Helping You Stay Smart, Safe, and One Step Ahead Online
Here at Ask Grammy, I help you spot scams, avoid online traps, and make sense of the things that just don’t feel quite right.
I share what I’ve learned over the years—so you can stay safe, feel confident, and maybe even enjoy being online again.
Think of this as our little corner to figure things out together. Simple advice. No jargon. No judgment.
Go ahead and start with the latest posts below. I’m right here with you.
– Grammy 💓
Recent posts
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Nonna’s Boutique “Handmade Leather” Bags Are Actually $4.73 Plastic From SHEIN
Meet Nonna. She started her leather handbag boutique in Florence in 1972. Brought to America in 1997. Spending her days hand-checking every stitch on leather bags meant to be passed down for generations. It’s a lovely story. Every word of it is false. Prefer to watch? Here’s everything I found. A Page With a Completely…
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She Has 176,000 Followers and a Loving Husband. Neither One Is Real.
176,000 people follow Amaya’s Buckles. They’ve watched her handcraft Western boots and buckles, cheered her on in the comments, and jumped to defend her husband against hateful commenters. None of it is real. Not the boots. Not the husband. Not even Amaya herself. Prefer to watch? Here’s everything I found. 176,000 Followers, Including 25 of…
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US Army Vet or Scammer? The Truth Behind “Sam Handmakes”
A rugged looking man. An American flag waving behind him. A story about being a combat veteran who hand carves patriotic emblems to support his family. He launched his shop right around America’s 250th birthday, timing built for maximum patriotic pull. There’s one problem. Sam Handmakes doesn’t exist. Prefer to read? Here’s everything I found.…
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Maya & Henry’s Jewelry Scam: This Sweet Couple Doesn’t Exist
Meet Maya and Henry. A sweet, devoted couple who’ve spent more than thirty years hand crafting jewelry together. Except they haven’t spent a single day doing it, because Maya and Henry aren’t real people. And they’re not running one fake storefront. They’re running two. Prefer to read? Here’s everything I found. Two Pages, One Story…
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Vetucci Scam Exposed: The Fake Italian Boutique Selling You Lies
There’s an ad running on Facebook and YouTube right now for a little Italian boutique called Vetucci. Eighty percent off, everything must go, a heartfelt family finally closing up shop after all these years. It’s a lovely story. Too bad none of it is true. Prefer to read? Here’s everything I found. The Ad That…
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Liars Are Fabricating “Evidence” With These Free Sites
We talk a lot about AI around here. Deepfakes, AI-generated voices, synthetic photos. And those are real threats worth understanding. But today I want to talk about something much simpler. No AI required. No technical skill required. No money required. Just a free website, a few minutes, and a reason to lie about someone. There…
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Freeze Your Credit Before Scammers Get Into It!
Data breach announcements are starting to sound like weather reports – daily and unpredictable. In just the past few months, Charter Communications (that’s Spectrum to most of you), McGraw Hill, Medtronic, and Carnival Cruise Lines have all been hit. Think about that for a second. If you have internet service, you’re probably in the Spectrum…
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What Does AI Really Think About AI? I Asked. It Didn’t Sugarcoat It.
Most of the conversation happening around artificial intelligence is about what it can do. How fast it’s moving. Whether it’ll take our jobs or make our lives easier. Whether it’s something to embrace or something to fear. But few people are asking AI what it actually thinks about all of this. About us. About what…
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Before You Donate to That Animal Rescue Page, Read This
If you ever find yourself wanting to both love and hate your fellow humans, take up investigating scams. It’s a quick way to see the best and the worst of our kind all in one place. This investigation is a perfect example of that. On one side, you’ve got people who are willing to do…
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Reshipping Scam: The “Work From Home Job” That Turns You Into a Criminal
She answered the door expecting to find a package. Instead she found a sheriff – with a search warrant in hand. And she had absolutely no idea why. She thought she had a job. A real one. Work from home, receive packages, photograph the contents, log everything into an online portal, and reship using prepaid…
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Sadvertising: How Scammers Use Fake Tears to Take Your Money on Social Media
You have probably seen it. A video pops up in your feed. A person (usually young, awkward, sweet and nervous) is holding up something they made. A crocheted cardigan. A resin lamp. A handmade bag. They worked so hard on it. They took it to a market. Nobody bought anything. Someone was cruel to them.…
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AI Influencers Gone Wild: When “Fun” Turns to Deception (and Broken Laws)
My research for this post started with a straightforward question: what exactly is an AI influencer, and should you be worried about them? It ended with me filing a report with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and submitting a site takedown request to a web hosting company. So. That escalated quickly. The…
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AI Cloned Me – And It Was Disturbingly Easy
That Video You Just Watched? Part of It Was AI. If you came here from my latest video, you already know what I did. I used a free AI tool to create a video of myself – a version of me that blinks, smiles, gestures, and delivers a message in what sounds like my voice.…
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Did Randy Fenoli Design a Dress for a 3-Armed Bride? AI Photos Explained
How AI-Generated Celebrity Photos Are Fooling 150,000 Facebook Followers – And How to Spot Them Over 150,000 people follow a Say Yes to the Dress fan page on Facebook called Wedding Dress Hub. And buried inside hundreds of photos of beloved bridal expert Randy Fenoli posing with stunning wedding gowns is something that stopped me…
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Scammers Know More About You Than You Think – Here’s How to Take It Back
Did you know many scammers research their victims before they call? They’re not guessing. They’re not picking names at random. They use something called your digital footprint – the trail of personal information you’ve left across the internet – to figure out who you are, what you’re afraid of, and how to sound convincing when…
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Animal Rescue Scam: Heel and Hoof Rescue / Safe Haven Horse Rescue
What They Claim Heel and Hoof Rescue – also operating under the name Safe Haven Horse Rescue – runs a YouTube channel at @heelandhoofrescue, posting horse rescue content and directing viewers to donate via PayPal. The channel claims to be a nonprofit organization based in Bakersfield, California. What the IRS Says There is no record…