Mail2World’s 2022 Email Outage

On Wednesday, 1/12/2022, an email provider named Mail2World disappeared from the internet. They’re a modest company based in California that provides email for millions of people worldwide. They handle the email service for many different ISPs (including Shentel, Buckeye Broadband, and SRT), as well as for individuals and small businesses. Information on this outage was … Read more

Lack of Policing on Facebook

Yesterday, I reported a scam from a Facebook group. And an autoreply quickly arrived, stating that their “technology” had reviewed my request and found nothing to act on. I then chose the option to Request a Second Review, because they got it wrong. That got me this disappointing response: This suggests that they put more … Read more

Duct Cleaning Scams

Duct Cleaning Scams are very common on Facebook, and are probably the most common type of service scam you’ll find there. They are usually posted inside of Group Pages, where they are more visible and Facebook does less monitoring. Warning Signs of a Duct Cleaning Scam You should suspect a scam when you see: A … Read more

2021 Twitch Data Breach

If you use Twitch, read up on the news about the 2021 Twitch Data Beach. Since they’re still figuring out just what data was stolen, you’re best off if you change your Twitch password ASAP. And while you’re at it, consider turning on 2FA for your account. Better safe than sorry!

Shentel Email Best Security Practices

Many of my clientele are in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the home territory of an ISP named Shentel. And like many ISPs, Shentel provides free, courtesy email addresses to its subscribers. It’s like a mint on your pillow, except this mint needs some extra warnings on its wrapper and may give you some indigestion… … Read more

Don’t Panic: Pegasus Spyware

There’s a lot of news about the powerful spyware named Pegasus. And it is some nasty stuff, being able to infect a phone without anyone clicking anything! You can read about some basics about Pegasus here. Unfortunately, this is one of those news topics where the media can be more inciteful than insightful. For example, … Read more

Defending Against Misinformation

You can call it misinformation, false news, alternative facts or misleading journalism. The internet is home to countless lies & fraudulent stories, promoted by real people and bot accounts, alike. It’s awful out there, folks. And it’s not just the news. Forwarded emails of photos and videos dupe people into believing inaccurate science. Ads and … Read more

The Google Voice Verification Scam

Are you selling items on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist? Then watch out for the Google Voice Verification scam! The Setup A potential buyer contacts you and asks for your cellphone number. Once you share your contact info, a text comes in from Google Voice. It contains a 6-digit verification code, and your would-be buyer quickly … Read more