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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, October 18, 2009
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Please have a mammogram or take someone you love to have one.
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Rescue Scams Trap Homeowners
Tips & Tricks: Internet Explorer: Full Screen Mode
This Week's Topic: Make Your Computer Easier to See
Question: Taskbar or Toolbar?
Websites of Interest: Macaroni & Cheese Recipes; BankFox; WhitePages; Laundry Stain Treatments; Halloween
To our readers:
We have gotten so many emails from people thanking us for our articles on scams and hoaxes and how we have helped save them from being victimized. We appreciate your thanks and are glad we can help. We wish we had the time to answer each email.
Here at Sharper Training Solutions, one of the things we are very dedicated to is educating all of our friends as to the identity theft and dangers that can be out there. We have found that some of these scams can be pretty clever and can easily fool even the most suspicious of us! Because of that, we encourage you to pass on our newsletter articles to your friends and family to educate them as well.
And don’t forget, you can always email us with any questions or issues you may encounter.
Stay safe out there !
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Special Feature: Rescue Scams Trap Homeowners
The following article is from reuters.com
One American industry is booming amid the slump and job losses: mortgage rescue scams that prey on homeowners in financial straits.
The scammers have low start-up costs and expert market knowledge, many of them having learned their predatory tricks in the boom in providing subprime mortgages a few years ago.
Experts say they will thrive as long as the nation remains in the throes of its worst housing crisis since the Depression with millions of Americans unable to pay their mortgages.
"Rescue scams are the real growth industry," said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge at the San Diego office of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"All you need to target people is a computer and know-how to set up a website and you're in business. These groups can set up quickly, target people across multiple states, shut down and move on before they're detected."
Mortgage fraud was easy during the fast and loose years of the real estate boom.
Some analysts say fraud played a big role in triggering the subprime crisis that pushed America into recession in 2007 and wiped out trillions of dollars in property values.
Now, rescue scams are costing homeowners money and wasting valuable months when they could be talking to their lenders about saving their homes -- delays that can cause unnecessary foreclosures and prolong the U.S. housing crisis.
"There are a lot more people we could help if it weren't for rescue scams," said Melinda Opperman of housing counseling agency Springboard in Riverside, California. "This could end up slowing down any potential recovery."
Out of desperation to hold onto their piece of the American dream, couples like Salvador and Blanca Jimenez in Los Angeles become easy prey.
The couple bought their first home in 2005 for $430,000 with an adjustable rate mortgage. When their monthly payment jumped by $800 to $2,691 in early 2008, Salvador's wages as a driver for a seafood company were stretched to the limit.
"We were barely able to make the payments," Salvador said.
He said that shortly after a late payment, he received a letter from a firm called Direct Lender, offering help to get a loan modification with a lower monthly payment, for a $3,995 fee.
The couple were greeted at Direct Lender's offices by friendly and smartly dressed staff speaking Spanish.
"When they explained to us in Spanish how they were going to save our house, we felt comforted," Salvador, 46, said through an interpreter. "We believed in them."
The couple stopped paying their mortgage and paid Direct Lender instead. Soon afterward, they received notice from their bank demanding payment.
"I called the bank and told them Direct Lender was taking care of everything and the bank said they'd never heard from any third party," Salvador said. "Often operations like this open and shut so fast it's hard to track them down."
Salvador and Blanca turned to the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, which provides free legal services to low-income families.
The center has filed a complaint against some Direct Lender executives, as has the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which prohibits deceptive business practices.
In a complaint to a U.S. District Court in California, the FTC said Direct Lender was a fictitious business name operated by another company that engaged in "deceptive acts and practices." Along with a second firm, it "participated in a common scheme to deceive consumers," the civil complaint said.
"This is a rare case because we actually have the name of someone we can file suit against," said Steve Arrodondo, an attorney at the center who is representing the couple.
Daniel Nassie, an attorney at Nassie Law representing Aaron Cuha -- one of the defendants named in the center's complaint, which seeks damages -- said his client was a "fine gentleman and upstanding businessman" but could not discuss the case. Other defendants could not be reached.
As millions of Americans face losing their homes over the next few years, the U.S. government and law enforcement agencies are gearing up to tackle what Arrodondo's fellow attorney Michael Chung calls a "tidal wave" of rescue scams.
"We were set up to help people deal with various legal issues," he said. "But almost every single call I get is related to rescue scams."
MORE FRAUD TO COME
Not so long ago the real growth area for scams in the U.S. housing market was quite different.
During the boom, banks engaged in years of loose, irresponsible lending that allowed borrowers to obtain mortgages with no money down and with no proof of income, providing fertile ground for fraudsters.
This subprime bonanza allowed criminals to team with mortgage brokers and property appraisers to inflate property prices, then buy and sell or "flip" homes at huge profits -- often to "straw" or nonexistent buyers.
"Subprime fraud played a huge role in the housing crisis," said Todd Lackner, a mortgage fraud investigator in San Diego. "Bank employees must have recognized individual cases of fraud but no one was looking at the whole market and realizing this was an epidemic."
That epidemic helped cause the housing crisis that in turn pushed the world's largest economy into recession in 2007.
There have been some recent signs of a nascent recovery in housing prices but rising unemployment and a potential flood of foreclosed homes coming on to the market could bring further falls and more pain. [nN1185085]
In April alone, the FBI in San Diego charged 24 people with racketeering involving 220 properties for a total sales price of more than $100 million. Nationwide, the FBI said in September it has 300 agents working on 2,600 open fraud cases -- eight agents in the San Diego office alone.
As the housing crisis mushroomed, targeting vulnerable borrowers has become a gold mine.
The amounts per person are relatively small -- anywhere up to $8,000 -- but they add up quickly. In its 2008 Mortgage Fraud Report the FBI said total losses due to mortgage fraud are unknown but at least 63 percent of cases in 2008 involved losses of more than $1 million covering multiple counts.
"We expect rescue scams to continue rising over the next three to four years as we work our way through this crisis," Slotter said.
"In many ways this is the most despicable kind of fraud," he added. "These criminals target people who are about to lose everything they have and take thousands of dollars from them."
Counselors say many behind the scams are the same former mortgage brokers who sold bad subprime loans during the boom.
"They know exactly whom to target and when because they know how the market works," said Antonio Hicks, an attorney at nonprofit group Legal Services of Los Angeles County. "They look to see who's in default and they go after them."
The situation is often worse in minority communities where scammers abuse bonds of trust.
"We've even seen cases where people were targeted in church by members of their own community," Arrodondo said. "There is no limit to how low they'll go."
Keywords: USA HOUSING/SCAMS
TREASURY, CITIES SOUND ALARM
Describing the proliferation of fraudulent mortgage rescue schemes as an "epidemic" on September 17, the U.S. Treasury, Department of Justice, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the FTC announced they would work together to target investigations and increase their efficiency.
"A clear lesson of this financial crisis is that American consumers need better protection against fraud," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.
The city of Los Angeles now bans upfront fees for mortgage loan modification services in a bid to combat rescue scams.
Ultimately, educating homeowners about scams is more effective than trying to catch smart and mobile thieves, said John Brady, housing policy coordinator in the office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
FTC spokesman Frank Dorman said the commission is considering a possible nationwide ban on advance fees for loan modification and foreclosure rescue services.
"Combating mortgage relief scams is one of the FTC's top priorities," he said.
Lori Gay, president of nonprofit lender Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles, welcomed moves to target rescue scams and increased attention from the FBI.
"More than half of the people who walk through our door seeking help have given money to criminals," she said. "Those frauds even advertise on television and the radio. If you hear five commercials an hour offering help, four will be fake.
"It's become a big business. I'm just glad that the authorities are waking up to the problem and doing something about it. I want more of these people behind bars."
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Tips & Tricks: Internet Explorer: Full Screen Mode
If you would like to see more of the webpage, and less of the toolbars, try Full Screen Mode. Press the F11 key (that is on the row of F keys on the top row of the keyboard).
Now, the website fills your entire screen. If you need a toolbar or the address bar, press the F11 key again to go back to regular mode.
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Today's Topic: Make Your Computer Easier to See
Question: I am proud to say I am a 92 year old great grandmother still up and about and trying to learn how to use my computer. It would help if it were easier to read. Can you help me make things bigger on the screen? Thank you for all the great help and advice you send.
Answer:
There are several things that you can do to make things easier to see. Windows provides several tools and settings that improve visibility. You can change the resolution, increase the size of text, icons, start menu items and mouse pointers, and use the Magnification tool.
Screen Resolution
With a high resolution, many things can fit on the screen. However, it reduces the size of everything and text can be hard to read. If you reduce the resolution, there will be room for fewer items on the screen, but the ones that are there will be easier to see and read. Here are the steps to change the resolution:
Windows XP:
Right click on a blank spot on the desktop. A menu will open; left click Properties. This will open the Display Properties window.
Click the Settings tab at the top. In the Screen Resolution area, you will see Less and More with a slider in between. Point to the slider and drag it towards Less.
You may want to experiment with the settings. Try dragging the slider halfway and then click Apply. You may get a message asking if you would like to keep these settings; click OK (or Yes). If you like this setting, click the OK button. If not, drag the slider all the way to Less and then click OK.
Windows Vista:
Right click on a blank spot on the desktop. A menu will open; left click Personalize. Click Display Settings. This will open the Display Properties window.
In the Resolution area, you will see Less and More with a slider in between. Point to the slider and drag it towards Less.
You may want to experiment with the settings. Try dragging the slider halfway and then click Apply. You may get a message asking if you would like to keep these settings; click OK (or Yes). If you like this setting, click the OK button. If not, drag the slider all the way to Less and then click OK.
Icon Size
You can make the Icons bigger. Here are the steps:
Windows XP:
Right click on a blank spot on the desktop. A menu will open; left click Properties. Click the Appearance tab at the top. Click the Advanced button.
Under Item, click the down arrow and then click Icon. To the right, under Size, click the up arrow next to the number. This will increase the number.
Try increasing the number by about 20. Click the Apply button to see how you like the changes. If you want the icons even bigger, increase the number by about 20 again and click the Apply button. If they become too big, decrease the number and click Apply.
When you are done, click the OK button.
Windows Vista:
Right click on a blank spot on the desktop. A menu will open; Point to View. Click Large Icons.
If you would like to make the icons even bigger, hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard and roll the mouse wheel away from you. To make them smaller, roll the wheel towards you while holding down the CTRL key.
Text Size
Increase the size of text.
Windows XP:
Right click on a blank spot on the desktop. A menu will open; left click Properties. This will open the Display Properties window.
Click the Appearance tab at the top. Under Font Size, you will probably see Normal. Click the small arrow to the right and then click Large or Extra Large. Click the OK button.
Windows Vista:
Right click on a blank spot on the desktop. A menu will open; left click Personalize. On the left side, click Adjust Font Size. Windows will ask for your permission to continue; click the Continue button.
The DPI Scaling window will open. Click Larger Scale and then click the OK button. If you are asked for permission, click Continue. You will need to restart the computer for the changes to go into effect.
Start Menu
If the Start Menu items are larger, it will be easier to navigate and open programs.
Windows XP:
Right click on the Taskbar. Left click Properties in the menu. Click the Start Menu tab at the top and then click Customize. Click Large icons. Click the OK button. Close all remaining open windows by clicking the OK button.
Windows Vista:
Right click on the Taskbar. Left click Properties in the menu. Click the Start Menu tab at the top and then click Customize. Scroll down to the bottom of the left. Click Use large icons. Click the OK button. Close all remaining open windows by clicking the OK button.
Mouse Pointers
You can increase the size of the mouse pointers.
Windows XP:
Click the Start button and open Control Pane. Open Mouse. Click the Pointers tab at the top.
Under Scheme, click the down arrow to display the choices. Click any of the Large or Extra Large schemes. Examples will display in the window. When you find one you like, click the OK button.
Windows Vista:
Click the Start button and open Control Pane. Click Classic view on the left side of the window. Open Mouse. Click the Pointers tab at the top.
Under Scheme, click the down arrow to display the choices. Click any of the Large or Extra Large schemes. Examples will display in the window. When you find one you like, click the OK button.
Magnifier
This is a small accessory that comes with Windows, allowing you to magnify parts of the screen. It uses part of the screen, at the top, to magnify the area the mouse is pointing to at the bottom.
While the magnifier is a good program if you want a real close up of something, it does take a little practice to get used to using it.
Windows XP:
Click the Start button and point to All Programs. Point to Accessories and the Accessibility. Click on Magnifier. You can change the Magnification level. You may want to experiment with the settings to see what works best for you.
Windows Vista:
Click the Start button and then click All Programs. Click Accessories. Click Ease of Access and then click Magnifier. Change the Scale Factor for a larger or smaller magnification. You may want to experiment with the settings to see what works best for you.
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Question: Taskbar or Toolbar?
What is the difference between a Taskbar and a Toolbar?
Answer:
the taskbar is the long gray bar that sits at the bottom of the screen (it can be moved to the top or either side of the screen). It has the Start button on the left, the system tray (with the clock) on the right, and, if any programs are open, the program buttons display there.
Toolbars are the little strips at the top of a program. They usually display right under the Menu bar. Toolbars hold icons, or buttons, that are shortcuts to commonly used commands in that program.
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Websites of Interest:
Macaroni & Cheese Recipes
If you are a macaroni and cheese lover, this website can show you so many different ways of preparing your favorite dish.
http://macaronicheeserecipes.com/
BankFox
This website makes it easy to compare bank products like savings accounts, checking accounts, CDs and more.
http://www.bankfox.com/
WhitePages
Free address and phone number look up. Search by name, business or phone number.
http://www.whitepages.com/
Laundry Stain Treatments
Everything you ever wanted to know about removing stains.
http://tipnut.com/stain-treatments/
Halloween
Is less than two weeks away. Visit the Halloween page on our website for help with pumpkin carving, costume design, cooking baking and much more.
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/halloween.html