Plus: Now THIS is commitment to getting that CRT look ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

April 16, 2026 | Read online
# AI 'supercharging' scams, Ticketmaster monopoly and deepfaker pleads guilty Plus: Now THIS is commitment to getting that CRT look
{{OPEN_TRACKING_PIXEL}}
Edition 2543
"EAI 580 analog computer plugboard at CHM" by Tomwsulcer is licensed under CC0
Mentioned in today’s edition: Ticketmaster, deepfakes, Spotify, Elon Musk, Bluesky, Chegg and Analogue TV Simulator. Plus, deals on Garmin watches, Logitech mice and Nothing phones.
# The News
### More Australians are losing less money to more scams with the help of AI
AI is "supercharging" scammers who are claiming more Australian victims — but those victims are losing less money (NASC). Australia's anti-scam body, the National Anti-Scam Centre, says there's an 11% drop in the median scam loss but the total loss amount grew to $2.18 billion in 2025. The financial watchdog, ASIC, said that AI has let scammers produce highly convincing websites, video and audio that are being used to trick people (ABC News). In response, they've increased the number of scam websites taken down by 90% — but to a total of just under 12,000, which feels like a drop in the ocean.
The Sizzle: Scams aren't a sexy tech topic but I think they’re a major reason why people feel negatively towards tech right now. For many people — particularly the elderly and First Nations people, who are both mentioned in the NASC report as being disproportionately affected by scams — using your phone or your computer is accompanied by the constant fear that one wrong click will let someone drain your bank accounts or steal your identity. I even reckon it contributes to a broader, cultural feeling of suspicion towards others. As an FYI, Australia did get a new “scam prevention framework” that will create new requirements for industries like banks, telcos, etc, but the government hasn’t put it into effect, yet.
Interestingly, that $2.18 billion in losses is significantly down from the 2022 peak of $3.1 billion. I credit that to banks and, to a lesser extent, telcos who’ve seriously stepped up anti-scam efforts in the past few years. That lower overall loss amount suggests that the bigger ones are being caught by banks (ringing to ask “hey Granny did you really mean to let someone called da_scam_lord buy $700,000 of $POOPCOIN on your behalf?” but, thankfully for scammers, AI is letting them work faster and cheaper. Another delightful benefit of the technology ;)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Ticketmaster's shitty website is also a 'harmful monopoly', US court says
Ticketmaster is a harmful monopoly that is raising the cost of concert ticket prices, a US court has found (ABC News). Its parent company, Live Nation, was accused of using its ownership of hundreds of major venues to force musicians and sports teams to use its shitty and expensive online ticketing platforms or face being blackballed. While the court hasn't yet handed down penalties, they're expected to be somewhat muted because of the Trump administration's decision to settle its claims against Live Nation mid-trial, leading to the company agreeing to let some of its venues use competing ticketing platforms (CNN)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### First person charged for deepfake crime pleads guilty as project makes a global map of school cases
19-year-old William Yeates pleaded guilty in an Adelaide court this week and faces up to 7 years behind bars (ABC News). Meanwhile, old friend of the Sizzle and international online investigation expert Craig Silverman's publication Indicator is assembling a map showing all the times that deepfake abuse has happened at schools around the world — including at least 5 cases in Australia. Sick stuff.
Related reading: Deepfake nonconsensual porn apps are advertising in the App Store (Apple Insider)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
First, a notice from Sizzle friend Stilgherrian who shared the sad news that Australian veteran tech reporter and broadcaster Gary Stark has passed away. Pay.com.au pauses IPO plans to pursue $20 million private raise (SmartCompany) Study site Chegg fined $500k for helping Aussies cheat (Information Age) The Fair Work Commission is being swamped by AI (Capital Brief, $) Amazon enters agreements for nine Australian renewable projects to power data centres (The Guardian) How to run local LLMs: a guide for the perplexed (Decryption)
Rest of World:
Snap lays off 1,000 staffers in latest push for AI and profitability (The Verge) Anna’s Archive loses $322 million Spotify piracy case without a fight (TorrentFreak) Apple threatened to remove Grok from App Store over deepfakes, letter to Musk shows (NBC News) The US government will start asking data centers how much power they use (Wired, $)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### Now THIS is commitment to getting that authentic CRT look
Sizzler Quigly dropped this in the Slack: Analogue TV Simulator is an extremely cool app that does what it says on the tin, but in a very impressive way. A Redditor built the app to emulate the physics of CRT graphics on different inputs to create a very legit looking reproduction of the aesthetic. It costs literally pocket change to buy the app on iOS but you can get the macOS version for free. I recommend giving it a whirl, very impressive.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
DJI Mic Mini Wireless Microphone for Camera - $126 at Amazon (Down from $169) Edifier Stax Spirit S5 Wireless Planar Magnetic Headphone - $299 at Centre Com (Down from $699) Nikon Zf Black (Mauve Pink) + Nikkor Z 40mm (SE) Lens Kit - $2330 at Amazon (Down from $3879) Samsung 65" S90H OLED 4K TV - $2999 at Samsung EPP (Down from $3995)
Computing
Wired Anko Gaming Mouse with LED Lighting - $4 at Target (Down from $15) MSI Motherboard A520M-a PRO Micro ATX - $66.88 at Amazon (Down from $109) Asus Prime-A520M-E Matx AM4 MB - $73.43 at Amazon (Down from $129) Edifier MR4 Studio Monitor Speakers - $99 at Centre Com (Down from $179) Logitech MX Master 4 (Mac Version) - $154 at Aliexpress (Down from $195) FURYCUBE GT80 Tenkeyless Mechanical Keyboard - $155 at Berserkeys (Down from $199) Z-Edge UG34 34" Ultrawide 2K Curved Gaming Monitor 165Hz, 21:9 Aspect Ratio - $299 at Amazon (Down from $499)
Mobile
Nothing Phone (3a) 8GB RAM/128GB (White/Black) - $398 at Optus (Down from $549) Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 47mm Sapphire Watch - Carbon Gray - $849 at Rebel Sport (Down from $1699) Samsung Galaxy phones at Samsung Samsung Galaxy A57 5G 128GB for $561, 256GB for $636 Samsung Galaxy S25 Blueblack 256GB for $979 (Down from $1349) Samsung Galaxy S25+ 256GB for $1189 (Down from $1685)
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
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