Webmail Woes Redux

Posted on September 12, 2016 by davidm

Just over 4 years ago, I wrote a post here called Webmail Woes.

It was about losing your email, contacts, attachments and how to prevent it.

It’s still good but needs a little update because a number of clients have run into real problems, some catastrophic.

One recent example is a client who had EVERYTHING about their business in their webmail account. In this case, Yahoo Mail.
It could have easily been Gmail, Outlook.com (Hotmail) or a number of others.

The account got hacked and they were locked out. They lost invoices, appointment dates, confidential business and client documents – important stuff.
It was also the only place they had a contacts list with email addresses and phone numbers.

Sure, when they had set up the account, they had put in a “recovery” email address where Yahoo could send a link to change their password and get back in.

BUT, the email address no longer existed. Strike One.

There was no mobile phone number that Yahoo could text a code for getting back in. Strike Two.

And there were no “Secret Questions” that would identify them as the real owner of the account. Strike Three.

Out.

There was absolutely no recourse but to create a new email account and start all over.

So, this update is to remind you to keep those recovery options up to date.

And don’t forget: if you use webmail, NONE of your stuff is on your computer or phone or tablet. None of it.

It’s all in the infamous Cloud. Far away and out of your hands.

Back up or download those documents, pictures, messages if you really need them.

There, I’ve told you. I’ve told you twice.

PC Online Scams – When "Windows" comes calling

Posted on November 28, 2012 by davidm

I’m now used to clients getting “cold called” by computer scammers. Today I got a call myself from one of these guys.

They said they were from “Microsoft Windows” and were calling about my computer problem.
What problem?

But I knew what I was dealing with here. That’s because I’ve had to clean up after them a number of times.

Typically what has happened to several of my clients is that they get a phone call. The caller usually sounds typically “North American”, without any discernable accent.
They say they are calling from “Windows” or even Microsoft, though Microsoft will never call you.
It’s about the problem with your computer. Often the delivery is so professional sounding, that people will go along with them.
The next thing is that they want you to go to a website where you click “Yes” a couple of times. What you are doing is giving them remote access to your computer. You can watch your mouse pointer move all over your screen by itself! Well, it’s someone else doing it.
Now they run a little program that shows a multitude of problems with your computer. Frightening, yes?

It’s a scam. These “problems” are almost sure to be false.
It’s very much like the old vacuum salesman’s trick of throwing dirt on you carpet and, Presto!, offering the solution – a brand new vacuum cleaner that he’s got right here.

There is usually nothing to clean up on your computer, nothing wrong with it at all.

But how professional and caring the guy on the phone is! Now he will offer to keep your computer problem-free if only you subscribe to an annual subscription fee. Usually around $300.00.
And then he will want your credit card information. Sad to say, a couple of my clients have done this and then had to go through the hassle of contacting their bank and cancelling their cards. Unfortunately, once the transaction is done, it’s done. You’ve paid. The bank will not help you retrieve your money.

And not only do these guys have your money (and credit card number), but who knows what else they’ve planted on your computer while they had control of it. Spyware, malware – these are things that can report back to them any of your internet activities, or even lift passwords and banking information.
This is the making of “identity theft”.

You don’t want any of this.

If you get a call from someone who says they’re from “Windows” or Microsoft, the simple thing to do is hang up. There is nothing to be gained by engaging them.

By the way, Microsoft, the real Microsoft, will never call you out of the blue. Never.

Over the last year, I’ve had a chance to research this particular scam, and it almost invariably originates from India. If pressed, the scammers will say they’re company’s name is PC-Care, or Online PC Care, or PC Online – you see the pattern.
They will even give out a phone number to call them back. These are usually bogus numbers, with area codes in the U.S. Unless you have good computer hacking skills, you will have a nigh on impossible chance of tracking down where on the planet they are. But the consensus is, they are from India.

I must admit I had fun with the guy who called me today. I told him I knew exactly what we was going to ask me to do, in what order, and how much he was going to charge me for it. I also told him what his company was really called, and that I was reporting this call to the RCMP. That usually does it, but this one had gumption and started yelling (there was an accent, now) that I knew nothing about his business. I hung up.

So watch out for these kinds of phone calls. Don’t engage them, don’t follow any of their instructions, and for heaven’s sake don’t let them take control of your computer. The giving out of credit card numbers I will credit you for being smart enough to avoid.

I can and have helped people clean up after this experience with scammers, but it’s not the way I’d prefer to make a buck. I would sooner not have you vulnerable to this mischief in the first place.

Be careful out there.

Webmail Woes

Posted on July 25, 2012 by davidm

If you use Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, or any of the other online email services, you will always run the risk of having your email account compromised or “hacked”.

What this means is that some scoundrel has found a way to steal your password and take over your account.

How do you know if this has happened? Here’s a partial list:

1 Your account is sending out spam.
2.Your password doesn’t work anymore.
3.Someone deleted information from your account.
4.Someone changed your account information
5.You can’t get into your account to reset your password.
6.Friends call you up and say they’ve got a pretty weird e-mail from you,except it doesn’t look like something you’d send.

Some other nasty surprises:

If you cannot get into your account, you may lose you Contacts, Calendar items, and any attachments that have come into your Inbox.
That’s a lot to lose.

What to do?

If you can manage to log into your account and change your password (to something really hard to guess) then you have done the quick fix.

You’re usually not going to be that lucky.

You can try the support and help on the Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail websites. but, basically, if you can’t log in with your password you’re done. Contacting Support or Customer Care on these websites may solve your problem, it may not. People’s experience varies widely.

You may have to forget about that e-mail account and your e-mail address and just create a new account.
This is a pain because now you have to send everybody a new address.
If all your Contact info (e-mail addresses especially) are online – in that Yahoo account you don’t have access to anymore – how are you going to notify everyone? Good luck.

Hopefully, you have all this information written down somewhere or in another program on your computer.

I can’t tell you how many people do not keep a separate list of these things, and how often they’ve been left with absolutely no way to get in touch with anybody by e-mail.
Well, actually I can – because I keep a record of such things.

So, here’s what you need to do to protect yourself from this predicament:

1. Store all your Contacts in a file that is only on your hard drive. Whether it’s a plain text file, a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet, or another email program – it doesn’t matter. Just have those contacts in another file for safe keeping.
– Of course, many people will print out lists of contacts or hand write them into a Daytimer or some other paper directory. I do.

2. Attachments that you want to keep should be saved to your computer and not kept in an email program. This goes for those of you using Outlook or Mac Mail as well as the online webmail services.

Do not use email programs like a file manager. The analogy I use is that of a rural mailbox at the end of a very long driveway. You wouldn’t keep all your mail out there – you’d bring it into the house.

3. Keep a written record of your Calendar Events.
Nothing beats writing important dates and appointments down on paper. It’s the simplest and most reliable way.
But even if you don’t want to do that, keep a record of this info in a program that lives permanently on your hard drive i.e.. Outlook or a Personal Information Manager program.

4. Passwords:
Believe or not, many people keep their passwords and website log-in information (for Facebook or iTunes etc.) in their webmail or in some other online-only program.
This is inviting disaster. Not only could you lose these passwords if you can’t get into your online account but these passwords and user I.D.s are just sitting there waiting for some hacker to collect. Don’t do it.
Instead, write them down and store in a safe place. You can also use some great little programs on your computer such as SplashData that are specifically made to store sensitive information.
Also, do not email passwords to yourself.

5. Email messages
There are some email messages you just want to keep. They could be a poem someone sent you, or important reference material – whatever. These should be saved as individual files and stored in folders on your hard drive. Or printed out if they are that important.
You can even copy and paste email messages into a word processor document and save them that way.

So, in summing up, have a back up of your Contacts and Calendar items, save important attachments and passwords in files on your hard drive.

And then I strongly suggest you back up the whole works to an internal hard drive or at least a USB stick (thumb drive, memory stick).

Personally, I even make a DVD back up of anything I really want to keep. It’s the most indestructible method to keep crucial documents, valuable data, pictures and music. DVDs are not forever, but close enough. Everything else is vulnerable to magnetic and electric fields and potentially unsafe.

Save and Back Up! Do it. Do it today.