A sneaky ad scam tore through 11 million phones

PLUS: Cheaters Hacked an AI Bot—and Beat the Rocket League Elite, and more. [View this email in your browser]( | [Manage newsletter subscriptions](newsletter=wir) [01.19.23](   [Screenshot of Rocket League game featuring a sports car flying and hitting a large ball on a field]( [GAME OVER | 3-MINUTE READ]( [Cheaters Hacked an AI Bot—and Beat the Rocket League Elite]( BY WILL KNIGHT [Expert players of the popular vehicular soccer game have been caught out by lesser players using a superhuman bot built on cutting-edge machine learning.](   [Overhead view of employees sorting boxes on a conveyor belt inside of an Amazon warehouse]( [SAFETY VIOLATION | 3-MINUTE READ]( [A Damning US Report Lays Bare Amazon’s Worker Injury Crisis]( BY ANNA KRAMER [Investigators found that conditions in three of the company’s facilities risk “serious physical harm” to workers.](   [Figures of Monks]( [DOOM SCROLLING | 5-MINUTE READ]( [Easily Distracted? You Need to Think Like a Medieval Monk]( BY MATT REYNOLDS [Focusing wasn’t much easier in the time before electricity or on-demand TV. In fact, you probably have a lot in common with these super-distracted monks.](   [Illustration featuring an arrow pierced trough a series of white squares]( [SPOOFING | 5-MINUTE READ]( [A Sneaky Ad Scam Tore Through 11 Million Phones]( BY MATT BURGESS [Some 1,700 spoofed apps, 120 targeted publishers, 12 billion false ad requests per day—Vastflux is one of the biggest ad frauds ever discovered.](   [SPONSORED CONTENT]( [The Science Behind Jet Lag—and How to Tackle It]( [Contrary to what you might think, it’s not all about sleep.]( [GET WIRED]( [Get WIRED for just $29.99 $5. Includes unlimited access to wired.com plus free stickers!]([Subscribe now.](   [A hand lighting a gas stove with a match in the dark]( [GADGET LAB PODCAST | 27-MINUTE EPISODE]( [We Need to Talk About Your Stove]( BY WIRED STAFF [This week, we get honest about our attachments to our gas stoves, and debate whether to replace them or just continue breathing their fumes.](   [Yeti Yonder Water Bottle on yellow backdrop]( [DRINK UP | 4-MINUTE READ]( [The Yeti Yonder Is the Water Bottle I Was Waiting For]( BY ADRIENNE SO [I’ve gone through Stanley tumblers, Nalgenes, and older Yetis. The Yeti Yonder beats them all.](   [skin device]( [EMPOWERED | 3-MINUTE READ]( [The Battery That Never Gets Flat]( BY FIONA DUNLEVY [Your body generates enough energy to power wearables, medical sensors, and implanted devices—and tech designers are plugging in.](   [Three small dogs chasing their tails on a yellow backdrop]( [FUR-VEILLANCE | 7-MINUTE READ]( [Keep an Eye on Fido With These Pet Cameras]( BY HALEY SPRANKLE AND GEAR TEAM [These cams let you check up on your dog or cat—and feed them treats—over the internet.](   Looking for a new job? Check out these featured listings and search for openings all over the world on [jobs.wired.com](. [VP, Head of Security & IT]( [Foursquare]( Location: Chicago, IL, USA [APPLY NOW]( [Interaction Designer, Google Cloud]( [Google]( [Location: Seattle, WA, USA; Sunnyvale, CA, USA]( [APPLY NOW]( [(image) WIRED Logo]( [(image) WIRED on Facebook]( [(image) WIRED on Twitter]( [(image) WIRED on Instagram]( [(image) WIRED on LinkedIn]( [(image) WIRED on YouTube]( [Podcasts]( Have questions or comments? [Reply to this email](mailto:hello@wired.com?subject=WIRED%20Newsletter%20Questions,%20Comments%20or%20Feedback). This email was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our email address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( or [Manage your newsletter subscriptions](newsletter=wir) Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.