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: Social Engineering
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 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 …
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 …
Continue reading I Have To Share Bad News With You-Email Scam
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 …
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 …
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 …
“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 …
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 …
Soapbox
Yes, I've been on my soapbox preaching away for a long time. In fact, three years ago, I published this video: https://youtu.be/RK2i8RtCP60 The IC3 Yesterday, the FBI Released the Internet Crime Complaint Center 2019 Internet Crime Report. This review covers all the financial losses that people and companies incurred in 2019 because of Internet scammers and …
2019-nCoV
Did you read our Question of the Week email for February 3, 2019? (If not, you should read it now - before you continue with this post. You'll find it HERE.) In addition to what I shared in the email, I wanted to warn you of something scammers/hackers are doing. They are sending emails with …
Look Younger Now!
The title of this post, "Look Younger Now" is an example of another computing term: "clickbait." The purpose of clickbait is to use words and/or pictures to attract your interest and get you to click on an article or an ad or a webpage. As is the case with this post, often the clickbait has …
So, This Just Happened…
There I was this morning just reading an article on a jury trial. I was on a legitimate news website and I had not clicked on anything. Suddenly, the window you see above popped up on my screen. Yes, I was in Google Chrome so the heading fits. However, this is a prime example of …
Hello, It’s Google Calling – NOT
For years, I've been preaching about phone calls and pop-ups that purport to be from Microsoft and/or Apple. It's been over three years since I first posted a video warning about these scams. (See the video below. If you've never watched it, you should.) Since that time, I've written Question of the Week emails about …
Stuart Rotary
Yesterday, I was privileged to be the guest speaker at the Stuart Rotary Club's weekly meeting. I felt very much at home as this was my third time presenting a program for the men and women of this great organization. Plus, a number of friends and customers belong to the club and were in attendance …
Apple Problem?
It seems like forever. Apple users were able to justify the cost of their Apple product, if for no other reason, because it was safer than a Microsoft device. Think about it. While there were tens of thousands of viruses for the Windows Operating System, there were, maybe, a hundred or so for the Mac …
Bahamian Alert
An attempt to appeal to your willingness to help others. Warning! It occurs after every natural disaster. Whether it's a hurricane, earthquake, tornado, volcano eruption, mud slide or major flood, you can count on it happening. There will be crooks who will attempt to use Social Engineering and appeal to your willingness to help others. …
A Double Whammy
One of the themes of this blog has been Social Engineering. I never set out to make that a primary subject but circumstances have drawn my posts in that direction. Today, I'm going to relate a story of how one of my customers got the "double whammy." First, in case you missed my other posts …