U.S.

The Federal Trade Commission has ordered nine companies, Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart, to hand over detailed information on whether they use personal data to set the prices customers pay, and in the case of ride-hailing and delivery apps, what their gig workers are paid, the agency said October 28.

The FTC wants to know whether the price of a plane ticket, ride, delivery or other purchase can differ from one person to the next based on things like loyalty-program activity, browsing habits or other personal data run through pricing algorithms. "Consumers deserve to know whether companies use their web surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price they can charge each consumer," FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said. The orders are part of a study under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act; they are not an accusation of wrongdoing, though the agency can go to court if a company does not comply. In August the FTC also proposed a policy on when undisclosed use of personal data to set an individual price could be illegal.

Until the FTC reports back, a few habits help you see whether a price is really the price: compare fares and totals while logged out, in a private browsing window or on another device; check the same item on the store's website and in its app; look at the itemized fees before you pay; and remember that loyalty pricing can cut both ways. If you think you were charged unfairly, you can report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

The Federal Trade Commission has sued GovAssist LLC, Entry LLC and Scott Zuckerman, alleging that since at least October 2023 their websites, including GovAssist.com, Entry.com and IVS.us, impersonated the U.S. State Department or claimed to be affiliated with it to sell passport and visa services, the agency said October 22. The defendants have not had their day in court; the allegations are the FTC's.

According to the complaint, the companies paid for Google search ads that appeared as top sponsored results for phrases such as "apply for a new passport," "how can I renew my passport" and "passport renewal online," leading travelers to believe they were dealing with the government or an authorized provider. The FTC also alleges false promises about the service to obtain people's financial and personal information.

The official source for U.S. passports is the State Department at travel.state.gov, where many adults can renew online. Look for a .gov address before entering any information, and be wary of the ads above search results, which can be bought by anyone. If you paid a site you thought was the government, the FTC takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Yellowstone National Park closes its West, South and East entrances and nearly all park roads to regular vehicle traffic on November 1, the park said October 21. Saturday, October 31, is the last day visitors can drive most of Yellowstone's roads in 2026. The road from Tower Fall to Canyon Junction over Dunraven Pass stays open through October 31, weather permitting.

Through the winter, the only route open to cars is the road between the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, and the Northeast Entrance at Cooke City and Silver Gate, Montana, through Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Junction and Lamar Valley. It stays open year-round, weather permitting. Snowmobile and snowcoach travel season starts December 15.

If you are going before the closure, expect limited services and changing weather, and closures that can happen without notice. Keep the gas tank full and pack blankets and cold-weather gear. Road conditions are on the park's Park Roads page, by text alert (text 82190 to 888-777) or by phone at 307-344-2117.

People 60 and older reported losing about $3 billion to fraud in 2025, up from about $600 million in 2020, the Federal Trade Commission said in its annual report to Congress on protecting older adults, released October 19. The FTC says the rise was driven largely by more reports of extraordinarily large individual losses, and it estimates the true cost of fraud to older adults last year, including losses never reported, could be as high as $119.5 billion.

Investment scams were the costliest: reported losses by older adults jumped 42 percent to more than $1 billion, and people often said the scammer first reached them on social media. Older adults also reported much higher median losses than younger people, especially those 80 and over, whose median reported loss was $2,000.

The pattern cuts both ways. Older adults report losing money at lower rates than younger adults and file far more reports in which they lost nothing. But they remain more likely to lose money to tech support scams; prize, sweepstakes and lottery scams; romance scams; government impersonation; and scams impersonating a friend or family member.

If you or a parent is contacted out of the blue about an investment, a prize, a computer problem or a relative in trouble, stop and verify through a number you already have. Report fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; the reports feed the data behind this report and the FTC's cases.

A hacking and extortion group known as ShinyHunters said on Tuesday, September 22, that it had breached the FBI and stolen data on a large number of current and former employees and job applicants, Reuters reported. The FBI said it was aware of claims regarding unauthorized activity affecting FBIjobs.gov and was investigating.

The group released a 5,000-line sample that it said was a small part of a two- to three-terabyte trove. It included names, home addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and emergency contacts, and in some cases details of employees' assignments, including in counterintelligence and security work. Reuters partially verified the sample by checking details against credit bureau records and previously breached data, but said it could not establish exactly where the data came from.

Michigan said Saturday, August 1, that nine of its water systems had been hit by cyberattacks, days after Minnesota reported attacks on about 30 sites, the Associated Press reports. Federal agencies have said water systems in at least seven states were affected but have not named the others. The FBI said it and partner agencies are fully engaged and is investigating; it has not publicly named who is responsible.

Officials in both states said water remained safe. 'All systems continued to operate safely, issues were addressed by local operators, and there are no known impacts that posed a public health concern,' said Dale George of Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. In Braham, Minnesota, a city of about 1,700, attackers shut down the controls for a well and treatment plant, leaving the city relying for a time on water stored in its tower; the city said water quality was not affected. Most confirmed attacks involved equipment used to monitor and control systems remotely.

The FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other agencies had warned in an advisory the week before that Iranian hackers were targeting water and wastewater systems. President Trump said he did not believe Iran was responsible and blamed Minnesota's state government; Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said the president knows who is responsible and that other states were hit as well.