Court's Blog: Limit Exposure to Ripoffs

The article on computer repair scams must have hit a sore spot. Based on the number of emails I received from folks that had experienced the exact sequence of events, it wouldn’t surprise me if tens of thousands of Charlotte County, and possibly millions of citizen dollars are now doing great good in India, Pakistan or some other country not labeled U.S.A. For a great video of the exact science of ripping off computer users, surf over to Tag um and bag um! and watch another tech, tag, bag and record the rip off as it happens. Hopefully, seeing is believing. On a related note, the FBI/Reveton virus seems to be making another round, but this time harder to remove. If a screen appears to take over the computer displaying the FBI logo and stating that the computer has been locked due to attempted download of copyright movies, music or porn and to send $200 immediately via a prepaid MoneyPak card in order to unlock the computer, do NOT send money to unlock the computer. The money will be gone and the computer will still be locked. The real FBI has posted a warning here www.fbi.gov/news/podcasts/thisweek/reveton-ransomware/view that gives and overview of the virus.

Things we can do to limit our exposure to these types of rip offs are the basics. If we receive an unsolicited phone call warning us of dire consequences about to occur to our computer unless we let the caller takeover our beloved PC, hang up. Or if in a jolly mood, tell the caller our brother is a computer crime tech for the FBI and could we have their name and number so our brother can seek their input on cybercrime.

If looking for a support phone number, go to the company’s website to find a contact number if they offer one. DO NOT, Google (company) support phone numbers. Any number we find will not be the real number for the company, but will be the number of a bogus support rip off site.

The FBI virus, exploits older versions of Java and Adobe products so make sure these are the latest versions available. As of this date, Java 7 version 11 (available for free at www.java.com) and Adobe Flash version 11 (available for free at www.adobe.com) are current. Go to Control Panel, Programs and Features, scroll down the list of installed programs to find which versions of those programs we have. Consider PSI from Secunia, available at http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/, a free program that will scan our computer comparing the versions of software and updates we have against current ones available and update our computer for us.

While it is convenient to have our browser remember our passwords so we don’t have to enter them each time, remember that a password can’t be stolen by a virus if it isn’t on the PC.

Notice that neither of the two threats mentioned occur via e-mail.

Got a problem? Call a LOCAL tech. They need the money more than someone on the other side of the world.

Don’t forget to buy Grumbles From the Keyboard. Lots of stuff written about the computer for the layman.

And if you’re hungry, Epicuria will leave you entertained and enjoying a fine repast.