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Post by sadkat on Apr 5, 2019 16:51:07 GMT -5
According to my son, it is our fault for being old. As more and more young folk absndon land lines it is only old fogies who have them. Hence the phone scammers are frenzy feeding on fewer and fewer land lines, so we get tbe dozens of calls a week That’s it- I’m canceling my landline!!! |
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Post by Handy on Apr 5, 2019 16:57:17 GMT -5
No Facebook, no twitter, no instagram, but I do have e-mail, the Internet and a couple of automotive diagnostic scanners along with a couple of computers.
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Post by DryCreek on Apr 5, 2019 17:37:11 GMT -5
I’m not sure if they can even tell it’s a landline, but I know one thing for sure... I probably have more phone numbers myself than multiple families did when I was growing up, and many end up on my cellphone. With these random dialers, that just increases the odds they’re going to ring me.
On a side note, I think it’s pretty cool that you can move anywhere now and move your home phone number with you. Heck, using a VoIP box, I even took my physical office “landline” phone to the Bahamas once and had it working from the hotel room, just to prove I could.
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Post by Handy on Apr 5, 2019 17:45:12 GMT -5
My land line is actually voice over the Internet (VOIP) protocol? Anyway my landline style phone cord plugs into my fancy Internet modem.
I had a cell phone number people were trying to send faxes to and I got a lot of sales pitched with that number so I switched numbers and cell / mobile phone carries.
The fax crap caused me to say enough is enough.
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Post by Handy on Jul 25, 2019 17:36:25 GMT -5
A new wrinkle in SPAM.
I got a junk e-mail saying this person has my password to an old account and is going to send all of that information to my contacts unless I pay him $800 in Bitcoin.
I did not reply and deleted the threat.
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Post by deadzone75 on Aug 4, 2019 16:14:04 GMT -5
A new wrinkle in SPAM. I got a junk e-mail saying this person has my password to an old account and is going to send all of that information to my contacts unless I pay him $800 in Bitcoin. The password looks valid and I used on a couple of accounts. I have 4 pages of account names and passwords I keep on a printed list that is not on my computers. I did not reply and deleted the threat. I got an e-mail from someone saying they had my account info from Ashley Madison, and if I didn't send X amount of Bitcoin, they would release the info and message history to my wife. They added that in the event I was no longer married, they would send it to my family and friends. Oh, and they also claimed to have video footage of me with other women! Needless to say, they didn't get any kind of coin from me. |
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Post by Handy on Aug 4, 2019 22:53:49 GMT -5
I have been of the Internet for about a week because of this bitcoin crap. I have the leak down to 2 web sites. One website has a "bio hazard" symbol on its home page. That is a sure give away something is a serious problem. Maybe the hackers (assumed) want to show how much of a "bad ass" they are.
My one point is, even if you have good pass words, maybe the web site doesn't. I know I forgot some password and tried several I thought might work and I never got blocked. Just how many tries does it take to get blocked on some sites? Other sites block me after 3 tries, which is more secure. If I was a hacker and could use my computer program to try thousands of passwords to get the site's members passwords, that might be the way to go.
I also might delete some personal and location information in my posts.
A computer tech friend worked a $30,000 swindle and another one that asked a bit more. My friend said Russians are at the root of most computer scams.
OK, here is what I did:
I got rid of aftermarket Anti-virus software and rely only on Windows 10 Defender with automatic up-dates. I was told and read other places that anti-virus programs make it easier for hackers. Good-by Avast, Trend, Norton and many other anti-virus programs. Some one that works for the government said Eset was OK but another person I trust said stick with automatic updates from Windows 10.
I also installed MalwareBytes Premium, it supposedly knows most of the hacker tools and warns you before a page or link loads. I never clicked on suspicious e-mails. I was told to not click on links we typically include in our replies.
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Post by DryCreek on Aug 4, 2019 23:55:01 GMT -5
The biggest real Bitcoin scam going out there is viruses that silently encrypt your whole hard drive and then disable access until you pay a ransom fee. Some really big institutions have gotten compromised by this malware (like, a whole hospital in Houston). Antivirus software is important, but so are current backups (which would be from before the malware).
Tools like OnePassword, LastPass, SplashID, etc. will track your passwords in a local, encrypted database and optionally sync the same to your phone and across types of computers/phones. I’ve got something like 400 accounts, and this is the only safe way to do it - unique passwords for all of them.
And while you’re at it, you might as well make those passwords 20 characters long and super random. You’re cutting & pasting them regardless. Just make sure you use a good, strong password you can remember to unlock the password keeper.
You should be able to find one of these packages for under $50 for lifetime license. You don’t need to pay $10/month for it. Some Internet providers include commercial software licenses for free for residential customers.
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Post by Handy on Aug 7, 2019 15:10:42 GMT -5
Thanks DryCreek.
I am working on several of your suggestions. I thought 12 characters was a bit too much but you are suggestion 20 character passwords.
I have to check with my ISP to see what they offer.
This ransom shit sucks and I am still getting the same ransom notice every couple of days. I don't even look at it anymore.
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