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‘Schemes stacked upon schemes’: $1B human-services fraud fuels scrutiny of Minnesota’s Somali community
A series of sprawling fraud schemes involving hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from Minnesota taxpayers — from COVID-relief programs to housing and autism services — has placed the state’s Somali community under a renewed, intense spotlight, raising uncomfortable questions about whether some who found refuge here are robbing their new neighbors blind.
These swirling fraud cases — and claims that some ill-gotten gains were diverted to the Somali terrorist organization Al-Shabaab — have now prompted a House investigation, a Treasury Department probe and mounting political pressure on state leaders, including Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, over why Minnesota failed to safeguard taxpayer money.
The fraud revelations, combined with a string of violent crimes and revived terror concerns involving Somali-linked defendants, have shaken public confidence and raised urgent questions about why Minnesota failed to stop the schemes sooner. The developments have also deepened public unease and revived long-standing questions about assimilation, oversight and public safety in Minnesota.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told Fox News Digital that the fraud scandal represents "a catastrophic failure of oversight" under Walz and characterized some of the culprits involved as a "Somali criminal enterprise crew."
"People can focus on an ethnic group if they want, but the real issue is the lack of leadership and accountability in the state of Minnesota with Tim Walz and his administration. This wasn’t about Somalis; this was about government incompetence and lack of accountability," Emmer said.
"We have been trying to sound the alarm on this fraud… for more than three years."
The centerpiece scandal is the Feeding Our Future case, where approximately $300 million intended to feed low-income children during the pandemic was siphoned away in what federal prosecutors describe as the largest pandemic-relief fraud scheme charged in U.S. history. Some of the shell companies and meal sites were operated by Somali Minnesotans, prosecutors say, though the alleged ringleader — Aimee Bock — is a White American.
That sprawling case has now grown to at least 78 defendants, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota.
Prosecutors say criminals also bilked millions of dollars from Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services program — which pays for help finding and keeping housing — as well as the state’s autism-services program by billing for appointments, therapy and casework that never took place.
Former Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson described the scams as "schemes stacked upon schemes" that drained tens of millions of dollars from Medicaid. At least some of those defendants also have ties to the Somali community.
"It feels never-ending," Thompson said in September, when announcing that eight people had been charged with defrauding the housing stabilization services program of around $8.4 million in total. "I have spent my career as a fraud prosecutor and the depth of the fraud in Minnesota takes my breath away. The fraud must be stopped."
Thompson said the eight were part of the "first wave" of prosecutions in the case. The fraudsters, in many instances, spent the cash on luxury cars, lavish lifestyles and purchasing property at home and in places like Kenya.
State Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, the lead Republican on the state Senate's Human Services Committee, told Fox News Digital he believes the Feeding Our Future scandal grew to historic levels because state leaders were afraid to investigate Somali-run nonprofits and unwilling to confront obvious fraud.
"Concerns of political correctness halted the Walz administration from doing the investigations they needed to protect Minnesota’s tax dollars," Rasmusson said.
He said state DHS dysfunction "from the time that Governor Walz took office" created an environment where criminals were able to exploit human-services programs for years.
"The administration has been asleep at the wheel," he said.
A widely circulated DHS whistleblower account alleged that staff who raised internal fraud concerns were ignored, reassigned or sidelined — which tracks with Rasmusson’s account.
Bock, the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, and Salim Said, a local restaurant owner, were found guilty of their roles in the scheme, with prosecutors stating that they splashed their cash on luxury homes and cars, as well as their lavish lifestyles.
They claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which they fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota. It's unclear how many Somalis were involved in the scheme, as prosecutors don't release the nationalities of defendants.
One witness reportedly claimed that Said disclosed a gang affiliation and threatened to kill that person if they reported the fraud to authorities, Thompson said.
Additionally, five people were also charged with offering a cash bribe to a juror and preparing written arguments for the juror. One argument read, "We are immigrants: they don’t respect or care about us."
In 2021, when the Minnesota Department of Education grew suspicious and tried to stop the flow of funds, Feeding Our Future sued, alleging racial discrimination. A judge ordered the state to restart reimbursements — a ruling prosecutors said enabled the scheme to escalate.
The lawsuit drew political support from Somali-American State Sen. Omar Fateh, who appeared at a community celebration of the ruling and later acknowledged receiving — and returning — campaign donations from individuals indicted in the case.
While investigating the scandal, federal agents discovered that one scammer, Asha Farhan Hassan, had pocketed about $465,000 but was also operating a much larger scheme: defrauding the state’s autism-treatment program of roughly $14 million. Hassan billed Medicaid for fake therapy sessions, used untrained staff and paid parents $300 to $1,500 a month to keep their kids in the program. She sent hundreds of thousands of dollars abroad, including to purchase real estate in Kenya, prosecutors said.
The scale of program growth stunned federal officials. The Housing Stabilization Services program was projected to cost $2.6 million annually but paid out more than $100 million last year. The autism program’s budget jumped from $3 million in 2018 to nearly $400 million in 2023, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The unraveling fraud schemes intensified scrutiny of Walz’s administration, with critics arguing basic safeguards were ignored even as theft ballooned.
A recent City Journal article claimed some stolen welfare money has flowed to Al-Shabaab in Somalia through informal "hawala" networks. That report has intensified scrutiny and stirred old fears, given that about 20 young Somali-Americans left Minnesota in the late 2000s to join the terrorist group, with one, Shirwa Ahmed, becoming the first known American Islamist suicide bomber when he detonated a car bomb in Somalia in October 2008.
Rasmusson said he was concerned about money ending up with terrorists.
"Because there’s more than a billion dollars that’s been stolen and a significant portion of those dollars have been directed overseas, there are concerns this money could be either directly or indirectly funding terrorist organizations like al-Shabaab," Rasmusson told Fox News Digital.
Former Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, who testified before Congress about Somali-American radicalization, said Minnesota ignored early warning signs once before.
"We really got a wake-up call in 2010–11," Stanek said. "Young people were going back to Somalia to participate in terrorist training camps and terrorist actions when they had no clear ties back to their culture. They were born here in the U.S. but felt a need or were radicalized to go back."
"Minnesotans had no idea what was even going on until the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force stepped in."
He said the threat has declined but not disappeared.
"I’m not saying it still doesn’t happen, because I know it does," he said.
Last year, Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, 23, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS after twice trying to travel to Somalia.
For many Minnesotans, the fraud cases are only the latest chapter in a longer pattern of violence and instability tied to small pockets of the Somali community. Public unease has also grown recently in response to a string of recent violent crimes tied to the community in the Twin Cities.
Somali national Abdimahat Bille Mohamedis, a man with two previous sex crime convictions, was charged this week with kidnapping and raping a woman at a hotel while on probation.
In July, Qalinle Ibrahim Dirie, a Somali migrant, was jailed for 12 years for sexually assaulting a child. The case sparked fury when a local mosque gave a character-reference letter praising the pedophile's "good conduct" and urged leniency.
During a two-week stretch over the summer, a 15-year-old was killed in a mall shooting, while two high-school graduation ceremonies left a 49-year-old father with a head wound and a 19-year-old man injured. All three incidents involved members of the Somali-American community, according to reports, while Emmer said the incidents were gang-related.
In May, Michael Lual Nhial, who had a history of erratic and aggressive behavior, was charged with killing David Chant, a 59-year-old man who used walking sticks to get around and was found beaten to death at a park in Burnsville, a city 15 miles south of downtown Minneapolis.
Stanek said Somali-related violence began surfacing between 2005 and 2010, initially involving first-generation immigrants but later drawing in U.S.-born youth, with most shootings traced back to a small network of repeat offenders — young men cycling through probation and short jail terms.
Groups such as the Somali Outlaws and 10th Street Gang were never tightly organized criminal syndicates but loose crews of young men whose crimes stemmed more from personal rivalries than organized criminal enterprises, he said.
Minnesota does not track crime by ethnicity, and violent crime statewide has fallen, but the visibility of Somali suspects in these cases has amplified and revived old narratives about crime within Minnesota’s Somali community.
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Rasmusson said Walz has "lost the confidence of Minnesotans and the legislature in his ability to lead," given the size of the fraud and the administration’s repeated failure to intervene when irregularities were clearly visible.
He pointed to one glaring example investigators missed.
"They were claiming to feed 6,000 kids a day, seven days a week, in a community of only 2,500 people," he said. "And so you don’t need to be an FBI analyst to figure out that there’s probably fraud occurring."
But community leaders are pushing back, saying Minnesota’s Somali population is overwhelmingly law-abiding and hardworking — and that a handful of offenders are being used to smear an entire community. They say the above incidents do not define them and that most Somali immigrants in the state are hardworking and deeply patriotic toward the United States.
Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR–Minnesota, told Fox News Digital that while the crimes are real and serious, he rejects the idea of collective blame for criminal activity. Hussein did not defend the crimes but placed their actions in the broader context of American immigrant history — drawing parallels to Irish and Italian communities once linked to organized crime.
"We have a history in this nation of identifying crime and associating it with communities — whether it’s the Italian mafia or Irish gangs," Hussein said. "Crime is an individual act. It’s an act of betrayal of our trust. When someone steals money from food at a school, they’re not stealing from anybody else — they’re stealing from their own community, from children who need it. Especially in the Somali-American community, which is still a poor community."
Rasmusson said the failures were so significant that Walz, who intends to run for a third term in 2026, may no longer be able to lead the state.
"The Walz administration has failed and they’ve utterly failed to protect Minnesota taxpayers," he said. "And I think he’s lost the confidence of Minnesotans and the legislature in his ability to lead as governor of this state.
"And I think that he should recognize the position that he’s in and that it will be very challenging for him to have the confidence of Minnesotans again."
Overnight fire at India nightclub leaves 25 dead
A fire tore through a nightclub in Arpora, in the Indian coastal state of Goa on Sunday, killing 25 people and injuring six others.
Goa’s Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on X that he’s ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and that all six injured are in stable condition.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the incident "deeply saddening."
"My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to Goa CM Dr. Pramod Sawant Ji about the situation. The State Government is providing all possible assistance to those affected," said Modi.
FIRE TEARS THROUGH HONG KONG HOUSING COMPLEX, KILLING AT LEAST 36 WITH HUNDREDS MISSING
The Press Trust of India (PTI), the country’s largest independent news agency, reported that police initially pointed to a cylinder blast as the possible cause, but a surviving tourist told the agency that firecrackers set off during a dance routine likely ignited the blaze.
A woman identified as Riya, a tourist from New Delhi, told PTI that firecrackers were going off when the dancers were performing.
"The fire must have been caused due to this. There was a stampede-like situation," she said.
SEVERAL FEARED DEAD IN A STAMPEDE OUTSIDE A CRICKET STADIUM IN INDIA
Another tourist, Fatima Shaikh, told PTI that more than 100 people had been on the dance floor at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub when the fire broke out, and some fled toward the kitchen, where they became trapped along with staff members.
"There was a sudden commotion as the flames started erupting. We rushed out of the club only to see that the entire structure was up in flames," she said.
A preliminary inquiry, according to PTI, indicated the fire began on the first floor, where congestion and narrow exits kept people from escaping.
"Some of them rushed to the ground floor and got trapped there," said Sawant. "We will take action against the club management and also against the officials who allowed it to operate despite flouting safety norms. This is an unfortunate incident during the peak tourist season."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
College football star, coach butt heads in contentious conflict after playoff win
The Montana State Bobcats advanced to the next round of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs on Saturday after a 21-13 win over the Yale Bulldogs.
Bobcats running back Julius Davis had a heated exchange with head coach Brent Vigen and teammate Takhari Carr as they walked off the field.
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The ESPN broadcast showed Davis meeting with a Yale player on the field as Vigen tried to direct him toward the locker room. Davis didn’t appear to appreciate what Vigen was doing, and he was quick to slap the coach’s hands away from his shoulders.
Carr came over to cool down the situation, but Davis eventually pushed him away. Vigen and Davis had more words for each other. The running back appeared to get emotional as he tried to state his case to Vigen.
Davis apologized for the moment in a statement on his social media.
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"ESPN misconstrued a moment in our previous game, I was not smack talking the Yale players. I was actually dapping up a former teammate of mine from Wisconsin. I want to sincerely apologize to my teammates and my coach for my actions. In the heat of the moment, I let my emotions get the best of me and reacted in a way that was unacceptable," Davis’ statement read. "Arguing the way I did was wrong, and I take full responsibility for it. Coach Vigen and I already talked, no one outside of this team understands our relationship and how much respect I have for him."
"I also understand that my reaction was seen by many, and I’m truly sorry for the example it set. I hold myself, my team, my coaches, and the game itself to a high standard, and I didn’t reflect that in my behavior. I’m committed to learning from this moment, handling my emotions better, and showing the respect and professionalism that my teammate, my coach, and everyone watching deserves. Thank you for holding me accountable, I will be better moving forward."
Davis had a touchdown in the third quarter of the win over Yale.
Montana State will play Stephen F. Austin in the quarterfinals.
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NYC prosecutors share evidence photos revealing Luigi Mangione's possessions at time of arrest
New York City prosecutors have released new evidence photos showing what accused killer Luigi Mangione carried when he was arrested for the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The exhibits shared Saturday night included a picture of the USB on a chain that Mangione was wearing around his neck when he was arrested, a bus ticket to Pittsburgh, a handwritten note with a Best Buy list and "to-do" list, and a pocketknife with zip ties.
Additional photos show the clothing Mangione carried or wore, including green and black jackets, a beanie, scarf, black pants, black gloves, long underwear, sneakers and a medical face mask.
Mangione was arrested Dec. 9, 2024, after staff and customers at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, called 911 to report a suspicious man resembling the NYPD "person of interest" in Thompson’s killing.
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Mangione appeared in court last week as his defense lawyers moved to suppress evidence taken from his backpack after his arrest, as well as statements he allegedly made during the McDonald's incident and to jail guards in the following days.
The defense argued police improperly obtained statements in violation of Mangione's Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, and that the warrantless search violated his Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.
Prosecutors argue that police acted lawfully and appropriately, that the warrantless search of his bag after his arrest was routine and legal and that the only relevant non-Mirandized statement he made was to allegedly give officers a fake name when he showed them a phony ID.
BODYCAM SHOWS LUIGI MANGIONE CRACKING JOKE AS SWARM OF COPS CLOSES IN ON HIM AT MCDONALD'S
During last week's evidence suppression hearing, which stretched on for days, prosecutors played in court for the first time the recording of the 911 call that led to Mangione’s arrest. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office released it Thursday evening.
"I'm a manager at Plank Road McDonald's out here on the boulevard," she told the dispatcher. "And I have a customer here, that some other customers were suspicious of, that he looks like the CEO shooter from New York."
At the end of the five-minute call, the dispatcher told the manager to sit tight and remain vigilant.
"I do have an officer on the way for ya," the dispatcher said. "Just keep an eye on him. If he leaves, just give us a call back and let us know, OK?"
Fox News Digital’s Maria Paronich and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
Patel says Comey case is 'far from over,' vows to restore 'accountability and transparency' to FBI
FBI Director Kash Patel vowed to restore "accountability and transparency" to the bureau and said the case against former FBI Director James Comey is "far from over" during an appearance on "My View with Lara Trump" on Saturday.
Trump noted that prior to becoming FBI director, Patel was "very critical" of the actions taken by the previous administration, specifically the weaponization of the agency for political purposes. She asked the FBI chief what he'd already done, and what else he could be doing, to encourage the American people to trust the FBI again.
"In terms of trust, coming back to Russiagate, where I was the lead investigator on Capitol Hill, exposing the FISA abuse, the weaponization, the FBI lies to a secret court, to illegally and unlawfully surveil their political opponent," Patel replied. "Yes, that happened with information they basically made up from overseas. So the way that we ensure public trust is to make sure that it never happens again. That's step one."
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According to Patel, step two in the agency's plan to restore trust is to usher in "accountability and transparency" through increased congressional oversight and investigations into corruption.
"So what we're doing, especially with our deep knowledge of what happened in Russiagate, is two things on a parallel track. Congress, oversight. I'm committed and wed to congressional oversight," he said. "My predecessors turned over — Comey 3,000 pages to Congress in his three years and change, and Chris Wray turned over 13,000 in his almost seven years. In my nine months, we've turned over 40,000 pages of material to Congress, not just Russiagate, Arctic Frost, but so many other things that they're interested in."
The FBI chief attested that there were secret rooms discovered at the FBI's headquarters that were "hidden away from the map" of the building, which nobody had access to.
"And once we got into those rooms, we found more information related to the Russiagate hoax from prior FBI leadership. Information that was in burn bags that they wanted to have destroyed, but for whatever reason, no one ever got around to it, or they thought we would just never find it," he recalled.
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As for investigating these alleged violations, Patel told Trump that two separate squads have been assembled to investigate Russiagate and the Biden-era Arctic Frost probe involving President Donald Trump and his allies.
"We're using a grand jury process, and we are issuing, I think we're up to like 75 or 100 subpoenas already for witnesses. That's what you target first. We also have targets for our investigation, people we think committed acts of criminal conduct," he said. "And this, in my opinion, is why the media is going so hog wild over the Comey prosecution, right? Notice how they're not attacking the evidence. They're just saying, ‘Oh, so-and-so was improperly appointed.’ That to me shows me we're over the target."
Keeping with the topic, Trump asked Patel what could be expected to come from these ongoing investigations.
"What I try to remind the American public of is the people that built this weaponization of justice and intelligence and law enforcement and put in this politicization, they built this disease temple. It took them like 10 years. We've been in the seat nine months, and we've already ripped open the Band-Aid and showed the world how they illegally surveilled on members of Congress, senators and House members, and staffers like myself on top of Russiagate," he said.
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Patel noted that since the agency began exposing these alleged crimes, those involved "in the weaponization of justice are trying to cover it up by dousing water" on the agency's investigations.
Last week, senior Trump officials, including Patel, reiterated their plans to explore "all options" to proceed with criminal charges against Comey after a judge previously dismissed his case on the grounds that the interim U.S. attorney tasked with prosecuting the case had been unlawfully appointed.
Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed last month to "immediately appeal" the judge's ruling, which also rendered invalid a separate case brought by the same prosecutor against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In the interim, Patel said the FBI and Justice Department are exploring other options to keep Comey's case alive.
Fox News' Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
Iranian refugee builds world-ranked American winery rooted in heritage and health
One American winemaking family believes exceptional wine doesn't require shortcuts.
After decades of quiet persistence in their trade, global recognition recently arrived for Maysara Winery, located in the rolling hills of Oregon wine country. It currently ranks as the No. 23 vineyard worldwide.
"We were informed we were chosen [to be among] the top 50 vineyards in the world," founder Moe Momtazi told Fox News Digital in an interview.
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His middle daughter, Naseem Momtazi, president of sales, said, "You can have beautiful American-made, quality-made wines coming from an actual family, an actual farm and an actual story."
The winery has partnered with the Fox News Wine Shop on a 2017 pinot noir.
Even so, when Moe Momtazi talks about his life, he starts not in Oregon — but in the turmoil of post-revolution Iran. His story of escape, new life in America and, ultimately, a winemaking philosophy rooted in heritage and health, became the foundation for Maysara Winery.
Though he came to the U.S. in 1971 to study engineering, his life took a dramatic spin after he returned to Iran in the late 1970s. "Things got pretty ugly" amid the 1979 revolution, he said.
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"So, in 1982, myself, with my wife — she was eight months pregnant — we escaped from Iran," Momtazi continued, recalling his "difficult journey" to the U.S. by way of Pakistan, Spain, Italy and Mexico.
The new parents finally arrived in 1983 and initially settled in Texas, where Momtazi applied for political asylum and returned to civil engineering. But farming was his long-term dream.
Middle daughter Naseem recalled her father's interest in farming.
"I remember as a kid, he would just buy small parcels when he could, because they didn't have much when they came to the United States," she told Fox News Digital. "With whatever he could save, he would buy land."
In 1990, Momtazi left engineering and moved his family to Oregon. Seven years later, the family purchased an abandoned wheat farm that would become their winery's home.
Today, the property spans roughly 563 acres of "amazing elevation," daughter Naseem said.
Momtazi's wife and all three daughters work at the winery.
From the beginning, Momtazi envisioned a farm built on biodynamic agriculture.
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"It was my mission to farm holistically and just not to use any kind of material from outside," he said.
The method, grounded in the early 20th-century teachings of Rudolf Steiner, emphasizes natural cycles and soil vitality.
One such unconventional method involves filling cow horns with manure and burying them in the ground.
Naseem Momtazi summed it up as "the most natural, holistic way to produce wine."
'MY WHOLE LIFE WAS A LIE': FORMER VEGAN CHEF SINKS HER TEETH INTO CATTLE RANCHING
She added, "We do need to produce and consume better as people," tying the winery's methods to broader concerns about modern food production.
Moe Momtazi is even more uncompromising about how wine should be made.
"We absolutely do not manipulate our wine… no use of commercial yeast or enzymes or adjusting acidity or adding sugar," he said.
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Some customers have told them that their "wine is medicine," Naseem said, reflecting the differences between Maysara wines and heavily processed wines.
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"If you drink too much, you're going to get drunk," she added. "But if you consume a moderate amount of our wine, I truly do say that you're not going to get the same effects.… So much wine is manipulated."
A defining trait of Maysara wines is that they're aged far longer than most American wines, the family said.
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"We truly believe in holding back the wines and releasing [them] when ready," Naseem Momtazi said — noting that Maysara wines aren't released chronologically.
"That is not a natural concept for American wine," she said.
Learn more about the Fox News Wine Shop here.
Harvard hit by new breach after phone phishing attack
Elite universities like Harvard, Princeton and Columbia spend fortunes on research, talent and digital infrastructure. Even then, they've become easy targets for attackers who see massive databases filled with personal information and donation records as a goldmine. Over the past few months, breaches across Ivy League campuses have exposed the same problem. These institutions handle huge amounts of sensitive data, but their internal defenses often don't match the scale of what they store. That pattern brings us to Harvard's newest incident, which exposed a database of alumni, donors, some students and faculty to hackers.
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CHECK IF YOUR PASSWORDS WERE STOLEN IN HUGE LEAK
Harvard confirmed that a database tied to alumni, donors, faculty and some students was accessed by an unauthorized party. This happened after a phone phishing attack tricked someone into giving the attacker a way into the system.
"On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, Harvard University discovered that information systems used by Alumni Affairs and Development were accessed by an unauthorized party as a result of a phone-based phishing attack," the university said in a notification posted on its website. "The University acted immediately to remove the attacker's access to our systems and prevent further unauthorized access."
The exposed data includes personal contact details, donation histories and other records tied to the university's fundraising and alumni operations. For Harvard, a school that routinely raises more than a billion dollars a year, this database is one of its most valuable assets, which makes the breach even more serious.
This is also the second time Harvard has had to investigate a breach in recent months. In October, it looked into reports that its data was caught up in a broader hacking campaign targeting Oracle customers. That earlier warning already showed that the school sits in a high-risk category. This latest breach only confirms it.
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Harvard isn't alone here. Ivy League campuses have seen a wave of incidents that line up almost back-to-back. Princeton reported on Nov. 15 that one of its databases tied to alumni, donors, students and community members was compromised.
The University of Pennsylvania said on Oct. 31 that information systems connected to its development and alumni activities were accessed without permission. Columbia has been dealing with an even larger fallout. A breach in June exposed the personal data of roughly 870,000 people, including students and applicants.
These attacks show how universities have become predictable targets. They store identities, addresses, financial records and donor information. They also run sprawling IT systems where a single mistake, a weak password or a convincing phone call can create an entry point.
Hackers know this, and they strike repeatedly. The recent cluster of Ivy League breaches suggests that attackers are mapping these environments, looking for shared weaknesses that appear again and again.
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You can't stop a university or company from being breached, but you can make sure that your own information is harder to exploit. These steps help you reduce the fallout when your data ends up in the wrong hands.
Using 2FA gives your accounts an extra layer of security. Even if someone steals your password in a breach, they still need the one-time code from your phone or authentication app. It blocks most casual attempts and forces attackers to work much harder.
A password manager creates and stores strong, unique passwords for every site you use. This keeps one compromised password from unlocking everything else. It also removes the stress of remembering dozens of logins, so you don't cut corners.
Next, see if your email has been exposed in past breaches. Our No. 1 password manager pick includes a built-in breach scanner that checks whether your email address or passwords have appeared in known leaks. If you discover a match, immediately change any reused passwords and secure those accounts with new, unique credentials.
Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2025 at Cyberguy.com
You can request takedowns from data broker sites, delete old accounts and trim what you share publicly. When your information isn't scattered across the internet, attackers have a much harder time piecing together your identity.
While no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren't cheap, and neither is your privacy. These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It's what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you.
Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com
Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com
Phishing doesn't always come as obvious scam mail. Attackers spoof institutions, copy their tone and pressure you into sharing details quickly. Slow down, verify the message through an official website or helpline, then decide.
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.
Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com
Many attackers rely on old flaws in operating systems, browsers and apps. Regular updates patch these holes and shut down the most common attack paths. If you're someone who delays updates, turning on automatic updates helps.
Use alias email addresses for banking, education, shopping and newsletters. If one of them gets exposed, it won't automatically give attackers a map of your entire digital life. It makes targeted scams much harder to pull off, and also stops attackers from stealing your identity. By creating email aliases, you can protect your information and reduce spam. These aliases forward messages to your primary address, making it easier to manage incoming communications and avoid data breaches.
For recommendations on private and secure email providers that offer alias addresses, visit Cyberguy.com
You might also want to consider an identity theft protection service to be on the safe side. Identity Theft companies can monitor personal information like your Social Security number (SSN), phone number and email address, and alert you if it is being sold on the dark web or being used to open an account. They can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals.
See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft at Cyberguy.com
Harvard's latest breach adds to a growing list of cyberattacks that show how vulnerable top universities have become. Even the most well-funded institutions aren't keeping pace with modern threats. When a simple phone phishing call can open the door to sensitive data tied to donors, alumni and students, it's clear that these campuses need stronger defenses and more proactive monitoring. Until that happens, you can expect more headlines like this and more investigations after the damage is already done.
Do you trust universities to protect the personal data you've shared with them? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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Lando Norris dethrones Max Verstappen as F1 champion
Lando Norris is on top of the world.
Norris finished in third place at Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday night, but managed to do enough to hang on to the Drivers’ World Championship. He finished two points ahead of Max Verstappen and 13 points ahead of fellow McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
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Norris was in tears as he credited his family and his McLaren team on helping him get through a "long journey."
"It feels amazing. I now know what Max feels like a little bit," Norris said. "… I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been a long year, but we did it. I’m so proud of everyone."
He’s the 35th driver to win an F1 World Championship. The standings got real tight down the end of the season. Norris won the first race of the season, but Piastri captured four wins in the next five races. Verstappen, then, won his second race before Norris did.
Norris and Piastri would do most of the winning in the middle of the season before Verstappen ended his eight-race drought without being on top of the podium. The Red Bull driver would heat up following his victory at the Italian Grand Prix.
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Verstappen won six of the last nine races and made a surge to the top of the leaderboard. Norris and Piastri unintentionally made the race to the World Championship interesting when they were both disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Piastri would need Norris to really slip up to have a better chance at winning the championship, but the British superstar driver held it together and claimed the first F1 title of his career.
Norris ends Verstappen’s reign as world champion. The Red Bull star won the last four World Championships. Lewis Hamilton was the last driver not named Verstappen to pick up an F1 title, but he had a stranglehold on the sport from 2014 to 2020 with the only year he didn’t win was in 2016 (Nico Rosberg).
Norris is the first McLaren driver to win since Hamilton did it in 2008.
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Trump takes swipe at Jimmy Kimmel's talent while honoring Kennedy Center recipients in Oval Office
President Donald Trump once again swiped at late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Saturday as he honored the Kennedy Center honors recipients in the Oval Office on Saturday.
"I’m sure they’ll give me great reviews, right? You know? They’ll say, 'He was horrible, he was terrible. It was a horrible situation,'" Trump told reporters on Saturday ahead of the Sunday gala, which Trump is set to host. "No, I think we’ll do fine. I’ve watched some of the people that host. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible. Some of these people, if I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president."
Kimmel's show was briefly suspended by ABC and parent company Disney in September after his remarks suggesting the suspected killer of Charlie Kirk was part of the MAGA crowd, although Kimmel said he was misinterpreted.
According to the Kennedy Center, the Kennedy Center Honors has raised a record $23 million for its 48th annual celebration. It marks the largest fundraising haul in the history of the Honors, which was launched in 1978 as the institution’s highest recognition of lifetime artistic achievement. Among this year's recipients are Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor and the rock band Kiss.
While Kennedy Center honorees have visited the Oval Office privately in past years, Trump on Saturday hosted the first official, on-camera ceremony recognizing the recipients there, introducing each honoree ahead of Sunday night’s gala.
Kimmel has never officially hosted the Kennedy Center Honors, though he appeared at the honors during a tribute to fellow late-night host David Letterman in 2012. Kimmel has previously hosted the Academy Awards and the Emmys.
The liberal late-night host mocked the president during his monologue on Thursday for making him one of the top-trending people on Google, joking it was thanks to Trump's constant attention.
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"None of this would’ve ever happened without the support of loyal viewers like President Trump, who has done so much this year to raise awareness for our show," he said. Kimmel noted he was ranked third behind musician "d4vd" and rapper Kendrick Lamar, who took the first and second spots, respectively.
Kimmel added, "Thank you, Mr. President, for making me number three in the world."
The late-night host mocked Trump for the attention, noting that the president has repeatedly criticized him on social media this year — calling Kimmel "untalented" and demanding that he be taken off the air.
Fox News' Gabriel Hays and Ashley Hume contributed to this report.
Martha Moxley case: Kennedy cousin breaks silence on troubled upbringing, arrest warrant in murder mystery
Five decades after Martha Moxley, the daughter of an affluent Connecticut family, was found murdered outside her home, the Kennedy cousin formerly at the center of the case is speaking out for the first time.
Michael Skakel, cousin of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., spent 11 years behind bars for the 1975 murder of Moxley. Despite being released from prison in 2013 and later having his conviction vacated, Skakel is still looking to assert his innocence in a case that has captivated the nation.
In the new NBC News podcast titled, "Dead Certain: The Martha Moxley Murder," Skakel spoke publicly at length for the first time since his conviction was overturned to recount his upbringing and explain his side of the murder case.
Moxley was only 15 when she was beaten and stabbed to death with a golf club in the yard of her family’s suburban Greenwich home on Oct. 30, 1975. She was last seen hanging out with friends on "Mischief Night," an annual evening in which children partake in neighborhood pranks on the night before Halloween.
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An autopsy later revealed Moxley had been killed with the golf club, which was ultimately traced to the Skakel family’s home.
Investigators initially began looking into Thomas Skakel, Michael’s older brother, and the family’s live-in tutor, Kenneth Littleton, before ultimately turning their attention to Michael, who was 15 at the time of Moxley’s death.
For decades, Skakel had remained largely silent. However, he is now speaking out to tell his side of the story, while recounting painful details about his traumatic childhood.
Skakel detailed how his family’s Catholic religion played a large part in his upbringing, while recalling how he was hit over taking Playboy magazines when he was a child.
He went on to discuss how his parents primarily showed affection toward his brother, Tommy, when the brothers were growing up. Skakel also pointed to how his parents hardly visited him after he was hospitalized with a broken neck when he jumped off a desk in his childhood home.
When Skakel’s mother was dying from cancer, the young boy was told her hair was falling out due to her shampoo – not the treatment – and was ultimately blamed for her illness by his father, he said.
Skakel recalled a time in which his father, whom he had not seen in weeks, told him, "You make me sick. If you only did better in school, your mother wouldn't have to be in the hospital."
"I just wanted to die," Skakel said in the episode, as he recalled how his father barely addressed his mother’s death.
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As his mother struggled with her illness, Skakel began drinking when he was just a teenager. On the day she died, he finished off an entire bottle of Smirnoff on his family’s lawn, he said.
"His alcoholic, abusive father tortured him physically and psychologically throughout his boyhood, including beating him and telling him he was responsible for killing his mother," Dr. Carole Lieberman, a forensic psychiatrist, told Fox News Digital.
Lieberman pointed to how the psychological damage inflicted on Skakel likely impacted him in his adult life as his drinking eventually escalated. In 1978, he borrowed his brother’s car and, while driving with a few friends, smashed into a telephone pole.
In exchange for not being charged with a DUI, the family’s lawyer concocted a deal in which Skakel was sent to the controversial Élan School in Maine in an effort to correct his unruly behavior.
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Individuals from the boarding school traveled to Connecticut to pick him up, with Skakel recalling how he "was dragged out of there like an animal," before being loaded onto a plane where he was thrown into "a world of utter insanity."
The Élan School had roughly 300 live-in students who were often subjected to harsh physical punishments, prolonged screaming and occasionally wearing dunce caps, according to the podcast. Headcounts were carried out every 15 minutes to keep residents from escaping, which Skakel attempted multiple times.
In an emotional recounting, Skakel described how he was subjected to various punishments, including the "general meeting" and "boxing ring" where students would face forms of physical brutality.
"They sent maybe 10 guys upstairs to get me," Skakel said, as he recalled a failed escape attempt. "And they literally picked me up over their heads and carried me down the stairs like I was a crash test dummy. And when I was probably 10 feet from the stage, they threw me and I thought I broke my back on the stage."
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After Skakel left the school, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and spent a month at a residential care facility in California.
He got married in 1991 and established a skiing career. However, his new life in Hobe Sound, Florida, came crashing down in 2000, when authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in Moxley’s murder.
"My Uncle Tommy rented me a private jet the next morning," Skakel said. "And I flew from [the] Jupiter jet port, the private jet port, to Teterboro, and I'm looking on the news the next morning and it's all over every station."
Skakel did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
On Jan. 19, 2000, Skakel turned himself in to authorities after police issued a warrant for his arrest, 25 years after Moxley was killed. Skakel, who was 39 at the time, was initially arraigned as a juvenile, with the case later ending up in regular court.
He was convicted of murder by a panel of 12 jurors in Norwalk Superior Court on June 7, 2002, and later sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In 2013, following multiple failed attempts to appeal his conviction, Skakel was granted a new trial after a judge ruled his attorney, Michael Sherman, did not adequately defend him in his original case.
Skakel’s conviction was ultimately vacated by the Connecticut Supreme Court on May 4, 2018, with prosecutors later deciding to not seek a second trial for Skakel on the murder charge.
"Michael Skakel should never have spent one day in prison because there was no way to determine that he was guilty beyond reasonable doubt," Lieberman said. "Many threads were left hanging. From a questionable police investigation to a questionable attorney who didn’t bring the alibi witness in to testify, to media sensationalism and no forensic evidence."
"Michael was a victim of torture throughout his life, from his childhood to the court system," Lieberman said, adding Skakel "has continued to unconsciously play out this victim role until today."
While the mystery surrounding who killed Moxley continues to loom over the case, Skakel’s bid to assert his innocence in the podcast adds a new voice to a story that has been marred by decades of silence.