Category: Internet (Page 1 of 9)

New Broadband Labeling Requirements

April 14, 2024 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

If you are shopping for internet service, you should know about the new broadband labeling requirements. The FCC now requires ISPs to clearly state speeds, pricing and other critical details about their services. These new Broadband Consumer Labels look like the FDA’s nutrition labels. Overall, the government is trying to make ISPs present their offerings in a standard and less confusing way.

Examples

Here’s an example of what you will find, when you go shopping at Xfinity’s website:

When I visited the Glofiber page, their internet offerings were super-clear with these labels:

Despite this being a strict federal requirement, some ISPs are going to play with the format, to see what they can get away with. I went shopping for Verizon Fios, and didn’t see these labels. They gave me the same old Plan Summaries and encouraged me to choose one. But below these choices was a small, plain link that said “^{_{Jump to broadband facts labels}}” and those revealed the clearer details:

If you cannot locate these Broadband Nutrition labels on an ISP’s website, please know that:

This is a very new requirement, and perhaps they are still getting their website updated with this info.
Small ISPs (with fewer than 100,000 subscribers) have until October to comply.
The FCC would like for you to let them know, if an ISP is not posting these labels, or if they are being inaccurate with their pricing or other stated details. You may report such deceptive business practices at this site.

Importance of Broadband Labels

These labels are meant to help you avoid unpleasant surprises on your internet bill. So many people sign up with an ISP due to a low monthly price, only to find out a year later that they were enjoying a promotional discount. When the real price kicks in, those customers feel duped or taken advantage of. The FCC would like to help you know, from these labels, when you are paying a reliable price or a temporary one.

Besides clearing the air over pricing, these labels may help you understand your internet speed. It is so important to know what speed you should be getting in your home! Let me digress with this scenario:

I frequently help clients in speeding up their tech and figuring out why things are slow. And in the course of this detective work, I have to ask them: What speed of internet are you paying for? Many people do not know the answer to this, so we look at their internet bill. If we can’t find the speed on the bill, we visit the ISP’s website. And even then, we may not find any speed numbers. How in the world are we to know if their internet is operating correctly, if we can’t determine what speed they should be seeing?

These labels will clear up that kind of mess. Customers will be able to run a simple speed test, compare it against their broadband label, and reach out to the ISP over any discrepancy. Not that I don’t enjoy the detective work, but this will save everyone so much time!

Logo Design Scams on Facebook

March 27, 2024 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

Logo Design scams on Facebook are the latest to appear on group pages. These scams are brought to you by the same people who offer duct cleaning, mobile car detailing and more. Here are the deets:

What This Scam Looks Like

Again, this scam usually appears inside of Facebook Groups. The wording may vary, and can actually be a bit engaging:

This time around, the scammers are onto something. The forthright statements and proud attitude is a good hook, and holds the readers’ attention. I see a lot of these posts, full of comments from people who want to contribute their own opinions and attitudes on the subject. And their conversation makes the posts more credible!

But it’s still a scheme, and I recommend you shy away from these offers.

How This Is a Scam

Once again, I have to remind everyone that appearances are often not what they seem on the internet. The people posting these offers use Western names and American-looking photos. They look like they could be your neighbors, but they aren’t. When I chat with these folks, I send them links to click on. And when they do, I get to see their location in the world:

Almost all of these service-type scams are posted by people in Pakistan. I have nothing against the people of Pakistan. But I do have misgivings about dealing with a Pakistani who uses a sock puppet account on Facebook to present themselves as an American.

Incidentally, I am very forthright with these people, as I chat them up. I ask them plainly about their location in Pakistan. They either use coarse language at me, or block me. I do not ever get a civil response from them.

How These Scams Play Out

I would have to give these scammers some money to be sure of how the scam finishes. I’m not going to do that. So, here are my educated guesses on what happens to people who fall for these schemes:

The scammer plays you long enough to get an initial payment, and then blocks you.
The person actually gets you some logos and design options. But they are quickly whipped up, using free sites and AI tools, and certainly not worth $200.
They offer to help with your website design, which will give them access to your professional email and domain. Your passwords could be sold to a higher-level scammer who can abuse your email address and identity.

If you have dealt with these scammers, please share your story with me. I would love to update this post with more details!

However these ploys go down, you need to know that you will have no recourse. Whether you lose time, money or your entire website, these people are in another country, where our police cannot address them. These scammers will quickly block you on Facebook, and Meta will not assist you, even if you report the matter to them.

What You Can Do

It can be tricky to recognize these scams. Their verbiage gets better every year. But one useful trick is simply to search Facebook for the scam. Specifically, click and highlight one or two sentences in a suspicious post. Copy that text and paste it into the search field at the top of Facebook. You will know you have found a scam, if your search turns up similar posts from all over the country:

Next, report the scam posts. But understand that when you report things, you have a choice. You can report them to Facebook, but little to nothing will occur. Or, you can report them to the Group’s Admins. That is much more likely to help. The very real and local people that take care of that group will see your report and probably take action against the poster.

It’s quick and easy to report a post to the group’s admin!

Lastly, I do not recommend that you criticize or attack these scammers on their posts. They will simply block you. Once you have been blocked by them, you will be unable to see their posts or report anything that they do.

The Girl Scout Cookie Scam

February 12, 2024 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

There’s always another scam just around the corner. And with these jokers in Scamdinavia, nothing is sacred. Please watch out for the Girl Scout Cookie Scam, circulating on Facebook and possibly other social media.

The Scam

You might already know this scam, but it’s still worth broadcasting. Because the Girl Scout brand is so endearing and trustworthy, some people are getting fooled by this nonsense. Check out these examples of the scam I’ve collected from Facebook:

Let me be clear: These posts are not legitimate, not endorsed by The Girl Scouts of America and not created by anyone in this country. People in Kenya or Pakistan have created sock puppet accounts on Facebook, stolen a bunch of photos with kids and cookies in them, and are simply posing and fishing for quick money.

Anyone who messages these schemers will be asked to pay for their cookies using Paypay, Venmo, CashApp, etc.. The poster collects the money and pretends to take down the address, and asks the victim to wait a couple of weeks for delivery. When the delivery day passes and no cookies arrive, the crook will be long gone.

What’s Scammy and What’s Legit?

Once you know what to look for, it’s easy to get your Girl Scout Cookies from a safe source. Here’s what to look out for:

A legitimate Girl Scout Cookie post will offer specific details, like:
- A URL to the Cookie Finder, or a personalized website for ordering, beginning with “gsdigitalcookie.com”
- The time and location where the kiddos will be setting up to sell their cookies in-person
- A variety of payment options, and no sense or urgency (pay when the cookies arrive)
A scam post will seem fishy, if you take notice:
- the child’s name or troop is not mentioned
- the cookie prices are wrong or too low
- the posting account is no one you know and you have no mutual Facebook friends with them
- the post has commenting turned off

If you see a scam post on Facebook, report it to the group’s admin or moderator. You can report it to Facebook, too, but they are unlikely to do anything.

For more info on how to get these delicious cookies, check out the Girls Scouts Cookie Program website.

Duct Cleaning Scams v2.0

February 10, 2024 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

If you aren’t familiar with the duct cleaning scams that abound on Facebook, I recommend you first check out my 2021 post on this matter. Once you’re up to speed on the basics, it’s time to discuss the new-and-improved duct cleaning scams. Duct Cleaning Scams v2.0 are beginning to spread throughout Facebook. Don’t fall for them and be ready to report them.

Upgrades

Duct cleaning scams are the same as before: People located in Pakistan are posting in American Facebook Groups, trying to sell duct cleaning services.

They use sock puppet accounts that make them look American. Posing as “local companies”, they are really just looking to schedule appointments, which they then resell to unlicensed people near you. The folks in Pakistan collect referral fees for each job s/he schedules. The people in America get suspicious cleaners at their door. Whoever arrives to clean ducts is not connected to any real company, and may overcharge for their service or commit other crimes.

But they’ve upped their game for 2024. The scammers are trying to appear more professional now. Their latest posts show a classy flyer with pricing, a business card, and a real website.

The wording of their posts is much improved, too. Gone are the copy-and-paste phrases that we rolled our eyes at, like “Believe our Work not Words!” Now they present more detailed and personalized posts that closely resemble everyday small businesses in our country.

Their sock puppet accounts are looking better, too. They’ve got dozens of them now, all sporting American names and stolen photos. They’re using the accounts to click Like on each other’s posts and photos, which makes them look active and more legitimate.

Same Tells and Giveaways

I am sure this is still a scam. First, I chat with these people. It’s the same ol’ schtick with them, but I still like to get proof when I can. I ask them where they’re from (Washington!) and then I send them a link to my address. (Oops, that wasn’t a link to my address, it tells me the location of the clicker:)

But there are other hints. Sometimes, I click the poster’s name to view their Facebook profile. And it catches my eye when their profile name doesn’t match with the name hiding in their Facebook URL:

I’ve tried calling some of their numbers (Houston TX area code, probably purchased through Ring Central), and no one ever picks up. But they answer texts and Facebook messages immediately. And they block me quickly, if I mention their home country:

And then there’s their website. The Titan website looks fine, but the devil is in the details. Looking up the domain name, I can see it was registered just 2 months ago, through a Czechoslovakian company. And while the images on the site looks crisp and pleasant, every single one of them tracks back to other, older, legitimate HVAC companies throughout the USA. Google Lens is really nice for doing a quick reverse image search, and it shows that these schemers just lifted their images from real duct cleaning websites.

Advice

If you recognize a duct cleaning scam, report it to Facebook, and then also report it to the admin of the group where it was posted. Facebook won’t do anything, but hopefully the group’s moderator will remove the post and/or block the sock puppet account.
Verify a service company’s identity with a simple phone call, or getting a referral from a true local. Make sure they have a contact number and address that makes sense for your location. Avoid contracting with any service provider that insists on texts or private messaging only.
If someone claims they have a license with the local county or NADCA, get that license number from them and check it out! Scammers will boast about having all their licenses, but won’t give them when asked.

More Facebook Phishing

February 10, 2024 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

I never think I’ve seen it all. I’m sorry to report, there’s always another scam, just around the corner. Today, I’m seeing a new take on Facebook phishing, and this time, it’s targeting Facebook Business Pages. The scammers are creating fake profiles AND fake websites, and hoping to fool everyday folk like you and I.

The Scam

The scammers are watching and waiting for a legitimate business to post on Facebook. Specifically, they’re looking for giveaway-style posts, where the business is offering something to anyone who comments on or Likes the post. It’s easy for them: They’re just performing a word-search on Facebook posts for “giveaway” or something similar. And when they find what they want, they spring into action.

They quickly create a phishing website that resembles the target company. And they also create a Facebook page, using the name and photos from the real business profile. Then they start commenting to people on their original giveaway post:

more facebook phishing — That comment is not from the real Freeman Foods, it’s an impostor!

Unsuspecting people might see these comments and be fooled into thinking that it is a real comment from the legitimate business. But the comment and link is fraudulent. The URL in the comment leads to a bogus phishing website that asks for your PII. And victims of that fake site will suffer from spam, identity theft or worse.

The Tells

This scam may be obvious to some people, but I should point out how to recognize this as a phishing attempt:

The comment links to a strange URL, containing “myfreesites”, “googlesites”, “sitebuilder.com” and not the real URL for the business. These other URLs are using platforms that let anyone create a website, on the fly, for free!
The English is a little off, because the scammer is certainly in another country. They could be in Scamdinavia or Carjackistan, but they hide this and pretend to be in the USA.
If you click through to the commenter’s page, you can see that it was created very recently and has very few Likes/followers. The legitimate business page would have many Likes and have been created far in the past.

The real Freemans Foods has thousands of followers and created their FB page in 2013.

Reporting the Issue

If you are the real business owner, and the scammer is commenting on your posts, click on the impostor’s name and use the 3-dots button on their profile to report them to Facebook. Then, return to your posts where their comments are, and report those as well. When reporting the comments, look for additional options to Block or Ban them from your Page.

If you are a regular Facebook user, and you see this type of phishing, feel free to report the scammer’s Page and comments to Facebook. The more reports they get, the quicker they may shoot down the impostors.

And if you want to go the extra mile, you can report the phishing website (URL) mentioned in the comments. This can help Google, Microsoft and other big tech in noticing and flagging that website, and it may lead to the site being removed from the internet:

Google accepts phishing reports at this website.
Microsoft wants unsafe website to be reported here.
Submit any phishing URL to Norton at this page.
McAfee has a page where you can submit a phishing URL.
The FTC welcomes reports of all kinds of fraud at this site.
Submit any phishing URL at the IC3, using this link.
You can also look up the phishing website at a site like this, and then send an email to the Registrar Abuse Email, letting them know that they are hosting a phishing website!

Typical Facebook Scams

February 1, 2024 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

Scams continue to abound on Facebook, despite efforts and apologies from the man at the top. If you’re going to use this platform, please be aware of these typical Facebook scams, so that you don’t get taken:

Hair Stylist Scams

If you’re looking for a new ‘do, please be cautious you don’t get taken by “fake” hair stylists on Facebook. It’s a simple scam: Pose as a real stylist, collect a deposit or booking fee and then block the customer and disappear with the money.

This scam is a little harder to pick up on, though. First, these scammers (from Nigeria?) are willing to chat with you, using decent English and convincing slang. They may sound like cool, local people! Next, a pretend-hair-stylist may give you the name, address and phone number of a legitimate hair salon near you, when you ask. But they are not connected to that company — they just pulled it from a quick Google search to convince you to hand over your money.

Antivirus Offers

Some endorsements on Facebook won’t go to legitimate antivirus websites. They’ll go to a semi-phishing website, where they’ll try to get you signed up on spam lists, or entice you to download adware onto your computer.

Dental Care Assistance

I know that good dental care is expensive, but don’t fall for this nonsense. You won’t get anything but spam email and calls if you cooperate with this type of post.

Reduced-cost/free dental care is out there, though. Get off of Facebook and investigate what the trade schools and colleges in your area might offer!

Giveaway Groups

Scams are so prevalent on Facebook, that the scammers are creating closed groups for their schemes. These groups are essentially a place for their scams to collect and build up.

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than in one of these groups. Steer clear!

Paid Surveys

I imagine there’s a way to get paid for surveys, but a post on Facebook is not it. Instead, people who are duped by this will be handing over their PII to scammers. They will sign you up on countless spam lists, and possibly use your info in other scams or identity theft efforts.

Red Flags for Typical Facebook Scams

They show a URL to a GoDaddy or GoogleSite address.
Payment is through Venmo/CashApp while credit cards are discouraged.
A photo of American cash is shown.
They insist on texting or private messages, and don’t want to talk on the phone.

Do You Need a VPN?

January 24, 2024 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a tool for creating a secure connection between your computer and the websites you visit with it. It sounds like a sensible piece of protection for your computer. But do you need a VPN?

Most security companies would respond with an empathic Yes!, but keep in mind that they’re selling product. I should mention that I don’t use a VPN. I don’t foresee ever needing one, and I don’t recommend them for most people. Sure, there are legitimate reasons to use a VPN. But let me give you a lot of food for thought on this topic, and you may figure out that your VPN isn’t as necessary or helpful as the industry claims it is.

I Need Protection When I Travel

A common desire for using a VPN comes when people travel and go to use public Wi-Fi. There is a fear that jumping on a public internet connection will expose their data to nearby criminals, and that a VPN will shield them from harm.

This used to be true, many years ago. When surfing to insecure websites, all data passing from your computer to them would’ve been visible to others on the same network. But times have changed, (largely instigated by Edward Snowden).

In 2024, almost all websites are now Secure by default. When you click the icon to the left of the URL in your browser, it will tell you so. And that security means that your connection to that site is encrypted, and any nearby eavesdroppers will not be able to see what you are transmitting. All of this is to say: a VPN would not offer you any extra protection to you, as you surf the web from a Starbucks. Your browser already has you covered, and will warn you if you ever happen to visit an insecure website.

I Don’t Want Big Tech Snooping on Me!

I’m sorry. I don’t want them to snoop on me, either. Whether it’s Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Salesforce, NVidia, Oracle… they’re all hoovering up our personal data and using it to make money. And ISPs also do this. I don’t condone this practice, and I think it stinks.

But a VPN doesn’t help much to stop this. Data collection on the internet has become very sophisticated and efficient and accurate. Who cares about cookies, when tracking can be done far better using Digital Fingerprinting?

Fingerprinting is essentially a fancy name for the way companies track you, using triangulation and unique information from your computers. As you visit a website, your advertising ID and other hardware tags may be collected from your PC. And one tech company, as they build a dossier on you, may share it and combine it with info from other companies. There are ways to interfere with digital fingerprinting, but a VPN is not effective at this.

It Will Protect My Computer from Hackers

This is simply not true. A VPN connection may change your internet connection, but it doesn’t make the computer impenetrable, from a remote-control standpoint. When clients have me service their computers remotely, my software allows me to “step into” their computers, wherever they are in the world. I can service a computer that is truly in Germany. I can also service a computer that appears to be in Ghana, due to a VPN program.

And if I can remotely-connect to a computer, that means all of the scammers can do the same. The good guys and the bad guys all use the same tools! They won’t care (or even notice) if you are running a VPN.

VPNs also have no effect on phishing attempts. A computer user can still be tricked by a deceptive email, which can take them to a website that steals their password. You’ll have to look elsewhere to safeguard against that kind of threat.

Other Detriments to Running a VPN

It has a recurring cost.
It may slow down your internet connection.
The VPN company may collect data on your activity, and profit from that data.
The VPN company may hand over your information and history, if they receive a subpoena, warrant or government request.
The VPN company may overstate how much they protect you, and may not support you if you suffer a security incident.

When Should You Use a VPN?

There are appropriate times to use a VPN. The biggest and best reason is: Your employer is telling you to. Of course, you want to listen to your boss! If they mandate the use of a VPN, they are going to tell you exactly which one to use, and how to use it. That VPN may be necessary for you to do your job and access parts of their network that aren’t available to the rest of the world.

Another semi-legitimate reason for VPN usage is to access something that isn’t normally available in your country. For example, if you want to watch an Italian news channel from your location in the USA, it might not be allowed for your American IP address. But a VPN can make it look like your computer is in Venice, and that might allow you to view that restricted content. However, be careful if you attempt this. If you are caught bypassing such barriers, you could be banned from using that service or worse!

Finally, I do see streamers and other internet personalities using VPN software. This is for their protection, because they might be specifically targeted by cybercriminals and people with high-level hacking skills. But this is for celebrities and famous people with a significant internet footprint. If you’re a regular person like me, you won’t have to worry in this direction.

Facebook Guest Chat

January 15, 2024 / Jesse Mueller / 2 Comments

Update as of 2/13/2024:

Readers recently brought to my attention that they couldn’t follow the steps below. After I looked into it, I can see that Meta has changed their Settings Pages, and you may not be able to disable this feature.

But as it turns out, that’s OK. Because they’ve disabled the entire Chat Plug-in feature, for the entire site:

I have to guess that Meta could not fix this problem with the scammers, so they had to abandon this odd feature. If you continue to get other scammy Facebook messages, make sure to report them.

Original Post:

Facebook Guest Chat is a new and problematic feature that affects (so far) only Facebook Business Pages. This feature allows people to message a business over Facebook, without signing in to a Facebook account. Guest chat allows for anonymous messaging, and the chat only lasts for a short time. After a day or so, the messages self-destruct, like in a spy movie.

Problematic

I can’t say why Facebook decided to implement this feature, but it is a problem. Cybercriminals are already looking to use this tool to phish and scam people:

If your Facebook Business Page receives this sort of message, please do not believe it! It did not come from Meta, there is no crime or danger afoot for your Page, and you should not do what this says. It is simply a phishing attempt, and the bad guys are trying to trick you into giving them your Facebook logon credentials!

You are welcome to report suspicious Guest messages to Facebook, if you like, but I doubt it will do much good.

Disabling Guest Chat

If you have a Facebook Business Page, you may choose to allow or refuse Guest Chat messages. The steps for doing this, though, are hard to find, and even Facebook can’t tell you accurately how to do this. Here’s what worked for me:

Go to your FB Business Page at https://business.facebook.com/
On the left, click Inbox
To the upper-right, click the cogwheel (Settings) button
Under Inbox Settings, click Chat Plugin
Click where it says Customize Chat Plugin
Next to Guest Chat, click the Toggle to turn it off
To the lower-right, click the Publish button.

After you take these steps, you will still get regular FB messages, from people who are properly signed-in to Facebook. But no more Guest messages can get through to your Business Page.

Low-Hanging Fruit

November 21, 2023 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

In the technology world, people are jeopardized by two separate yet equally scary groups: the big tech companies, who care only for monetizing their users’ data; and the opportunistic scammers, who prowl the web looking for victims. These are their stories.

Dear Xxxxxx,

I’m writing this letter to you about your kiddo. Please don’t worry, this is not one of those Are-you-sitting-down? notes. But let me explain something that you might think is a teachable moment:

Facebook recommended your daughter’s profile to me, as a potential friend-connection. I haven’t Friended her, but I did click on her name to look at her profile. And Egad, She’s got too much personal info out there. I am able to view all of this info on her profile, because it’s all set to Public visibility:

Complete FB Friends List
Name of high school and college, with admission years and major
Hometown and current city/state of residence
Mother, father, brother and uncle’s names, with links to their FB profiles
Birthdate

If I can view this info, then anyone in the world can. I’m thinking about the scammers that are having a field day on Facebook — all of this sensitive info is essentially low-hanging fruit to them. “Easy pickin’s”, if you’re into that country vernacular. And I’m not so concerned about your daughter here, as I am the people connected to her. She’s probably smart enough to dodge the average Facebook criminal, but what about all of her friends and family?

A publicly-visible Friends List is what attracts scammers that clone profiles. In essence, a bad guy could create a brand new FB account, and give it your daughter’s name. S/he could copy and use your daughter’s profile pic. And then they’ll start sending Friend Requests to everyone they see on her F-list. If any of her FB Friends are too trusting or naive or quick-with-the-mouse, then they may connect with an impostor-scammer, who is ready to pretend to be your daughter and con some money from them.

Publicly-visible family connections are interesting to a different type of crook. Sometimes, cybercriminals attempt the “grandparent scam“, where they call a family member and pretend to be someone else in the family. The scam usually starts with a phonecall: “Uncle Ned, it’s me, Saoirse, I’m in NYC and I’m in jail! Can you wire-transfer me some bail money?” In order to carry out these schemes, they study family names & connections and it really can help their ruse hold up. Full disclosure: I unknowingly contributed to a grandparent scam, several years ago. A scammer saw some family names on my FB masthead photo, glommed some specifics about my family, and tried to scam someone important to me. Live and learn, never again!

And showing your hometown and school info to the public is just all-around ill-advised. That info is commonly connected to account security questions, so an identity thief might appreciate this kind of info.

My hot-take on Facebook is this: Mr. Zuckerberg & Co. spares all expense in running their platform, and they are not looking out for their users. When on Facebook, we are not customers, we are simply “the Product.” The scammers are very aware of what Facebook tolerates and ignores, and they exploit that knowledge to their greatest benefit. This has been happening for a long time now, and I have no reason to anticipate any improvement. If we’re going to use Facebook, then it’s up to each user to mind their own safety.

So, if you think your daughter would be receptive to some advice, let her know she should go to her Facebook Profile, and change all of her personal info to be less Public. To the right of the Friends List is a 3-dots button that allows you to Edit Privacy. She can also go through all of the sections under “About” on the profile, and use the Pencil or 3-Dots buttons to up the privacy levels. Personally, I’ve set most of my Profile to the “Only Me” level, but the “Friends” level is good, too. Anything besides “Public!”

And if she makes these improvements, there a tool for her to check herself. If she goes to her Profile, there’s a 3-dots button to the right, just below the masthead photo. She can click that and then go to “View As”. This presents her profile as it appears to the public (to people who are not connected to her on FB). She can traipse through her own profile in this mode and judge if she missed anything that needs hiding away.

Cheers! — Jesse