iPhones (Google and Samsung started doing so more in recent times) – though I suspect that OnePlus would disagree.

In contrast to those brands (and now Honor), OnePlus has committed to offering four years of OS updates and six years of security patches to its latest flagship device, the OnePlus 13, with OnePlus COO Kinder Liu saying in a 2024 interview that longer enhancement policies “miss the point” if the hardware they apply to becomes outdated. Sure, that reads like a self-own ([website] an admission that OnePlus phones won’t last as long as rival models) but Liu’s point holds water for a certain generation of phones: a six-year-old iPhone XR, for instance, can technically run iOS 18, but that doesn’t mean it’ll do so smoothly.

Of course, an Honor Magic 7 Pro is not an iPhone XR; its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and 12GB RAM will undoubtedly give it longevity that phones from yesteryear simply don’t have. That expressed, I don’t think Honor is expecting anyone to actually hold on to the same phone for seven years – this is more a case of the enterprise aligning itself with the big boys so it can’t be criticized for not doing so.

Still, the more updates, the merrier. Offering as-long-as-possible improvement support can only be a good thing for consumers, provided that the hardware in question can indeed live up to the billing in seven years' time. Come back to us in 2032.

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If you don’t use these PC security essentials, you’re begging to be hacked

Once upon a time, you could assume you were pretty safe on the internet, so long as you were careful. But that’s changed. Through no fault of your own, your data can leak, your passwords can become compromised, and you can more easily fall prey to malware.

In 2025, you should assume online attacks are commonplace. The continued rise in use of AI is only accelerating their speed and sophistication, and that shift won’t slow.

To help, we previously outlined 10 simple security tweaks that keep you from getting hacked. But if it’s not clear what software or gear to arm yourself with overall, not to worry, the list below tells you the basics I recommend for broad protection.

As mentioned above, even if you’re careful, the potential of being exposed to phishing sites, malware, ransomware, and other threats is higher than ever. So having good antivirus software at your back is vital.

At the most basic level, you should have Microsoft’s built-in Windows Security antivirus suite active. (Which it should be, so long as you haven’t messed with its settings.) These days, Microsoft’s antivirus protection can be trusted and it runs unobtrusively in the background.

Paid antivirus software like Norton 360 Deluxe (our current favorite pick for antivirus) offers an extra helping hand. It simplifies the wider branches of security defense by providing additional aspects like dark web monitoring, VPN service, and a password manager, then integrating them into a single interface.

Whether part of an antivirus suite or an independent service, a password manager is necessary to track strong, unique logins across the web. But equally crucial, they can help minimize how much of your personal data is saved across the web.

For example, instead of allowing individual shopping sites to keep your credit card info or physical address on file, you can maintain privacy (and security) by storing those details in your password manager. You’ll be less at risk for basic fraud if someone gets unauthorized access to your account (no ability to use your credit card to buy things), or personalized scams based on leaked data through breaches.

The simplest choice is the password managers offered by Google or Apple, though Google has the edge due to being available on more platforms. While on the basic side, they’ve come a long way, and work well to combat the temptation of using weak passwords (or worse, reusing them).

Upgrading to an independent service like Bitwarden or Dashlane opens up more elements, like unrestricted password sharing, shared vaults for families, emergency access, and monitoring for compromised passwords. The two services named here are our top picks for best free password manager and best password manager, respectively, but you can check out our full recommendations for more options.

These days, you want more than just a lone password standing between you and a bad actor. Two-factor authentication (aka multi-factor authentication) adds a second checkpoint to clear before you can access an account—meaning that even if a hacker steals or deduces your password, they won’t have all the info needed to log in successfully.

If you have the option, the simple way to use 2FA is through app-generated one-time codes. They’re more secure than codes sent over text message (SMS), which have a risk of being intercepted. Authy is popular among our staff, as you can use it across multiple platforms, limit access to new devices, and restrict app access with a PIN or biometric authentication.

Google Authenticator is also another alternative, though it’s not quite so full-featured and requires a Google account to back up your codes to the cloud. For the more cautious, Aegis and Raivo allow you to store your codes locally on your device (though you’ll need to back these up, in case your phone bites the dust).

While you can store 2FA tokens in a password manager, I recommend two separate apps—just on the off chance your vault is compromised, the attacker won’t get full access to all your accounts.

Yep, what you have in your pocket (or on your desk) can be a powerful security tool. If you hate passwords and 2FA, you can use your phone or PC to log into your accounts in a different way—via passkeys.

Passkeys are fast, easy, and arguably simpler than passwords. You don’t have to memorize them—you just save the passkey to your device. Plus, they’re tied to the device you’ve stored them on, so they can’t be stolen and used by hackers the way passwords can. And all you need is biometric authentication or PIN to authorize a passkey’s use.

Mobile devices and computers alike support passkeys—you can save them to your phone, PC, or both. They’re uniquely generated per device, but you can generate as many as the website will allow.

Sadly, not every every site or service supports passkeys yet. Many major ones do, like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Best Buy, Target, etc, but integration is still rolling out across the web. So for those other sites—you’ll still want to use the combo of good password + 2FA.

You know to use unique (and strong) passwords for your accounts. But random unique user names are now a good idea, too.

If you’re on a budget, at least consider email masks for your most sensitive accounts (financial, medical, etc).

Not every website supports software-based codes for two-factor authentication. Some only support SMS codes, which aren’t as secure. (Banks are the worst offenders.) Hackers know this, which means they sometimes resort to SIM jacking to steal codes.

To lower this risk, some people only share their real phone number with valuable or sensitive services like financial and medical institutions. For everything else, they give out their Google Voice number—a service available to anyone with a personal Google account. You get a US-based phone number that you can use for calls and texts through Google’s desktop website or mobile apps. You can also forward any calls to your real number. No one knows it’s not the number issued by your cell phone carrier.

Why not do the reverse? Many banks won’t send 2FA one-time codes to a VOIP number, so Google Voice numbers don’t qualify. It’s a pity, too, since Google Voice numbers can’t be SIM jacked.

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