Social Engineering is the number one way hackers break into computer systems and networks. As I explain in my blog post, Social Engineering: The Weakest Link In The Chain, the person operating a computing device is the weakest link in the security chain. Someone will click on a phishing email or be tricked into allowing …
When it comes to security online, the weakest link in the chain is, unfortunately, the computer user. That’s you, that’s me. Oh, there are other security issues – hence, updates to our software, etc. But, it’s the person in front of the computing device’s screen who makes up the most vulnerable aspect of the virtual …
Continue reading Social Engineering: The Weakest Link In The Chain
We have lots of ways for your to get help with any of your computing issues. Listed below are the options we offer. Remote Technical Support We have been helping people remotely for almost 20 years. We can often save a service call and the time you need to wait to have one scheduled by …
Today, we’re going to look at even more browser features you may not be using. This post is a continuation of the series called “Browser Features You May Not Be Using.” This is the third post. You’ll find the first one which was all about Microsoft Edge HERE. The second one was about Google Chrome …
Continue reading Even More Browser Features You May Not Be Using – Firefox
I want to share five important videos from our YouTube Channel. I realize this post will sound self-promoting but I promise you, it’s based on what we are seeing in Remote and hearing over the phone. Why Do I Have A YouTube Channel? There are a number of reasons I have a YouTube Channel. At …
What is clickbait? We have been asked this question enough times that I felt I should post about the subject. Let’s have a look! Clickbait Definition Merriam-Webster defines clickbait as “Something (such as a headline) designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink especially when the link leads to content of dubious value or interest.” …
We often get phone calls from people telling us “My computer was hacked.” My response normally is, “Not likely!” What Probably Happened Why “My computer was hacked” Is Probably False Despite what you might think, hacking a home computer is rarely high on a hacker’s To-Do list. (He or she is far more likely to …
You need to remember that Microsoft and Apple won’t do this: they won’t, really. What won’t they do? They won’t cause pop-ups to appear which try to scare you. No pop-ups telling you to not turn your computer off. Or, asking you to call a toll-free number. No pop-ups telling you there’s a zillion infections …
Today, I want to talk about a number of spammer tricks we are seeing all the time. Have you read my post entitled “Fighting Spam” or watched my YouTube video named “How To Eliminate Spam/Junk Emails?” If you have, you probably know that I recommend marking spam emails “Spam” or “Junk” rather than just deleting …
It’s important that you understand how tooltips are being used for phishing. First, I’ll explain terms and then I’ll outline the phishing process being used. Definitions Tooltips Are you familiar with the term tooltip? You probably see them all the time when you use a computing device but you might not know the term. Let’s …
Today, I want to share 5 important blog posts from the 579 I’ve published thus far. You might wonder why I would do this. Simple. A new reader of my blog asked me, “John, I don’t have time to read all the posts I’ve missed. Which posts would you say are most important?” We have …
I want to share with you some scam email examples. I get so many of them every day. Plus, we get lots of calls or Remote Technical Support log-ins regarding these types of emails. It just seems a good idea to share some of them. In each photo sample I post, feel free to click …
Talk about a computer rip-off! I’m going to relate to you how a major company ripped off one of my computer customers. It happened just last week. But first: Let’s Set The Scene If you’ve been reading this blog for some time or you’ve been our customer for awhile, you should be familiar with scam …
Continue reading How A Large Company Ripped Off One Of My Computer Customers
Or, Why You Should Keep Your Computing Devices And Anti-virus Up-To-Date Even though I’ve talked about ransomware a number of times here in our blog, there were still people who really didn’t understand the term until Colonial Pipeline was hit. At that point, the company shut down their pipelines and they remained closed for almost …
Continue reading Ransomware Caused A Panic Which Caused A Gas Shortage…
I suppose that before I explain how to avoid smishing scams, it might help to understand the meaning of the word “smishing.” Basically, smishing is phishing through text rather than email. All clear now? That definition works fine if you understand what phishing is. Okay, let’s go to the Mirriam-Webster dictionary to find out the …
The 1967 movie starred George C. Scott and Michael Sarrazin (may they both R.I.P.) and was about a confidence man who defrauded people in the South. Appropriately, it was titled “The Flim-Flam Man.” While we rarely hear the term in this computer day and age, flim-flam men (and women) still exist. In fact, they are …
“I have to share bad news with you” is actually the first sentence from the email pictured above. (You can click on the image to see a larger, more readable version.) Lately, I’ve been getting about six of these a day. So far, we’ve had one customer log in to Remote Technical Support because they …
Continue reading I Have To Share Bad News With You-Email Scam
Because of the pandemic, we haven’t had any in-person seminars. These training sessions are one place where I often hand-out computing-related brochures. I also distribute them when I speak at local organizations but that hasn’t been happening either. Of course, not everyone could attend these functions even if we were holding them. With that in …
According to the website Spana (spana.org), “Mules are one of the most commonly used working animals in the world, highly prized for their hardiness and docile nature.” Even though mules are hardworking and nice, the FBI doesn’t want you to become one. Huh? It’s true, the FBI just issued another warning in an effort to …
In my post, “This One Is Real,” I showed you a Yahoo email which, although it raises questions in some people’s mind about its validity, is real. However, lately, I have been receiving emails like the one above (click on it to see a larger image). Like most of you, I’d be delighted if someone …
The picture above is a perfect example of a fake warning. You know, the kind I’ve been talking about for years. This came onto my computer screen today. I had clicked on a link in a search that looked legitimate and this popped up. (You can click on the picture to see a larger version.) …
June 19, 2021 Hackers Use Google Doc For Phishing If you use Google Docs, you need to be aware of a new phishing attack. Hackers are creating web pages that appear to be the well-known Google Doc form. These scammers are sending out links to what looks like a Google Doc. However, before you can …
Once again, in the past week, I have two long-time customers who fell for a scam. Even though I’ve talked about the types of scams with which they got involved, they fell for it anyway. Just today, a scammer tried to get almost $700 from one of these customers. With that in mind, here’s what …
You may have noticed it’s a presidential election year. I don’t post about politics in this blog and I won’t be approving any comments that have anything to do with those who are running for office. However, what I do talk about in this portion of my website is computing, including hacking which is a …
Do you recognize the five people in the photo above? Besides being in the public eye on a consistent basis (celebrities?), do you know what else they have in common? All five of them (Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian West, Jeff Bezos, Joe Biden and Bill Gates) had their Twitter accounts hacked last week. They were …
Throughout the computer age, many Mac users have taken on a superiority complex regarding their computer versus those who own Windows PCs. After all, there have only been about 100 known Mac viruses. Compare that to the known number of Windows viruses (way over 100,000) and you can see why a Mac owner might cop …
Continue reading So, You Own A Mac And You’ve Copped An Attitude!
Those nasty scammers. They will do just about anything to try to steal your money. One of the things they’ve started to do is purchase security certificates for their bogus websites. They realize that most computer users have come to understand that the “s” in https:// stands for “secure.” A website is secure when everything …
This post picks up where the last post stopped! Rule #5 – Don’t rush to broadcast! If you want to be a trustworthy source of information on the Internet, this should be your priority rule. Often times, misinformation spreads over the Net because, in a flurry of emotions, people keep repeating something they haven’t verified. Perfect example: a …
Frustrated and Saddened I’m frustrated and saddened. For more than three years, I’ve been preaching and warning my customers about tech support scams. As recently as three days ago, in my blog post entitled “Soapbox,” I reiterated how fake pop-ups and unsolicited phone calls trick people into being cheated. I shared the FBI report on …
As I shared in my post, “Soapbox,” the FBI has released the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2019 Internet Crime Report. While my “Soapbox” post was focused on Tech Support Fraud, I think it’s important to share some of the other information found in this compte ren·du. For the record, I’m not passing this information along …