Jo-Ann Fabrics stores are going away, since Jo-Ann Stores, LLC declared bankruptcy this year. Winding down their operations, they’ve stopped accepting their own gift cards, and they’ve ceased online ordering. Scammers have seen an opportunity in this. They are creating really good fake JOANN websites and trying to get people to use them. At the … Read more
The FTC has finally managed to bring the hammer down on one major player in the tech-scam department. Restoro and Reimage have been sued by the feds, and made to pay up! If you ever paid money to one of these companies, money may already be on its way to you. Here’s some more info … Read more
Many tech scams begin with “Thank you for your purchase” and I’ve blogged about many of them. Today’s Best Buy Purchase scam is possibly the best one yet. Let me show you all about it, so that you won’t be fooled by this. The Phishing Email The bogus email I received was very convincing. It … Read more
Dropbox phishing can arrive in your inbox, as an invitiation to open an “important” file. But if you don’t recognize the sender, or weren’t expecting such an email, don’t trust it! Here are the details of this type of scheme: The Phishing Email Message Let’s go over this recent example. There are a few tells … Read more
Most schools use a Student Information System (SIS) to manage all of their students’ records, grades and personal information. PowerSchool is the biggest SIS company in the US and Canada, and they just suffered a data breach. If you have kids in K-12 school right now, you may want to know more about this: Data … Read more
We all have to deal with a certain amount of spam. But if you notice a sudden and major uptick in the spam coming to your inbox, pay attention! This could be a spam bomb. This is a smokescreen tactic used by cybercriminals to hide what they’re doing… The strategy is this: A bad guy … Read more
This scam gets to be wildly successful, this time of year, because many of us are patronizing Amazon so much. As the standard notification emails roll in from all of your purchases and returns, The Amazon Purchase Scam email may arrive in your inbox. Please don’t mistake this for a true Amazon message! This is … Read more
Package delivery scams have been making the rounds for years. And they grow in number during the holiday season. The scammers surely know that our gift-giving culture leads to a higher number of shipments, and that increases their scams’ chances of working. Let’s go over the details of these scams, so you have a better … Read more
Microsoft makes a free download that will scan your PC for malware, viruses and other baddies. It’s a one-and-done operation and it won’t conflict with your full-time antivirus. You can download the Microsoft Safety Scanner here. If you’re already protecting your computer with Microsoft Defender Antivirus, this scan tool probably won’t do much for you. … Read more
This scam has been around for a long time, and when I blogged about it in 2022, I was able to show you how easy it was to recognize. Not so with the latest edition. The Microsoft 365 Renewal Scam, v2.0 is “new & improved”, and much more likely to fool someone. Here’s what to … Read more