Tech Tuesday: Internet loss, FCC fines, credit card theft

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Nearly 60 million Americans may no longer be able to afford internet this week.

A government program that helps keep low income households online is set to run out of money by Wednesday. And the bill to extend the affordable connectivity is stalled in Congress. It’s a 2021 pandemic-era benefit that has been crucial for rural Americans.

“Having that funding allowed me to afford a portable hotspot (and) backup internet that I was using for my daughter,” said Cindy Westman, a recipient of affordable internet.

Legislation to extend the program has received bipartisan support. President Joe Biden has called on Republicans to do more to get the bill brought to a vote.

The FCC is fining the top wireless carriers in the U.S.

Officials say the fines come from allegations made by the FCC saying that AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon illegally shared personal data from their customers without consent.

AT&T is being fined $57 million and Verizon is being fined nearly $47 million. T-Mobile is facing $80 million worth of fines while Sprint faces $12 million.

All four carriers say they plan to appeal the decision.

A man is in custody accused of stealing nearly 30,000 credit card and debit card numbers.

A criminal complaint was filed against Romario Serban on April 10. He is accused of installing skimmer devices to steal customers’ information at 19 Walmart stores in New York, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

Investigators say more than 27,000 credit card numbers and nearly 22,000 debit card numbers were compromised while the skimmers were active.

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