Phone scammers posing as your utility provider may claim you
are delinquent on your bill. They also may threaten to turn off your power,
rig caller ID to make it look like the call is from your utility provider
or tell you to put the money on a prepaid debit card and ask for the
card number. Don’t believe it.
Scam Calls Are ‘Epidemic’ — and Getting Worse
A new report says nearly half of mobile calls will be fraudulent by next year
This can be found at Scam Calls Are ‘Epidemic’ — and Getting Worse
Tero Vesalainen/Getty Images
Scam calls are getting more frequent — and quickly. By next year, nearly half of all calls to mobile phones will be fraudulent, according to a new report from telecommunications firm First Orion. The company analyzed data from more than 50 billion calls over 18 months to get a snapshot of what they call the scam-call “epidemic.” Here’s what they found:
- Mobile phone scam calls are increasing: In 2017, only 3.7 percent of calls to cell phones were fraudulent. This year, that number reached 29.2 percent — and it’s expected to climb to 44.6 percent in 2019.
- Fraudulent landline calls are declining: Scam calls originating from landlines are decreasing. In 2019, only a projected 24.8 percent of scam calls will come from landlines, a decrease from 56 percent in 2017. This is in part because fewer people use landlines in the first place, but it’s also a sign of just how technologically sophisticated — and successful — mobile scammers have become.
- Beware the area code: “Neighborhood spoofing” is a tactic in which fraudsters show up as a local number on your caller ID by matching the first six digits of your number. The report estimates that 9 in 10 scam calls will come from a familiar area code next year.
The increasing numbers of scam calls mean it’s harder to determine what calls are legitimate — on either a mobile or landline.
“People just don’t answer their phones anymore,” says Gavin Macomber, First Orion’s senior vice president of marketing and strategic business development.
Learn more about protecting yourself, visit AARP’s Scams & Fraud page.
According to Macomber, 84 percent of unknown mobile calls (and an even higher percentage of landline calls) go unanswered these days. This can be a real problem for legitimate businesses trying to reach their customers.
And for consumers who get caught up in a scam, the financial repercussions can be serious. The FTC reports that the median loss from a phone-based scam in 2017 was $720.
Luckily, there are several ways to stay protected. For smartphone users, apps such as RoboKiller and Truecaller can help detect and block unwanted calls — but keep in mind that these apps block calls only from known scam numbers, not “spoofed” calls that temporarily hijack legitimate digits.
Some carriers, such as T-Mobile, have started to offer screening services that alert consumers if an incoming call is likely fraudulent — and other carriers are likely to follow suit. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with common scams, like calls from people claiming to work for the IRS or your credit card company.
Macomber says he hopes we’ll soon be living in a world in which consumers can answer their phones again. Until then, just hang up.
New kind of scam to look out for with Facebook
Please tell all the contacts in your messenger list not to accept anything from Lucia Hernandez (Luciana). She has a picture of her sitting by the water)She is a hacker and has the system connected to your messenger account. If one of your contacts accepts it, you will also be hacked, so make sure that all your friends know it. Thanks. Forwarded as received.
Hold your finger down on the message. At the bottom in the middle it will say forward. Hit that then click on the names of those in your list and it will send to them
Thank God when you go to bed
Everybody bow your heads…Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you as humbly as I know how. I confess my sins, known and unknown. Lord you know I’m not perfect, and I fall short everyday of my life. I just want to take time out to say thank you for your mercy and your grace. Thank you for my health, my family, my friends, the roof over my head, food on my table, and everything I have.
This was found on the internet and I thought it was a good reminder of are Father in Heaven.
Text to Download an App to track you
This is going around… Now… It may or MAY NOT be for tracking women / young ladies — but the object of it is to install SOMETHING on your mobile device.
Be sure to have “only authorized software” enabled on your phone to make sure this stuff isn’t auto-installed.
Your phone can get infected just like a computer and with the popularity of phones over computers/laptops, we’ll see more of this.
Please, have a talk with your kids about things like this.
DO NOT DOWNLOAD ANYTHING FROM A TEXT MESSAGE THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE IT CAME FROM.
This came from Facebook -The Computer Guy
Warning on Sextortion do not fall for this scam
Do not believe this email if you get this email just delete it.
Someone has been sending sextortion scam emails with a new twist – one aimed at making it more likely you’ll be duped into paying a blackmail fee.One of the emails arrived at Naked Security yesterday, via a diligent reader, just as Brian Krebs was breaking the story on his site.
It claims to have compromising images of the recipient and goes on to ask for payment in order to stop the images being released publicly. Attempting to manipulate victims by claiming to have compromising images of them is known as sextortion, and its been used for years. What makes this scam different is that it’s added something extra: it contains a real password used by the victim.
The email reads:
"I do know, [PASSWORD REDACTED], is your password. You do not know me and you are probably thinking why you are getting this e mail, correct? actually, I placed a malware on the adult videos (pornography) website and do you know what, you visited this web site to experience fun (you know what I mean). While you were watching videos, your internet browser initiated working as a RDP (Remote Desktop) that has a key logger which gave me accessibility to your display and also webcam. after that, my software program obtained all your contacts from your Messenger, Facebook, as well as email. What exactly did I do? I made a double-screen video. First part displays the video you were viewing (you've got a nice taste haha), and second part shows the recording of your webcam.exactly what should you do? Well, I believe, $2900 is a reasonable price tag for our little secret. You'll make the payment via Bitcoin (if you don't know this, search "how to buy bitcoin" in Google). BTC Address: 19ZFj3nLSJCgoAcvZSgxs6fWoEmvJhfKkY (It is cAsE sensitive, so copy and paste it) Important: You have one day to make the payment. (I've a unique pixel within this email message, and now I know that you have read this e mail). If I do not get the BitCoins, I will definitely send out your video to all of your contacts including relatives, co-workers, and so forth. Nonetheless, if I receive the payment, I'll erase the video immidiately. If you want evidence, reply with "Yes!" and I will send your video to your 9 friends. It is a non-negotiable offer, that being said do not waste my time and yours by replying to this e-mail." This information is from the Naked Security There is more information on this at the following links Wikipedia FBI
Man Allegedly Used Change Of Address Form To Move UPS Headquarters To His Apartment
Dushaun Henderson-Spruce submitted a U.S. Postal Service change of address form on Oct. 26, 2017, according to court documents. He requested changing a corporation’s mailing address from an address in Atlanta to the address of his apartment on Chicago’s North Side.
Apple asks FCC for flexibility as it explores 95GHz to 3,000GHz wireless options
Leaders at Apple wrote to the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to leave certain frequencies unlicensed or shared as it tests 95 gigahertz to 3,000 GHz wireless technology.
A major part of this 5G testing is working on millimeter wave radio spectrum, which was traditionally reserved for larger devices like radars, satellites and airport security scanners.
From Comptia Newsletter
Mothers Day
Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there that keep that home going and smooth. Helping your kids learning right from wrong.
Keep up with all of the good work.
From Robert’s Computer Service
Robert Eyler Owner
5/13/18
No-Talk Phone Scams
Here are some of the scams that is going on
Call Center Fraud = They call the call center and answer some simple authentication questions and then they can have the rep change the mailing address and / or phone number and/or email address and anything else that is there.
Smartphone Swindles = You get a text message from scammer that say I am from bank and there was a mix up with some account information and we need to double check on this information. Then they get that information from you and then the damage is starting.
Curiosity Cons = Where they change the caller ID name to a phone number with in you area and saying they are from US FBI.
Have your caller ID show your number on the ID and you answer and they say i am from the IRS you owe $$$$.
DO NOT CALL ANY NUMBERS FROM with the area code 268, 664 and 876 because this number are in Caribbean countries that have a very high price minutes phone charges. They keep you on the line as long as they can.
To get more details on this you can go to No-Talk Phone Scams from AARP
Just do not talk to them and tell them GOOD BYE and hung up or just hung up on them. if Text message or voice mail just Delete do not reply.