top of page
AI Is Bringing Back the Dead, And We Need to Talk About It
This is what grief actually looks like. Not an algorithm. Not a chatbot. Not a subscription service. This. And that distinction matters more than the tech industry would like you to think. I've been sitting with this one for a while. That's not something I usually say. Most of what I write about, I feel clear on. Scams make me angry. Privacy violations make me frustrated. Bad tech policy makes me want to write to my MP. The emotion is usually straightforward. This one is diff
Michael Routhier
Featured Post
All Posts
How to Report a Scam in Canada - 2026 Complete Guide
You got the call. Now what? Whether it was a fake CRA agent, a Canada Post text, or something that just felt wrong, this post walks you through exactly where to report it and what to do next. Canadians lost over $638 million to fraud in 2024. That's the number the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre officially recorded. And here's the part that should make your jaw drop: that's only what got reported. Most people who get scammed never report it at all. Not because they don't want to.
Michael Routhier
1 day ago8 min read
Apple's $250M Siri Settlement - How to Claim Your Money
You bought the phone. You trusted the advertising. Turns out the features Apple was selling you weren't ready yet. A court agreed and now there may be money owed to you. Let me tell you something that doesn't happen very often. A trillion-dollar company got caught. Admitted it. And now has to pay. Apple has agreed to a $250 million settlement over a class action lawsuit that accused the company of advertising AI-powered Siri features that, and this is the important part, didn
Michael Routhier
2 days ago4 min read
Transcript: Episode 14 - When AI Brings Back the Dead, And Who Really Benefits
A man. A tablet. A glowing simulation of someone he loved. And a mug that says "Love never ends." This episode asks who really benefits when grief becomes a product. Hey, welcome back to today's show. This one is going to be a tough one for us today. I've been sitting with this one for a while and that's not something I usually say. Most of what I talk about on the show, I usually feel clear on, you know, scams make me angry. Privacy violations make me frustrated. Bad tech po
Michael Routhier
3 days ago7 min read
Ghost Tapping: The New Digital Pickpocket You've Never Heard Of
Picture this. You spend a lovely Saturday morning at a farmers market. Fresh bread, some flowers, maybe a jar of that wildflower honey you've been going back for all spring. You pay for everything properly. You never take out your wallet unnecessarily. You never hand your phone to a single person. And then that evening, you check your bank account. There's a charge you don't recognize. That's not a glitch. That's not your bank making a mistake. That's ghost tapping. And it's
Michael Routhier
3 days ago4 min read
Transcript: Episode 13 - Ghost Tapping: The Digital Pickpocket You Never See Coming - Full Episode Transcript
This episode is about a scam you'll never feel happening; until you check your bank account. Ghost tapping is real, it's growing, and summer festival season is prime time for it. Here's everything from the episode, in full. Hey, welcome back to the show. I hope you're having a great day today. So I want you to picture this. I want you to imagine that you're at the farmer's market this summer. You're browsing, enjoying the day, maybe picking up some fresh bread or a bouquet of
Michael Routhier
4 days ago4 min read
AI Is Bringing Back the Dead, And We Need to Talk About It
This is what grief actually looks like. Not an algorithm. Not a chatbot. Not a subscription service. This. And that distinction matters more than the tech industry would like you to think. I've been sitting with this one for a while. That's not something I usually say. Most of what I write about, I feel clear on. Scams make me angry. Privacy violations make me frustrated. Bad tech policy makes me want to write to my MP. The emotion is usually straightforward. This one is diff
Michael Routhier
5 days ago7 min read
Transcript: Episode 12 - WhatsApp Is Changing in May 2026: Here's What to Turn Off Right Now
Meta is embedding its AI system into WhatsApp in May 2026, by default. That means your private conversations could be used to train Meta's AI. Here's exactly how to turn it off on iPhone and Android, step by step.
Michael Routhier
5 days ago5 min read
SIM Swap Scam: How Fraudsters Hijack Your Phone Number
That tiny chip is your phone number. Your bank verification codes. Your two-factor authentication. Your digital identity. And right now, scammers have figured out how to take it, without ever touching your phone. Let me ask you something. When was the last time you thought about your phone number as something that could be stolen? Not your phone. The number itself. The ten digits your bank uses to verify it's really you. The number your two-factor authentication texts go to.
Michael Routhier
6 days ago8 min read
WhatsApp May 2026: What to Turn Off Before It Changes
If this app is on your phone, and for millions of Canadians over 55, it is, something is changing next month. Meta AI is being built into your WhatsApp whether you asked for it or not. Here's what to do about it. If you use WhatsApp, and if you're over 55, there's a good chance you do, and I need you to read this one carefully. Something is changing next month. Not a minor update. Not a new emoji pack. Something that affects what Meta can do with your conversations, your acti
Michael Routhier
May 15 min read
Transcript: Episode 11 - The Tech That Actually Matters, And What Nobody Bothered to Tell You (Part 1 of 2)
Hey, welcome back to Tech 4 Grown-Ups. Today we're starting something a little different, a two-part series. And I want to start with something that genuinely bothers me. So what I want you to do right now is go to Google, go to Google right now and type in elderly tech. Go ahead, I'll wait. Here's what you get when you type that in. And the results are phones with four giant buttons, devices with names that sound like they belong in a hospital ward, tablets designed to look
Michael Routhier
Apr 305 min read
$2.1 Billion Lost to Social Media Scams: Facebook #1
Three days ago, the FTC dropped a report. The FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, the US government's consumer protection agency, publishes data on fraud losses every year. I read every one. And this year's numbers stopped me cold. In 2025, Americans lost $2.1 billion to scams that started on social media. Not email. Not phone calls. Not text messages. Social media. And of all the platforms scammers used to reach their victims, Facebook was number one. By a wide margin. In fac
Michael Routhier
Apr 296 min read
SMS Blasters: The Text Scam That Can Actually Kill You
I'm going to be honest with you today. I'm a little angry writing this one. Not frustrated. Not mildly concerned. Actually angry. Because what I'm about to describe isn't just another scam designed to steal your money or your identity. It's something that can get people killed. And the people doing it are smart enough to know that. Let's talk about SMS blasters. What Is an SMS Blaster? An SMS blaster is a portable device, in some cases, not much larger than a backpack, that e
Michael Routhier
Apr 296 min read
Transcript: Episode 10 - SMS Blasters: The Text Scam That Doesn't Just Steal From You, It Can Get People Killed
I'm going to be honest with you today, I'm a little angry talking about this one. Not frustrated, not mildly concerned, I'm actually angry. Because what I'm about to describe isn't just another scam designed to steal your money or your identity. It's something that can get people killed. And the people doing it are smart enough to know that. Let's talk about SMS blasters. An SMS blaster is a portable device. In some cases, it's not much larger than a backpack. And it mimics a
Michael Routhier
Apr 296 min read
AI Tools for Seniors - What They Can and Can't Do
This is the right energy. Not intimidated. Not impressed. Just thinking carefully, which, it turns out, is the most powerful thing you can do with AI. Let me be honest with you before this post even gets going. Every week I get emails, comments, and messages from people in this community asking some version of the same question: "Michael, should I be using AI? Is it as amazing as everyone keeps saying?" And every week I give the same answer. It depends entirely on who's doing
Michael Routhier
Apr 286 min read
Transcript: Episode 9 - How to Help Your Aging Parents Stay Safe Online - Without It Turning Into a Fight
Hey, welcome back to Tech 4 Grown-Ups. I'm Michael. Today, I want to talk about something a little different. Most of the time on this show, I'm talking directly to you, the person who wants to feel more confident, more safe, more in control of their digital life, and we're going to keep doing that. But today, I want to talk to the other half of this community. That's the adult children, the sons and daughters and grandchildren who are watching a parent or a grandparent navig
Michael Routhier
Apr 287 min read
How to Stop Spam Calls on iPhone and Android for Good
That expression. You know it. You've made it. The call you didn't ask for, from the number you don't recognize, saying something just urgent enough to make your heart rate tick up. We're going to make sure that stops. My phone rang last Tuesday at 9:15 in the morning. Unknown number. Toronto area code. I picked up and heard that unmistakable half-second pause before a recorded voice launched into something about my vehicle warranty expiring. Are you kidding me? If you're nodd
Michael Routhier
Apr 275 min read
75,000 Fake Songs a Day - And Nobody's Stopping It
One hand spent a lifetime developing something real. The other generated 75,000 imitations overnight. Only one of them moved you. A few weeks ago, Deezer, one of the major music streaming platforms, published a report. Buried in it was a number I haven't been able to stop thinking about. 44% of all new music being uploaded to their platform is AI-generated. Not 4%. Not some niche corner of the internet where tech people run experiments. Forty-four percent of all new music on
Michael Routhier
Apr 245 min read
Transcript: Episode 8 - 75,000 Fake Songs a Day, And Nobody's Stopping It
Hey, welcome back to Tech 4 Grown-Ups. I'm Michael, and today I want to talk about music, not in a nostalgic way, not in a things were better back in my day conversation, although honestly, by the time we're done today, you might feel that way a little bit. I want to talk about what's happening right now on the streaming platforms you probably use every single day. Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and I want to talk about what it reveals about us, about creativity, about what we
Michael Routhier
Apr 227 min read
Transcript: Episode 7 - The Honest Conversation About AI Nobody Else Is Having
Hey, welcome back to Tech 4 Grown-Ups. I'm really glad you're here today, because today we're doing something a little different. We're not doing a how-to, and we're not walking through settings or talking about a specific scam. Today I want to have a real conversation with you about something that is everywhere right now that affects almost everyone listening to this, and that almost nobody, and I mean nobody, is talking about honestly. We're talking about AI. The good, the
Michael Routhier
Apr 227 min read
How to Report a Scam or Fraud in Canada: The Complete Guide
It's not a word anyone wants to spell. But knowing what to do next makes all the difference. One of our members reached out to me last week. She's 71, lives outside of Ottawa, sharp as a tack. Got a phone call from someone claiming to be from the CRA, Canada Revenue Agency, telling her she owed back taxes and would be arrested within the hour if she didn't pay immediately by gift card. She didn't fall for it. But she was shaken. And she asked me a question I hear all the time
Michael Routhier
Apr 225 min read
bottom of page