Hi, welcome back to the irregular Aspiring Newsletter. A little note I send out every month or so explaining what I have been up to.
Twice recently I have received unsolicited phone calls from an overseas help desk offering their computer support services. The call goes something like this: Turn on your computer, do the following commands, ‘Oh” the files you are seeing are viruses or Errors – you need support. Give me your credit card details and I will fix it for you. Have a look here for more details of this scam:
Suffice it to say, these people are not from Microsoft or similar. They do not really know you or your computer, (they have got your name and number probably from the White Pages and guessing that you have a computer), they can’t be remotely looking at your computer without you explicitly allowing them to connect. They are simply wanting your credit card details. If you suspect you have a problem with your computer, have it looked at by someone who you can see and touch. The world is becoming increasingly routed by rogues.
Even if you have virus protection, do get your computer serviced once a year (a complete check up) to look for viruses, Trojans and updated protection. Buying a new laptop etc and just plugging it, you will not be properly protected.
For those using Microsoft Security Essentials, you should have received a notification recently offering to upgrade to a new version. Do this. Do keep an eye out for the little yellow shield or blue chequered icon in bottom right hand corner of a Windows PC. This is important, as it is the only way that Microsoft informs you of security upgrades. Ensuring all Windows updates are done is the most important way of keeping nasties out of your computer. Microsoft will never send e-mail notifying you of updated products.
I have also seen lots of e-mail purportedly offering Adobe Reader upgrades for a cost. These are a scam. Adobe Reader is Free! Don’t believe everything you read on e-mail! (oh, except mails from me 🙂 )
If you have a question about something on your screen, you can capture this and e-mail it to me by hitting the ‘Print Screen’ (Prt SCRN) key near the top right of the keyboard and ‘Pasting’ the screen grab into an e-mail.
I have some really nice 23.5 inch Samsung monitors at the moment. These are big and the latest model. Ideal as a main screen, second screen or laptop screen. $300 +, Delivered and fitted.
