Be careful what you post online. Fond du Lac County detectives see more scams and child sexual abuse materials using AI.

A Virginia man was sentenced today to 22 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) while on supervised release for almost ...

Steven LaBianca was sentenced to 12 years for coercing minors to produce sexual images and possessing child pornography in Brooklyn.

Authorities say online threats like sextortion are exploding, with predators increasingly pushing violence.

Written by: A. Smith Published February 2, 2026 @ 11:17 AM ET FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - An Atlanta man who used Instagram to groom, kidnap and sexually assault teenage girls over several years has been sen...

Why political conversations feel impossible, how psychology and platform design shape what we believe, and what can be done about it.

A woman-owned company is entering the market with a solution for some of the dangers deepfakes pose.

As autonomous AI agents evolve from theoretical constructs into practical tools, security experts warn these systems could become sophisticated weapons for cybercriminals. With capabilities to indepen...

The Barnum Effect (also known as the Forer Effect) is a well-documented cognitive bias in psychology where people rate vague, general personality descriptions as highly accurate and personally tailored to them — even though those same statements could apply to almost anyone. Classic Demonstration (Forer's Experiment) In 1948, psychologist Bertram Forer gave his students what they believed was an individualized personality assessment based on a test they had taken. A week later, he handed each student the exact same paragraph of feedback, compiled from horoscope-like sources and deliberately vague statements. Students were asked to rate how accurate the description was for them personally (on a scale of 0–5). The average rating was 4.26 (very high), with many students finding it remarkably insightful. Here are some typical statements from that original "personality vignette" (often called Barnum statements): You have a great need for other people to like and admire you. You have a tendency to be critical of yourself. You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not turned to your advantage. While you have some personality weaknesses, you are generally able to compensate for them. Disciplined and self-controlled outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure inside. At times you are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be pretty unrealistic. These read as insightful when applied to oneself, but lose their specificity when you realize they're designed to fit a very broad range of people. Why It Happens Several factors make us susceptible: Positive framing — Statements are usually flattering or balanced (we accept praise more readily). Self-reference — We actively search for ways the description matches our own life experiences (confirmation bias plays a role). Authority — When the description comes from a perceived expert (psychologist, psychic, astrologer, or even an online quiz), we give it more weight. Vagueness + specificity illusion — The statements are general enough to be true for most, but include enough conditional language ("at times," "tend to") to feel nuanced. Everyday Examples Reading a daily horoscope and thinking "this is spot on for what happened today / how I'm feeling." Feeling a tarot card reading, psychic, or palm reading was uncannily accurate. Taking an online personality quiz (e.g., "Which Disney character are you?" or pseudo-psychological tests) and strongly identifying with the generic result. Believing a vague fortune-cookie message or meme perfectly describes your current life situation. The effect is named after showman P.T. Barnum, who reportedly said "there's a sucker born every minute" and was famous for creating broad appeals that made everyone feel personally addressed. Understanding the Barnum Effect is useful for building critical thinking about personality assessments, astrology, certain self-help claims, and even some marketing or cold-reading techniques. It highlights how easily our desire for insight and validation can override objective scrutiny of vague information.

Digital forgery refers to the manipulation, alteration, or creation of digital content (images, videos, documents, signatures, audio, etc.) with the intent to deceive, often for fraud, misinformation, identity theft, or creating false evidence. It spans several domains, including digital image/video manipulation, document forgery, signature forgery, and cryptographic forgery (e.g., digital signatures in cybersecurity contexts). Here are the main types of digital forgery, grouped by category: 1. Image Forgery (Most Common in Digital Forensics) These involve tampering with digital photographs or graphics, often using tools like Photoshop, GIMP, or AI. Copy-Move Forgery (also called Cloning) A portion of the image is copied and pasted elsewhere in the same image to hide/remove objects or duplicate elements (e.g., duplicating grass to cover a person). Image Splicing (or Compositing) Parts from two or more different images are combined into one new image (e.g., pasting someone's face onto another person's body). Image Retouching (or Enhancement) Subtle modifications like smoothing skin, changing colors, removing minor blemishes, or slight object removal — often not intended to deceive drastically but can cross into forgery when used misleadingly. Other related image manipulations sometimes classified separately include re-sampling, resizing with artifacts, or adding/removing objects via inpainting. 2. Video & Audio Forgery Deepfakes AI-generated or heavily manipulated videos/audio (especially faces or voices) that make it appear someone said/did something they didn't (very prevalent since ~2017–2018 with GAN technology). Video Splicing / Frame Manipulation Inserting, deleting, or altering frames/sequences in a video. Voice Cloning / Audio Deepfakes Synthetic audio that imitates a real person's voice. 3. Digital Document Forgery Tampering with PDFs, scanned IDs, certificates, contracts, or other electronic documents (altering text, dates, signatures, photos via editing software). Creating entirely fake digital documents that mimic official formats (fake diplomas, passports, invoices). 4. Digital Signature & Cryptographic Forgery Forged Digital Signatures (in the cryptographic sense) Creating fake electronic signatures without access to the private key — ranges from existential forgery (any valid signature), selective forgery (signature on chosen message), to universal forgery (signature on any message). Forged Electronic Signatures (in practice) Replicating someone's digital signature image, manipulating e-signature platforms, or using stolen/stolen credentials. 5. Other / Emerging Types AI-Generated Content Forgery (beyond deepfakes) — fully synthetic images, text, or documents created by generative AI passed off as real. Metadata Manipulation — altering EXIF data (location, timestamp, camera info) to support a false narrative. Digital forgery has become dramatically easier due to accessible editing tools, smartphones, and powerful AI. Detection relies on passive forensics (analyzing inconsistencies in noise, lighting, compression artifacts, etc.) or active methods (watermarks, blockchain provenance). If you're interested in a specific subtype (e.g., image forgery detection techniques, deepfake examples, or legal implications), let me know!

Simmrin Law Group American seniors aged 60+ filed 142,970 cybercrime complaints in 2024 and lost a combined $4.48 billion, equivalent to one new victim e

Visit the iPredator website to read about or print, at no cost. Dr. Nuccitelli’s 130+ types of internet troll and online provocateurs.