At least, not with some copy-and-paste wodge of text. So if you see this kind of post, don’t bother with it: It is not harmful to post this sort of thing. And you may truly see more posts from long-lost FB Friends afterwards. But that’s because Facebook shows you more of the people you interact … Read more
Too Much Info Recently I commented on YouTube that we should be very careful about what we share on social media. Specifically, I mentioned that we should avoid posting personal or sensitive facts about ourselves. Consider this ubiquitous example: I see this post repeated all over Facebook, sometimes with over 500,000 comments. My jaw drops … Read more
This scam has whiskers on it, but because it returns every 6 months or so to claim new victims, I want to describe it so you can be on the lookout: A Facebook Friend contacts you through Facebook Messenger, saying: “Is it you in this video?!” Below the message is a link to YouTube or … Read more
I just saw some really bad advice on Reddit. Someone suggested that when you take a call from a scammer, you should put some effort into complaining, to waste their time and convince them to not call anymore. Please do not do this. Do not harass a phone scammer. The chance of you convincing a … Read more
Data breaches are so frequent, that it’s quite likely your email or phone number has been involved in one. It’s usually not your fault. When hackers get through a big company’s security, they may take a copy of whatever valuable account data they can. That can include your name, email, phone number, password… Even worse, … Read more
Many people get annual emails that announce upcoming antivirus auto-renewal charges. So the Norton Auto-Renewal Scam tends to works well, because it lines up with people’s expectations: There is nothing true about this message, yet it still grabs people and compels them reach for the phone. The urge to undo that $500+ charge almost blocks … Read more
Shentel Email users, beware the latest email scam coming to your inboxes!: This message is not from Shentel! If you look closely, you’ll see it came from an odd address ending in “buckeye-express.com”. DO NOT CLICK the Update button, as it will take you to a deceptive website. I’ll show that website here, without putting … Read more
Here’s the latest scam to come to my doorstep: “My CallerID read Comcast, and when I answered, the caller apologized for not securing my Xfinity router properly. They said they’d just fixed it and that I was owed a credit. I allowed him to remote-control my PC, and he helped me get $300 sent to … Read more
Yet another way that the scammers are coming at us is through “work-from-home” opportunities. They will call/email/text/post with promises of lucrative work, but end up taking advantage of hopeful people. Here are some details to help you identify work-from-home scams: How to Respond If you encounter a Work-at-Home scam, don’t communicate with the sender. Block … Read more
A common scammer tactic is to create an impostor account on Facebook. They snag a copy of your profile picture, use your name and pretend to be you as they sign up on the Facebook site. Their FB profile will look a whole lot like yours, and then they will attempt to fool people with … Read more