South Shore Computer Repair

Our Marketing Chick was back on the radio today; talking Twitter and other mobile apps with Leif Glass on 1530AM WVBF’s radio show, Taunton Tech Talk. Check out the reference deck below for some great apps that you might want to add to your smartphone or tablet…

Image Source: police.belleville.on.ca

The following scenario is probably not a new scam, but it was certainly new to us! We heard about this from a friend – don’t let this happen to you!

A group of work colleagues were attending a training course in a well-known hotel. At lunch time they left the conference room, making sure the door was locked behind them.

After lunch, one of the course attendees received a message, through the hotel telephone system, to turn his mobile phone on as his bank was urgently trying to contact him. Sure enough, he received a call from a person claiming to be from his bank. The “bank rep” said somebody was trying to withdraw cash from his account, and they needed him to confirm his identity – quickly – so they can stop the culprit perpetrating the crime.

During the cleverly worded conversation the “bank rep” managed to extract the attendee’s PIN from him, saying he needed it to cancel the cards. Then he asked to speak to another course attendee, saying that some of his cards had been found at the bank. At this point the second victim realized his wallet had been stolen. The “bank rep” again got the individual’s PIN. Both victims were thanked for their cooperation and the call ended. It then came to light that both their wallets had been stolen. The account information the “bank” gave to satisfy the victims it was a legitimate call, had in fact come from receipts found in their wallets.

It turns out there had been a number of similar thefts from hotel conference rooms in the past.

As a result of the theft of their wallets, and a very clever social engineering scam which successfully instilled panic, the two individuals lost a lot of money and were faced with the onerous task of cancelling all of their cards which had been stolen.

The lesson learned?

• Never leave your wallet or other valuables unattended in hotel conference rooms.
• Never give your bank PIN to anyone, under any circumstances. Your bank will never ask for it!

All of the conference attendees thought their property was safe because the room was locked. Not so much. What to do if your purse or wallet is stolen? Read the following information from http://westlinnoregon.gov – it’s good advice to keep in mind should this happen to you:

• File a report with the police immediately and get a copy of the report for your insurance and/or credit card companies.
• Cancel each credit card that was in your wallet or purse.
• Report the loss or theft to your bank if your wallet or purse contained bank account information, including account numbers, ATM cards, or checks.
• Get a new ATM card, account number and Personal Identification number (PIN) or password.
• Contact the agency that issued your driver’s license or other identification document. Ask the agency to flag your file so no one else can get a license or any other identification documents from them in your name.
• Call one of the following nationwide consumer reporting companies to place and “initial fraud alert” on your credit report. The alert requires creditors to follow reasonable procedures before granting credit in your name. It will stay on your credit report for at least 90 days. The consumer reporting company you call will contact the other two, which then will place an alert on their versions of your report.

~ Equifax

~ Experian

~ TransUnion

• Ask the consumer reporting companies for a copy of your credit report. When you place an initial fraud alert on your credit report, you’re entitled to one free copy of your credit report from each of the three agencies. Review your report to make sure no additional fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name or unauthorized changes made to your existing accounts.
• Change the locks on your home and car if your keys were taken.

According to a recent article on Kiplinger.com:

“More consumers are expected to do their holiday shopping online this year – about 47% compared with 44% in 2010, according to a National Retail Federation survey. And about half of those surveyed who own smart phones and 70% who own tablets will use their devices to research items and make purchases.

The Internet makes it easy to compare prices, shop quickly and avoid the crowds. But it can also put you at risk of becoming a victim of identity theft if you don’t take the proper precautions.”

Security expert Jon Heimerl suggests that you follow these do’s and don’ts of online shopping to protect your personal information and reduce your risk of becoming a victim of a scam or identity theft:

DO…

• Go directly to a retailer’s site or use a price-comparison site, such as Amazon.com or PriceGrabber.com, instead of clicking links on a search results page. Even if you’re using a site that you think is legitimate, look for a security label, such as VeriSign or Cybertrust, and for https:// in the URL on pages that prompt you to enter personal information.
• Never make purchases online using a public Wi-Fi connection.
• Make sure you use a credit card when making purchases online and remember to check your monthly statements for charges that you didn’t make.

DON’T…

• If a Web site or individual offers a deal that’s too good to be true, demands a direct transfer of funds and won’t accept credit cards, it’s probably a scam.
• Wire money to pay for an item. If you purchase an item from an online auction site, such as eBay, and the seller asks you to wire your payment, don’t do it.
• Trust every deal you see on social-networking sites. One option is to use a deal notification you see on Twitter as a tip, then research the details on your own.

Finally, before you log into the internet for the deals… check out your local shops and businesses. They probably have some fantastic deals and you know who you’re dealing with.

By now we are all aware – at one level or another – of malware and spyware that invades our computers through a multitude of ways. We have ways of combating, to a certain extent, this never-ending stream of crud that ends up on our computing devices. We use spyware removal programs, keep our antivirus programs up-to-date and are careful about what we click on when scrolling through our friends’ status updates on Facebook.

What seems to be making a comeback, though, are scam artists reverting to our old friend: The telephone. Here are just two examples we’ve heard about in the past couple of weeks.

A local bank has been made aware that customers, as well as non-customers, are receiving automated calls on their cell phones with the following message:

“This is a call from Your Bank. Your MasterCard/Visa/Whatever account has been locked. Please press 1 now to unlock.”

What do you think? Would you fall for the above scam?

The recording then instructs the individual to enter their debit card number. There may also be a variation of this phone call that references other banks or asks the customer to enter their debit card number in order to activate it. Please be advised that these calls are a scam and are not being made by your bank.  This is a phishing attempt by criminals to obtain your personal account information.  Never provide your debit card number or any other private information in response to an unsolicited phone call or email. Just hang up and do not press 1.

How about this one…

Hi I’m calling from the Windows Service Center. We just received a notification of errors on your computer and think that you might have a virus. We know that your computer is running rather slowly and, looking at your web searching history, we think you’ve downloaded some malware.

Are you in front of your computer right now? Yes? Great. Let’s walk through and clean up your computer so that you won’t be having any more trouble.

Both of the above phone calls sound vaguely reasonable. Your bank certainly knows how to contact you and more than one of us has a little bit of paranoia about what Microsoft knows about us and how we use our computers. The reality, however, is that both of these phone calls are scams. One is aimed at getting your banking information and the other is aimed at gaining access to or control of your computer.

• Your bank will never call you and ask for this information.
• Microsoft is not monitoring your PC for problems and will never call you to offer support or technical assistance.

Any time you receive a phone call from someone whom you do not know but they are asking for any kind of information that might identify you, hang up. Do not stop. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Just hang up.

If your mother’s etiquette lessons won’t let you just hang up on them, ask the caller for their name, the name of their company and a telephone number at which you can call them back. This way, you can always call the company the caller claims to be representing – independent of talking to the person making the unsolicited phone call – and find out if it was a legitimate call or not.  On the off-chance it is a legitimate phone call, you can then call them back at your leisure.

Stay smart online and offline. As always: If something sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

Related Video:

The “Windows Service Center” scam has been around in Europe for a while but now seems to be coming to America. For an example of how this type of call goes, check out this useful video from Computeractive.co.uk.

Related Information:

Massachusetts’ Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation has issued a warning about the “robo-calling” scam that is seeking to gain access to consumers’ banking and social security information. If you receive one of these robo-calls, Attorney General Martha Coakley urges you to immediately hang up and contact the Attorney General’s consumer hotline at 617-727-8400. Consumers are also encouraged to file a complaint with the office online at www.mass.gov/ago.

It has been reported that some machines are unable to boot after the last AVG 2011 update version 3292. We recommend NOT REBOOTING/SHUTTING DOWN the Machines which have AVG 2011 installed on them.

More information is available in the FAQ’s below:

• AVG Corporate web – http://www.avg.com/faq?num=4079
• AVG Free web – http://free.avg.com/faq?num=4080

Please note that both AVG Pro and AVG Free can be impacted. Older AVG versions (9.0, 8.5) are not affected.

The situation has been caused by an incorrect CTF file used during the update (AVG 9.0 core has been offered to AVG 2011 clients).

AVG is currently working on a solution (utility) for all affected users, both those who have not restarted their computer yet and also those who were already affected by the problems.

Thinking about using Wordpress for your blog or website? Check out this quick overview and comparison of Wordpress.com versus Wordpress.org.

And of course, as always… if you need help give us a call at 508.947.1966 or send us an email at help@ssc-repair.com.

According to statistics from a recently released report by the U.S. Census Bureau and private studies on the subject, a growing number of people are telecommuting, working from home one or several days a week. The Census Bureau reports that the number of people who work from home increased from 9.5 million to 11.3 million between 1999 and 2005.

Tips for working at home

• Create a dedicated space to work free from interruption. If there is a day where that’s impossible, spend the work hours at your local library.

• Establish trust with your supervisor by creating goals you plan to achieve for that day and communicate those goals with him or her.

• Limit the attention given to your pets by offering them their own spot around your work area instead of on your lap.

• Take care of time-consuming chores outside the home (grocery shopping, etc.) in the middle of the day. That may seem like a waste of “work” time, but it’s actually a time saver, as fewer people are out and the task gets completed quicker.

• Give yourself permission to let your mind wander. Some of your best ideas can come when you’re more relaxed. (Source: InsideBayArea.com, May 25, 2010)

More reading about telecommuting and working from home

• 7 Discipline-Builders for Remote Workers
• Does Working From Home Make You More Productive?
• Telecommuting + Flextime = More Productive Corporate Workforce
• Congress May Soon Require Telecommuting For Federal Employees
• Telecommuting Could Save Small- to Mid-Sized U.S. Businesses $124 Billion
• Companies Save $10,000 Per Employee Per Year From Telecommuting

Another aspect of working at home is the technology that you are using. This is where South Shore Computer Repair can help you. From determining what type of hardware and software you should be using, to setting up your home network, to giving you advice on communication options and office setups, we can help you get up and running in your new working environment.

Give us a call at 508.947.1966 or drop an email to help@ssc-repair.com.

Every day there is a new story out there about new and unique ways criminals are gaining access to your personal information and then using that for their own purposes. Identity theft  is an issue that continues to plague consumers, businesses, and law enforcement. To provide greater insight into the prevalence and cost of ID theft, in 2006 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sponsored its second ID theft survey of US adults.

There are things you can do, however, to raise your level of security and protect your personal and professional information.

1. Don’t throw away anything that contains personal information unless it has been shredded or ripped up to make the document illegible.
2. If someone asks you to give away personal information over the phone, check their details and get a phone number to call the organization back to check they are legitimate.
3. Be careful when using social networking sites, as these can be an easy route to snatching your data.
4. Always go directly to web sites asking for personal information rather than clicking on links in an email or web site page.
5. Only conduct an internet transaction if you are sure the web site is valid and secure.
6. Remember to set strong passwords.
7. Monitor your credit card and/or bank statements and look for suspicious transactions.

These are just a few simple steps that you can take to keep your personal information to yourself. The best advice we can offer, besides the tips above, is to trust your gut. If something seems too good to be true, or there’s something not quite right about that link you just clicked on, stop what you’re doing. Follow your instincts.

Do you have any tips or tricks that you use to protect yourself, your family and your business from opportunistic predators? We would love to hear what you’re doing to stay safe online.

If you aren’t using Twitter because you think you don’t have anything to say and don’t think it’s relevant or useful to you, think again.

Read all about the varying uses of Twitter – without saying a word – on our Marketing Chick’s blog.