Internet scams

[5thDragoons]

A while back, I started getting emails saying, "I'm a professional hacker and now own your computer. Before I lock it up, send $ to *some address that's obviously a front*. I'm serious! I'll lock your computer up if I don't get the $ by *very soon*.

If you don't open any links in mail like that, no worries - no trouble at all for me after 20 or 30 such ransom attempts. I downloaded malwarebytes anyway and am glad I did.

What I'm getting now is very legit looking mail saying I'm eligible for... *mostly a big discount, but I did get a tempting offer of a nice laptop pack pack for free*. But these offers to a "loyal customer" are from businesses that don't exist here in very rural Nebr.

The consistent thing I see with them is spelling that's almost right. Like wallmart dot com or Lowwes dot com - minor glitches like that. Opening links in those would be a very bad idea beyond doubt! So I don't. But the scam page is a spot on copy of how that business's correspondence really looks.

There oughta be a law against it! SW

[Allen]

Look at the email address it was sent on. You don't have to open the link to see it.

If you get an offer from HomeDepot@offers-homedepot.com it may be real whereas you get one from HomeDepot@alicedoeschicago@gmail.com it no doubt isn't.

I got quite a few of them from big stores like Best Buy, HD, Lowes, JP Penny and such but in all cases they were stores that I haven't bought from in years so they wouldn't offering me anything for free. Then there's the scams with the bank accounts: "we are holding funds at Century Bank till you provide us with your account information. At that time your funds will be deposited into your account". They're always banks that I have no accounts with.

I get some from one of my CC accounts which I recently paid off and they're having a fit due to all the interest they are now losing. The email appears to be legitimate but still, I wish not to reply. You never know who's watching. If they need info or answers to questions they can submit it in writing when they issue monthly statements.

Some scammers are getting smart too. They can set up an email account that looks real. If HomeDepot@offers-homedepot.com is an actual email address of HD they can change it a little to where it still looks real such as HomeDepot@offers-gmail.com.

Best not to reply to any of them.

Yes, laws to fine and prevent this are long overdue including those who hack our phones which are private property, both the phone and the phone line that we rent. It is a form of trespassing.

[dogtag]

Nothing is free. Nothing worth having anyway.

[Mark in Ottawa]

I have been getting non-stop e mails purporting to come from McAfee (a protective software supplier) telling me that my subscription is about to expire. I don't use McAfee so I knew that it was a scam. I have been blocking both the sender and the domain but they still keep coming. When I check the sender's address I see that most of them are coming from Germany and some are coming from the Netherlands

Last year I got an email with the subject line being one of my passwords (the one that I used on unimportant websites). That one told me that they had taken control of my computer's camera and had photos of me doing personal things and for a payment they would delete the video. Only problem was that my computer did not have a camera.

There is not a lot that you can do since they seem to have many addresses and blocking them doesn't stop them. My normal morning ritual is now to open the e mail account and delete the four or five scam e mails that I get every day

[dryheat]

-that one told me that they had taken control of my computer's camera and had photos of me doing personal things and for a payment they would delete the video. Only problem was that my computer did not have a camera.- Are you sure?

Microsoft Edge; it's a good title, they have some sharp scalpels that seem to be able to follow every minute of your day. If I watch a vid about mechanics, I get feeds(I guess that what they are) about tools. The specific tools I looked at. They watch your every move. Maybe not visually but everything else. I never want one of those little cameras. I might get a suggestion about fixing my nose.

I got the McAfee storm a while back. They threatened to turn off things I didn't have.
Speaking of computer protection, I decided on Norton. I guess they are doing their job, but occasionally they tell me I need this or that(at a cost). Or they tell me that 1500 bad things happened on my computer. I'm paying you guys to take care of this, don't tell me about it.

I think I'm pretty astute about scams but I did get one from Chase Bank(I'll get an ad for this now). Some kind of threat and it was so accurately written I stopped and looked. I knew it was BS but I drove over to the bank. The lady told me it was BS and I was the second person that day who had been there about it.

Chase Bank. Just yesterday I was there to get a cashiers check for something I bought. The whole bank(nation wide) had no Wi-Fi. I wonder if they had to pay someone off to get it up again. I hope not. I kind of knew that this kind of thing was going to happen way back when I was in college and the internet first hit the road. I can conjure up some criminal ideas (like most of us) but I'm too lazy for that.

"Crime" is kind of hard to pin down anymore. All these scammers consider it 'their job' I don't think there's a moments remorse about it. The homeless and the bums and others are "allowed" a certain amount of theft these days. I don't know how that works. Ma and Pa's little store couldn't tolerate that, but industry can write it off somehow. I'm sure there's a line on the form about it.

[Mark in Ottawa]

-that one told me that they had taken control of my computer's camera and had photos of me doing personal things and for a payment they would delete the video. Only problem was that my computer did not have a camera.- Are you sure?

Microsoft Edge; it's a good title, they have some sharp scalpels that seem to be able to follow every minute of your day. If I watch a vid about mechanics, I get feeds(I guess that what they are) about tools. The specific tools I looked at. They watch your every move. Maybe not visually but everything else. I never want one of those little cameras. I might get a suggestion about fixing my nose.

I got the McAfee storm a while back. They threatened to turn off things I didn't have.
Speaking of computer protection, I decided on Norton. I guess they are doing their job, but occasionally they tell me I need this or that(at a cost). Or they tell me that 1500 bad things happened on my computer. I'm paying you guys to take care of this, don't tell me about it.

I think I'm pretty astute about scams but I did get one from Chase Bank(I'll get an ad for this now). Some kind of threat and it was so accurately written I stopped and looked. I knew it was BS but I drove over to the bank. The lady told me it was BS and I was the second person that day who had been there about it.

Chase Bank. Just yesterday I was there to get a cashiers check for something I bought. The whole bank(nation wide) had no Wi-Fi. I wonder if they had to pay someone off to get it up again. I hope not. I kind of knew that this kind of thing was going to happen way back when I was in college and the internet first hit the road. I can conjure up some criminal ideas (like most of us) but I'm too lazy for that.

"Crime" is kind of hard to pin down anymore. All these scammers consider it 'their job' I don't think there's a moments remorse about it. The homeless and the bums and others are "allowed" a certain amount of theft these days. I don't know how that works. Ma and Pa's little store couldn't tolerate that, but industry can write it off somehow. I'm sure there's a line on the form about it.

I was certain that my old computer didn't have a camera because I had to buy an external one. All my newer ones have had cameras and as a precaution I normally cover them when not in use

[Major Tom]

My laptop has a camera and one TV has one too. I covered both with electricians tape.

[Allen]

My laptop has a camera and one TV has one too. I covered both with electricians tape.

I may be wrong but from what I read most all laptops have camera's and all the "Smart TV's".

[dryheat]

The laptop camera can be helpful, I understand. If your bedridden, you have some connection.

[Phloating Phlasher]

My phone has 3 cameras.
2 in back & a third in front for "selfies".
The camer is needed for many "standard" smartphone features like reading QR codes & so on so its a double ended thing some good & some bad.
Its in a form fitting "armor" case & screen protector to the point its completely encapsulated.
I carry it in a belt pouch for convenience, but that also covers all 3 camera lenses when not pulled out.
As I use a Bluetooth earpiece I seldom take it out of the pouch except when I'm dialing out to make a call.

[Allen]

I recently bought a small electric pressure washer from WalMart on-line and had several on my watch list. Now I just received an email telling me I won a free pressure washer from Harbor Freight. I reported it as spam of course but the point is anything you view, anything you buy is being tracked and watched. That's why the gov't wants to end currency where people will have to use a CC and leave a paper trail so they can snoop.

It seems to me though that trackers would want to keep separate files. Someone viewing an item is showing interest in that item and could possibly fall for such a scam of "if you want it here's one for free".

Someone who has bought an item is not going to be interested in getting another one so they're targeting the wrong crowd there.

[Phloating Phlasher]

Its a side effect of what I call "artificial stupidity".
Smart enough to data mine you internet activity, but not bright enough to realize you don't need two of whatever it is.

[dryheat]

Here's another one. Some folks have gotten fifty un-requested things from the internet sellers. Here's the deal; Company has five thousand dodads that arn't selling. What to do? They just mail them to people and they get some kind of points for "a sale" and then make up fake "likes".

[Johnny P]

Was looking for items for my car on Amazon, and some of the pieces of crap have glowing pidgin english feedback that you just know came from off shore.

[Chaz]

If it speaks chinese, hang up