Articles about avoiding scams
Click-bait, Danger or Annoyance If you own a computer, phone or tablet you undoubtedly have already wasted your time clicking on a headline that had absolutely no bearing on the actual article to which it is linked. Even though its use stems from and is …
So, you thought the Facebook scandal regarding Cambridge Analytica scraping tens of millions of users’ data was bad enough. Now, respected investigative journalist Brian Krebs has recently revealed that Facebook has been hosting more than 100 cybercriminal/scammer groups with members numbering in the hundreds of …
Phishing: is the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and, indirectly, money), often for malicious reasons, by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication – Wikipedia Phishing scams have been around for some time, however, as …
If you spend enough time online, sooner or later you’ll wish you had a disposable eMail account, or, a way to track whether or not someone has “shared” your eMail address. Maybe you want to subscribe to a mailing list for a weekly newsletter about …
Disposable eMail – Good Defense Against eMail Abuse Read More »
Another Day, Another Scam It’s an enigma to me that, despite all the constant warnings and advice, so many people still keep falling victim to scammers. Make no bones about it, scamming is a multi-million dollar business, why? Because it’s inexpensive, effective, and lucrative. It …
How much damage getting hacked causes you often dictates how much you should care. If your mobile phone that’s only used to play Plants vs. Zombies gets exploited you probably won’t care. Your main computer getting hacked with banking access and email logins may take …
Earlier this week I received a phone call from one of my elderly clients (he’s 80 years young) who also happens to be one of my best friends. He tells me that his computer will not boot. I’m not particularly busy so I pop over …
We Need to be More Proactive in Protecting Elderly Computer Users Read More »
You know you should never believe everything you read online, right? I should know this better than anyone since I teach people how to be safe online. But even I fall for fake articles or news online sometimes. Just the other day I was on …
I’m driving home from bowls yesterday, lawn bowls that is, when my cellphone rings. It’s my beautiful daughter-in-law who informs me that my Facebook page has been ‘hacked’. I’m very surprised and somewhat dubious, I use a very strong password for Facebook and change it …
Facebook being Abused by Impersonators with Bogus Pages Read More »
Timely advice from security reporter Brian Krebs. These types of scam emails requesting confirmation of online orders are prolific at the best of times but the pre-Christmas shopping spree creates an environment of exaggerated vulnerability, one which the malware purveyors are only too happy to …
Beware: Fake ‘Online Order Confirmation’ Emails! Read More »
In his latest exposé, security reporter Brian Krebs details the dirty tricks often perpetrated by telephone tech support services. In particular, Brian highlights one instance where such a service has been clearly misleading potential consumers by falsely claiming to be a Microsoft Certified Partner: “You …
Last week, Brian Krebs warned of a suspected data breach at Home Depot stores across the US and Canada dating back to April this year. Unfortunately, that breach has now been confirmed. Even though it appears that the PINs tied to debit cards were not …
If you see an ad offering a ‘private video’ or ‘naked video’ of one of your Facebook friends, by all means, ignore it. (Who would want to see that anyways? Ewww. But I digress.) This is the latest scam that will result in malware …
Ignore Facebook Ad Promising Risque Videos of Friends Read More »
Target Breach – The News Keeps Getting Worse Target announced this week that 70 million customers have had their personal information hacked. These customers had their name, address, phone number and email address stolen. These victims are not limited to those who have recently shopped …
