Category: Tech

Tidelines is experiencing issues with delivery of our email subscriptions. We are working on a solution and hope to have it resolved quickly. In the meantime, remember that posts publish on the Tidelines website at the same time that they are emailed to subscribers. You can always check the website if you don’t receive your email subscription. When using the website, scroll down to see what’s been published since our email outage.

–Tidelines Editors

(Image credit: Freepik)

From the Social Security Administration:
On National Slam the Scam Day and throughout the year, we give you the tools to recognize Social Security-related scams and stop scammers from stealing your money and personal information. Share scam information with your loved ones. Slam the Scam!

Recognize the four basic signs of a scam:

1. Scammers pretend to be from a familiar organization or agency, like the Social Security Administration. They may email attachments with official-looking logos, seals, signatures, or pictures of employee credentials.
2. Scammers mention a problem or a prize. They may say your Social Security number was involved in a crime or ask for personal information to process a benefit increase.
3. Scammers pressure you to act immediately. They may threaten you with arrest or legal action.
4. Scammers tell you to pay using a gift card, prepaid debit card, cryptocurrency, wire or money transfer, or by mailing cash. They may also tell you to transfer your money to a “safe” account.

Ignore scammers and report criminal behavior. Report Social Security-related scams to the SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

Report a Scam

Visit www.ssa.gov/scam for more information and follow SSA OIG on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest scam tactics. Repost #SlamtheScam information on social media to keep your friends and family safe.

–Tidelines Editors for Social Security Administration

(Image credit SSA)

On Monday, January 30, 2023, Tidelines editors learned that some of our subscribers have not received emailed Tidelines posts since Friday, January 27. We contacted WordPress, our website host, and they are working to correct the problem. Although two posts went out as scheduled Tuesday, January 31, we are still experiencing some email issues. We apologize for the inconvenience.

This could be a good time for subscribers to explore our website, Tidelinesblog.com, for access to our posts. Each post appears there as it is published, most appearing at 6:00 am. The posts that we publish relating to special traffic, weather, or emergency alerts appear there as well.

On the website, you will find the most current posts are at the top and you can scroll down to see the other posts in the order they were originally published. The Search feature allows you to search for Tidelines articles by title or topic.

We look forward to resolving the email issues soon. Thank you for understanding and for your support.

–Tidelines Editors

The holidays are a busy time filled with tasks to be completed, people to visit, and goodwill to share but there are bad actors who use the holidays to take advantage of people’s generous spirits. That’s why it is important to be on the alert for scams. 

How do you identify a scammer?

Recognizing the signs of a scam can help you avoid falling victim to one. Scammers resort to many means to contact you. They use telephone calls, email, text messages, social media, and U.S. mail. Scammers may:

• Pretend to be from an agency or organization you know to gain your trust;
• Say there is a problem with your Social Security number or other type account;
• Pressure you to act immediately; 
• Tell you to pay in a specific way (ex. retail gift cards, pre-paid debit cards);
• Frighten you or threaten you with a consequence;
• Trick you into clicking onto malicious links or attachments.

How can you protect yourself if you receive a suspicious call, text, or email?

• Filter your calls and don’t answer or return calls if you don’t recognize the caller. If you do answer and are suspicious, hang up the phone.;
• Only open emails, respond to text messages, voice mails, or callers that are from people or organizations you know, and even then, be cautious if they look questionable;
• Do not give money or disclose personal information;
• Be especially wary of emails or websites that have typos or other obvious mistakes. Delete suspicious emails and texts, and do not click on any links.

What are the resources for reporting scams?

• If you encounter a suspected phone scam or an abusive telemarketer, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, online or at 877-382-4357, and notify your state consumer protection office;
  
• Report caller-ID spoofing to the Federal Communications Commission, online or at 888-225-5322. The FCC also provides consumer guides to numerous phone scams and improper practices;
  
• Visit the Do Not Call Registry website or call 888-382-1222 to register your number or report illegal robocalls.

Be sure to keep yourself safe from scams this holiday season. For more information about the types of scams that occur and what you can do to protect yourself, visit the websites of the Social Security Administration, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and/or American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). 

–Tidelines Editors

Sources: Social Security Administration, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)

(Image credit: pixabay.com))

Joanne Fagan from COVAR (Council of Villa Associations and Regimes) has just informed Tidelines that their membership list has been hacked.

COVAR members are receiving text messages requesting that money or gift cards be transferred via text message. The text message says something like, “I am in a meeting and can’t do this myself.” The text is signed “John Reynolds” and asks that the receiver be discreet. Some members are getting this text from (914) 206-8094. Neither John Reynolds nor any other COVAR member has sent anything like this.

Please do not open the text and block it, if possible, and then delete it. We have not learned of this problem affecting email but please be alert.

–Tidelines Editors

Hello, Seabrookers! Hope everyone is having a great summer thus far.

Today’s article is going to focus on a topic that I’ve certainly covered in the past: online phishing scams and fraudulent phone calls. They’ve been around for quite a while, and lately, it seems like every few days I receive a call from a customer telling me they think they have a major problem. In most cases, when the customer tells me what has happened, I see many mistakes and misjudgments made along the way that could have lessened the problem, or quite often prevented the issue altogether.

So today, I just want to share a few tips to drive the point home. Don’t become a victim! Although the victims tend to learn a lot through the process, it’s not fun to have to contact your bank, re-issue credit cards, and change passwords to all of your online accounts. It’s a lot of hard work, and can take days or weeks to finally sort it all out.

1. SLOW DOWN!

When you get a random phone call (and believe me, you will get them), often the person on the other end begins their speech- at least for a few seconds until many of us have already hung up on them. The key to these scams is to have you act so quickly that your intuition doesn’t kick in yet. The scammer sounds like they want to be very helpful (“You didn’t make that $500 charge on Amazon? No problem. I will be glad to help. Don’t you worry!”) but this is just the start of their process. They are trying to set your mind at ease as they walk you through what they want you to do. Many times, it will involve them wanting you to go onto your computer and give them access. They claim they will solve the problem.

When a customer asks me, “How did they get into my system?” my simple answer is “YOU LET THEM IN!” They can’t do anything until you grant them access.

During all of this, from the scammer’s point of view, time is of the essence. The longer it takes, the more suspicious you may become. They want you to act quickly. If you just slow down, think about the situation, give your gut feeling time to kick in, stop, call a friend or family member, just about anything other than what they are asking, more likely than not you can avoid these problems.

2. YOU CALL THEM!

So, what if you hang up, but still wonder if the call was real or not? Then put your mind at ease and call the company yourself. Yes, it may take some time out of your day, but in the end, you will speak with a legit employee of the company. You can inform them you were just called by them, got concerned, and want to check your account for any suspicious activity. Credit card companies, banks, and online shopping companies have fraud departments that can tell you exactly the status of your account.

Do not look up telephone numbers to call on Google. Scammers can purchase the top listings on Google that may promise you help and can publicize telephone numbers that just link back to the bad guys. Always visit the official website of the company, look at the bottom of the page for a “Contact Us” page, and look for a phone number there. For credit cards, the number to call is usually written on the back of the card itself. And when you find the real number, store it in your phone to call in the future.

3. ALWAYS BE ON HIGH-ALERT FOR POP-UP MESSAGES ON YOUR COMPUTER

This isn’t so bad for tablets and smartphones, but computers are very useful tools for bad guys to begin their scams. Most of the time, it could start with a phishing-email (an email that is intended to look like a legitimate email from a well-known company), or maybe you are surfing the web, looking up information, and all of a sudden a pop-up appears.  Sometimes the text and graphics on the pop-up will be very alarming:

If this happens, try to exit the page. Look for an X in the top corner. Back away if at all possible. If you have to, fully turn off your computer. Just make sure not to click any link on the pop-up, or certainly do not call the phone number. This is NOT MICROSOFT. This is NOT APPLE. After turning off your computer, wait a few minutes and turn it back on. Think about what you were doing just before the fake warning came up. Perhaps that website was infected. In that case, avoid that website. Look for any new icons that weren’t there before. If you shut down quickly, most of the time you can avoid any major problems. If you have any suspicion that something isn’t right, turn off your computer and keep it off until someone you know and trust can run a virus or malware scan on the computer to ensure it is clean.

Not all messages that appear are bad. Microsoft and Apple often use pop-up notifications to inform you about important updates. Get to know what these look like. If you aren’t sure, it’s best to defer them until a later date (or at least until you have time to ask a computer professional if it’s real or not). I tell customers all the time to grab your telephone and take a photo of the message. An IT person can tell you right away if the message is legit or not.

4. GIFT CARD SCAMS

Be extra sensitive if someone is asking you to go buy gift cards. Since gift cards are in virtually every grocery store, scammers know that their victims are just a few miles away from a store that carries lots of instant e-cash, and if they are successful in tricking their victim into buying a gift card, that money would be instantly theirs with almost no recourse to get your money back.

I’ve heard of scammers on the phone with some of my customers who were afraid to give them their credit card over the phone. When the scammer offered to accept a gift card as another option, they felt that was ok, so off to the grocery store they went. Another common strategy is to receive a random email from a “friend” who is asking for a gift card to purchase for their grandchildren’s birthday, and that the “friend” will pay them back as soon as possible. NO! NO! NO!

This is just the tip of the iceberg of how crooks try to con people into giving up their information for financial gain. Be careful out there! The internet is the electronic version of the Wild, Wild West.  Every man and woman for themselves!

-Chad Droze, Guest Columnist
Post & Computer Center – Freshfields Village
chad@compu-experts.com
843-768-2626
http://www.twitter.com/c0mpuexperts

(Image credit: pixabay, quoteinspector and Public Domain Pictures)

A number of news sources are reporting that Apple users need to update iPhones and iPads with the latest software, version 14.4. Apple identified two security threats that have been fixed with the latest update. For more information, see the news stories in Forbes and CBS News as well as Apple‘s report.

In most cases, to update, go to
Utilities
Settings
General
Software Update

The update will take a few minutes to download and the device will power down.

–Tidelines Editors

(Imgae credit: apple.com)