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 …
Category: Scams
Fifteen Computing-Related Rules You Should Follow
I want to review fifteen computing-related rules you should follow. If you've been a customer of ours for a long time, most of these should sound familiar. The same is true if you've been a blog subscriber for a while. Unfortunately, we see people all the time in Remote Technical Support who aren't following some …
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Microsoft and Apple Won’t Do This
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 …
How Tooltips Are Being Used For Phishing
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 …
Windows 11 And Malware – Fake Downloads
Scam Virus Spyware Malware Antivirus Concept I want to warn you about Windows 11 and malware. As you know from reading my post, "Windows 11: Developer's Edition," Windows 11 is available for testing. In fact, maybe you've even watched my YouTube video titled "Windows 11." But there's a problem. Fake Downloads It's unfortunate but it's …
5 Important Blog Posts
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 …
Scam Email Examples
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 …
How A Large Company Ripped Off One Of My Computer Customers
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 …
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Ransomware Caused A Panic Which Caused A Gas Shortage…
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 …
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Do Not Post Your COVID-19 Vaccination Card!
All during the pandemic, I've been posting about COVID-19-related scams. (See HERE.) Now that more and more people are getting vaccinated, another scam pops up. In their excitement to share that they have reached the light at the end of the tunnel, people have been posting pictures of their completed vaccination cards. Of course, scammers …
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How To Avoid Smishing Scams
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 …
They Still Exist
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 …
Another Type of Covid-19 Scam
In several previous blog posts, I've talked about the online scams regarding Covid-19 (From The FBI, Coronavirus News). I referred you to both the FBI and the CDC regarding scams about virus cures and virus conspiracy theories. However, one of the areas I haven't talked about is credit repair scams. For a large number of …
I Have To Share Bad News With You-Email Scam
"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 …
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Our Most Popular Brochures
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 …
Scammers Have No Moral Compass
Here we are, in the midst of the worst pandemic in one hundred years, just trying to make sense of 2020. Finally, vaccines are beginning to appear to provide us a light at the end of the tunnel. For most of us, this fact is a reason to begin to celebrate. Unfortunately, for those morally …
Will The Real FBI Email Please Stand Up!
https://youtu.be/B57ZGG9R7KY?t=968 In the video above, Melvin Purvis - the FBI Special Agent in charge of the Chicago bureau when John Dillinger was killed - tried to stump the To Tell The Truth panel. This is pretty interesting and you might want to watch it after you've finished reading this post! But first... Here are two …
Don’t Be A Mule!
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 …
Gift Cards Are The Clue
The picture above is an image of a Landry's Gift Card. Landry's - they have one of the best reward programs in the nation and their restaurant group includes some of our favorite name brands. Joyce and I go to Saltgrass Steakhouse, Bubba Gump, Joe's Crab House, Landry's Seafood, Mitchel's Fish Market, Rainforest Café and …
This One Is Not…
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 …
This One Is Real
Often, when we see emails similar to the one above, they turn out to be fake. Scammers will make emails look like the real thing just so you'll click and fall for their attempt to steal your money and/or personal information. Lately, we've had a number of people log in to Remote Technical Support with …
A Perfect Example (Albeit Fake)
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.) …
Try This Search!
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 …
Under Attack
Many activities take place on the Internet about which "regular" computer users have no clue. Oh, you've heard of the Dark Web - I've written about it here - but there is more going on behind the scenes than that. As an example, have a look at the screenshot above. It is a daily report …
“I Got Taken For $275”
The title of this post is what I heard a few days ago when I answered a phone call from one of our customers. It's difficult to believe that I've been on a soapbox for 4 years preaching the same message: Microsoft, Apple and others don't call you on the phone to tell you there's …
What A Motley Crew!
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 …
Fake BLM Email
As I've stated many times over the years and as I pointed out in the form of a warning in my recent YouTube video ("Using Technology To Fight Racism"), scammers will take every negative opportunity to try to steal your money. Whether it's a hurricane, a tornado, a flood or civil unrest, these thieves will …
Frustrated and Saddened
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 …
Smishing & Pharming
In my post, IC3 2019 Report, I shared that the top scam rip-off of 2019 was Phishing/Vishing/Smishing/Pharming. Although I've published posts on Phishing and Vishing, I have yet to cover Smishing and Pharming. I'm going to rectify that today! Smishing - Smishing is just like Phishing except the scam comes through text messaging instead of …
IC3 2019 Report
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 …
