It is common for a scammer to delete things after they compromise someone’s email account. After recovering a stolen email account, you may notice that your Inbox is empty, or your address book has nothing in it. Checking the Trash folder, you’ll probably find nothing there, as well. They’ve covered their tracks, adding more insult … Read more
If your email gets hijacked, you’ll figure it out quickly enough. People will start calling you to ask why you sent those out-of-character messages… Scammers steal their way into email accounts every day. If your email gets stolen, the first and best thing to do is: Reset your email password. But that may not be … Read more
I get this question all the time. Someone surveys themselves and sees nothing “worth hacking”. Because they just send a few innocuous emails a week, they do a little Facebooking with family, they play some solitaire. What could be worth a hacker’s time with their modest computer usage? What makes them (or you) worth hacking … Read more
Gift card scams are extremely common and successful. If a stranger asks you to pay using a Gift Card, I want your next thought to be SCAM! Program yourself to mistrust anyone asking you to go buy a gift card. Treat gift cards just like cash. Only use them as gifts, with people you know, … Read more
Right now, government agencies are warning about a significant ransomware attack being directed at US Hospitals. And I hear that the ADA is reaching out to dental offices, telling them to be alert and to make sure their data is backed up. As the current threat expands, any healthcare-related office needs to be on guard, … Read more
ABCMouse was recently punished by the FTC, to the tune of $10 million. They were fined for a variety of deceptive practices, including recurring charges to customer credit cards for membership renewals that were either not disclosed or difficult to terminate. Auto-renewal traps are nothing new. ABCMouse is certainly a big name, but many other … Read more
1TB or 2TB flash drives are not cheap! If you’ve seen an ad or an offer for a Terabyte Flash Drive for a low price ($20-30), it is a scam. While terabyte-sized flash drives are finally coming to market, they are still expensive (~$150-200). “Fake” flash drives are for sale, though, on Amazon and similar … Read more
A common email scam starts with a message, stating you made a purchase, when you truly didn’t. The Thank-You-for-Your-Purchase Scam may appear to come from Microsoft or any number of well-known companies. Click here or here to view some examples of this scam. $500 for “Microsoft Windows Defender Firewall Online”? Many people will miss that … Read more
When a child is in danger, we all want to help. I get it. It’s part of the human condition. But when you see Missing Child alerts on social media, I need to warn you that you should pause and remain dubious. Do Not Share or spread that Post yet! Missing Child posts may not … Read more
When shopping online, most people rely on product reviews to determine whether to buy something. But some sellers seek to game the system and generate (numerous!) fake reviews on their product listings. Maybe they do this to offset negative reviews or to create false demand; regardless, it amounts to deception. And it’s such a widespread … Read more