Scams

Online Accounts – Check Your Security NOW…

In an online world we are all more connected than ever before. For all of us, especially businesses, sometimes this is a helpful thing but also it can be a dangerous thing, unfortunately it’s the latter that I am discussing in this article.

We all know about password security but sometimes in our busy working lives we ignore the potential dangers because “everything is ok”, and we are busy getting on with day-to-day things, however occasionally problems can arise because of our lack of vigilance. We all have so many accounts nowadays (email, Facebook, What’s App, MyFitnessPro etc.) it’s very tempting to use the same details across all of them. Read this entire article »

Email Security – check it now before you need it…

It’s a common problem – one I see and hear about practically every day. You turn on your computer to check your emails and enter your username and password, (or maybe your computer has this automatically saved but this morning it’s asking you for your details). This morning, whatever you type in, the “computer says no!” Read this entire article »

Suspicious Emails – how to tell if they are real or not…


I receive emails and phone calls every day from worried people all around the Costa Blanca, asking whether the email they have just received from Microsoft, Yahoo, Adobe, Apple (insert any company name you like here), is legitimate. Of course, the honest answer is “I don’t know without looking at it”. Most of these emails are so sophisticated and look so much like the real thing that it’s almost impossible to tell whether the one you’ve just received is a scam, spam or legitimate so this month I hope to give you some pointers in order to help you figure out truth from fiction.

Read this entire article »

Scams…

Would you believe that it’s been 8 years this month since I started writing for this auspicious publication? In those 8 years we have covered many topics from backups, solid state drives and upgrading your computer all the way through to astronomy and astro photography! The first article was related to the “I’m calling from Microsoft” scam and its probably worth revisiting this, as believe it or not, its still doing the rounds.

So, although I am sure that many of you will have heard of this and other scams where you receive a phone call from someone purporting to be from Microsoft / Apple / Your Internet Service Provider / your bank etc. to tell you that your computer is, sending out spam / viruses / compromised / etc. Read this entire article »

How to be careful when sending money using online banking…

In the “online world” that we live, I hear two different stances when talking to people about accessing and managing their money online, some – old school – say “I never buy anything online nor do I use online banking” whilst others confidently assert that “it’s safe and easy, I’ve never had a problem”. So what is the truth? As always, the truth is somewhere in between these two extreems.

Read this entire article »

Crypto Locker – Get Your Data Back For Free!

A reader in the UK forwarded me an article from the BBC this week – it relates to the Crypto Locker virus that we have dicsussed a few times before.

It seems that some security experts have managed, by luck really, to gain access to the encryption key used to encrypt unfortunate victims data, enabling them to use this information to help other victims decrypt their own data!

If you are unfortunate enough to have been affected by the Crypto virus and still have your encrypted data, you can visit the portal at www.decryptcryptolocker.com and use the information there to gain access to your data again. The portal asks for your email address and one of the encrypted files. It then uses the information found by the security team to generate a recovery program (an antidote) that will repair all of your infected files – great stuff! Read this entire article »

Suspicious Emails – how to tell if they are real or not

I receive emails and phone calls every day from worried people all around the Costa Blanca, asking whether the email they have just received from Microsoft, Yahoo, Adobe, Apple (insert any company name you like here), is legitimate. Of course the honest answer is “I dont know without looking at it”. Most of these emails are so sophisticated and look so much like the real thing that its almost impossible to tell whether the one you’ve just received is a scam, spam or legitimate so this month I hope to give you some pointers in order to help you figure out truth from fiction. Read this entire article »

In The News Again – Crypto Virus – Update (how to protect yourself!)

Back in December last year we looked at a new virus called Crypto Locker. This virus is classed as ‘ransomware’ and not only locks you out of your computer, demanding money to let you access again, but also encrypts all of your important data so even asking/paying a computer tech to clear the virus won’t give you your data back! This virus, along with another called GOZeuS have been in the news recently. Read this entire article »

Crypto Virus – Update (how to protect yourself!)

Last time we looked at a new virus making the rounds called Crypto Locker, this virus is ‘ransomware’ and not only locks you out of your computer, demanding money to give you access again but also encrypts all of your important data so even asking/paying a computer tech to clear the virus won’t give you your data back! Read this entire article »

Crypto Locker Virus

Ok, I know that we are all cautious when it comes to viruses and we always try to ensure that we have our anti-virus programs up to date. However, in reality the worst case scenario is that if you are unlucky enough to become infected all you will need to do is pay someone like me some folding stuff to come and sort it out for you. Even if you are badly infected, computer experts can in most cases recover all of your important data (as long as you haven’t tried too hard to fix it yourself that is!) Read this entire article »