Blog Posts by Anderson Team

Have you ever been sent a text message with a link? Be careful! Identity Theft Expert and Consultant Robert Siciliano says it could be an ID theft scam known as "smishing."

The term "smishing" refers to winning a fake prize. A link often appears in the body of an email or phone text telling you to "click here" for your prize. If you click on the infected link, it downloads malware, which compromises your device.

If you click on the infected link, the downloaded software allows a "bad guy" to remotely control your phone -- from anywhere in the world. That scammer can even use your phone to access your banking information and even monitor ambient sounds around you.



How do you avoid "smishing"? Robert says:

1) Protect your cell phone and computer with anti-malware products, such as McAfee

2) Avoid clicking on links you are not familiar with.

On "Anderson," Robert shares the top 10 identity theft scams to watch out for. Along with "smishing" another top scam is disguised phone

Actress Jennifer Connelly and Anderson Cooper were both child models with the Ford Models agency.

In an interview, airing on Tuesday, May 15, Jennifer says she started modeling around age 10. Anderson only thought it fair that if Jennifer showed her modeling photos, he would do the same. In this clip from the show, he poked fun at his "cheesy" modeling gig -- advertising a fetching 30% off Members Only apparel. Take a look...

See more Anderson Modeling Photos>>



The star of the new movie "Virginia" tells Anderson that after being a child model, she got her first movie role at age 11 in "Once Upon a Time in America."

Of how she made the transition into acting, she tells Anderson that "it just kind of started happening through friends of my parents, so I didn't really choose it actively, until I was older."

Jennifer lives in New York with what she calls her "massive family" -- consisting of her 14-year-old, 8-year-old and 11-month-old baby.

Anderson asks the Academy Award winner

Anderson exposes the shady side of the modeling industry and how easily people can are scammed into paying lots of money in hopes of making it big.

See what happened after the "Anderson" team set up hidden cameras at a fictitious casting call for young models in Midtown Manhattan.



Anderson welcomes a group of aspiring young models who allege that they were scammed by a man named Aristeo Tengco.



Sandra, a mom who has been living at the Oakwood Apartments in Burbank, Calif. for the last seven years with her 14-year-old daughter, Megan, admits she spent about $160,000 trying to launch Megan's career.



When Anderson tells Sandra he doesn't believe she is parenting, an emotional Megan, who changed her name to Presley Cash, says, "I really love my mom and my dad for letting me do my dream, and I'm so thankful for them, or I wouldn't be doing this."



To find out when "Anderson" airs in your town, go to AndersonCooper.com.


SEE MORE FROM THE SHOW:

Modeling 101: Dos and Don'ts of Casting

Michael O'Connell, husband of Jessica Vega, appears on "Anderson," saying he was shocked when Vega first informed him she had cancer. O'Connell recalls, "At first I was in denial. How can someone so full of life have six to eight months to live?"

Vega, who continued to lie about her illness, was generously offered almost everything in her wedding for free -- from business owners in her community -- including her gown, flowers, honeymoon plane tickets and even a wig for her big day, which totaled more than $13,000. The touching story made headlines, but after O'Connell discovered Vega had forged the doctor's letter stating she was dying of cancer, O'Connell called the local paper and revealed what happened. He says, "I brought it to everyone's attention because everybody needed to know because it was a terrible lie."

Jessica is now awaiting sentencing after she was arrested in April on one count of a scheme to defraud, five counts of grand larceny and one count of criminal

"She's good, she's good in bed... let me tell you,' says Teresa, one of the "Three Grandmothers' from the viral video "Three Grandmas Watch Kardashian Sex Tape.

"He was good too,' says Mary about Ray-J.

The stars of the viral video that has everyone laughing, visited "Anderson' today. In a show airing Monday, May 14, Theresa, Josie and Mary explain to Anderson and Monday Co-Host Niecy Nash, how it happened that they watched Kim Kardashian and Ray-J's sex tape.

Josie, Mary and Teresa also premiered their newest viral video on "Anderson,' in which they talk about Jessica Simpson and Alicia Silverstone.

Watch the "Three Golden Sisters' on "Anderson' this coming Monday, May 14, along with Monday Co-Host Niecy Nash.

MORE FROM ANDERSON:

Food Critic Marilyn Says Life is Calmer after Internet Splash
The Shaytards on their Viral YouTube Success
Melissa McCarthy aka YouTube Sensation Marbles Harsgrove
Fainting Girl from Viral Video Tells Her Wedding Proposal Story

On today's show, Anderson explores how good-looking people are sometimes treated better than everyone else, calling it a type of "beauty bias."

The show set up a hidden camera experiment and followed two women, Joanna and Nicole, who both had a flat tire on the side of the road. Who gets more attention and help with fixing the flat? The results might surprise you. See what happens.

Biological anthropologist reveals there is a biological reason why people are attracted to beauty, telling Anderson, "The brain is built to try to pick the healthiest partner to raise your babies and send your DNA on to tomorrow. So we have this natural response for certain proportions of the body, so it's those bodily proportions that are particularly important."

Dr. Fisher also explains, "I've put people in brain scans and studied the brain circuitry of the brain reward system for pleasure, and when you look at a pretty face or a handsome face, those parts of the brain become active and

Vanessa Williams, author of new memoir, "You Have No Idea," talks to Anderson about the controversial photos that were released to Penthouse magazine. Williams remembers the day she got a call from a New York Post reporter, who informed her that some racy photos that were going to be released in Penthouse magazine. Vanessa says, "The pictures I had taken were when I was 19 years old, but I know that I hadn't signed a release."



Vanessa's mom, Helen, tells Anderson her husband refused to look at the pictures, but since she is an "inquisitive" person, she wanted to see them. "But when I looked into the eyes of Vanessa in those photos, I could tell that she was very upset, that she was very sad, that she recognized that this is something that she probably shouldn't have done."



SEE MORE CELEBRITY INTERVIEWS WITH ANDERSON:
Judi Dench Talks About the British and Their Tea
Judi Dench on 'Going Blind': 'It Was Blown Out of Proportion'
Will Judi Dench Ever Consider Retiring?
Aziz Ansari

Vanessa Williams, who was crowned the first African-American Miss America in 1983, recalls receiving hate mail and death threats because she was black.



Williams' mother, Helen, tells Anderson, "We received death threats saying, 'We're gonna come and chop your head off,' 'We're going to meet your daughter someplace, and you know, deform her in some way'… all because of the color of her skin."

Vanessa and Helen, who co-wrote Vanessa's memoir, "You Have No Idea," go on to say the threats and hate mail surprised them.

SEE MORE FROM THE SHOW:
Are You Impartial to a Certain Race? Take the Implicit Association Test
Have You Talked to Your Child About Race?
5 Action Tips for Improving Racial Understanding
Watch: Anderson and Soledad O'Brien Discuss Interesting Outcome of Racial Study with Kids
Children Aware of Race as Early As Age 3