Thursday☕️

26 Oct 2023 — 4 min read

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New U.S. House Speaker:

Mike Johnson, a Republican representative from Louisiana, was chosen as the new Speaker of the House on Wednesday. This decision ended three weeks of inactivity in Congress. Despite being the vice chairman of the House Republican conference, Johnson wasn’t well-known until this week when he became the party's choice for Speaker.
He was the fourth person the Republicans considered for the role in just two weeks, as the party struggled to find a candidate with enough support. Johnson successfully united the Republican members behind him, even though they had turned down three previous candidates: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise from Louisiana, Rep. Jim Jordan from Ohio, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer from Minnesota.
Former President Donald Trump played a role in Johnson’s success, as he publicly encouraged Republicans to vote for him on Wednesday. Additionally, Johnson was able to gain the support of several moderate Republicans from New York, who had been hesitant to back the more outspoken conservative candidates.
Now in his fourth term in Congress, Johnson takes on the Speaker role at a challenging time, with a potential government shutdown looming, ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and Ukraine fighting against a Russian invasion.

FBI Warns About Phantom Hacks:

The FBI in Denver is warning about a scam called “The Phantom Hacker,” targeting mainly older people. Scammers pretend to be from tech companies, banks, or the government, telling victims their financial accounts are at risk from foreign hackers.
They urge victims to transfer their money to a fake U.S. Government account for protection, but the scammers just steal it, often resulting in the loss of life savings. The FBI notes that these scammers are very calculated, taking advantage of older people’s natural caution. They aim to raise awareness and educate the public to prevent more people from falling victim to this scam.
The scam typically follows three steps: a fake tech support call leading to the scammer gaining computer access, a call from someone pretending to be the victim’s bank advising a fund transfer, and if needed, a fake government official reassuring the victim.
To stay safe, the FBI advises avoiding clicking on unexpected links or pop-ups, not calling back numbers from suspicious messages, and never downloading software or giving computer access to unknown individuals. Remember, the U.S. Government will never ask for money transfers, cryptocurrency, or gift cards for asset protection.