Welcome
to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, December 6, 2009
In this Issue:
Special Feature: How to Spot a
Holiday Scam -- and Find Genuine Bargains
Question: How Do Spammers Get My
Email Address?
Tips & Tricks: Five Online Shopping Sites That Will Save You Money
This
Week's Topic: Online Shopping
Safety Tips
Question: Change Your Home Page
Websites of Interest: Chanukkah; Pearl Harbor Day; Holiday Shopping: 100
Home-Made Gift Ideas; Microsoft Fix it Solution Center; Online Guide to Birds
**********************************
Special Feature: How to Spot
a Holiday Scam -- and Find Genuine Bargains
The
following is from scambusters.org
Bogus
online stores and websites peddling cheap knock-offs of branded products
masquerading as the real thing are at the top of the big holiday scams of 2009.
As
we head into one of the busiest shopping and traveling periods of the year, it
pays to wise up to the Christmas scam risks that the increasingly smart crooks
have lined up.
In
fact, the just published 2009 Online Buyer Economic Trends Study reckons many
people already started their holiday shopping as early as mid-September -- and,
presumably, some have already found out about holiday scams the hard way.
There
are three things that make the threat even greater this year:
1.
The massive increase in online shopping that retail experts are expecting. For
the first time ever, more than half of all consumers are expected to buy
online. That includes some who are
dipping a toe in the Internet buying waters for the first time, especially
older users who now feel comfortable enough to try their hand at the
convenience of web shopping.
2.
The economic woes of the past year have made shoppers more bargain-conscious
than ever. The lowest price is
often the biggest draw -- even when the buyer has never heard of the retailer
before.
3.
The move online of the busiest sales promotion of the year -- the so-called
Black Friday sales that follow Thanksgiving. Instead of turning up for the 4am doorbusters, more shoppers will be staying home and logging
on and battling for the midnight bargains.
All
of these things play on a human weakness: when someone appears to sell at rock
bottom prices or even just tells us that they slashed their prices, we just
want to believe we got a bargain. That won't be the case if the item you
ordered doesn't turn up or, even if it does, it's not what you expected. You've
just fallen for a holiday scam.
Countries
where copyright laws hardly exist and forgery isn't a dirty word are churning
stuff out, often bearing well known brand names, other times just cheap and
nasty lookalikes, whose only guarantee is to tarnish the sparkle of your
holiday season.
And
remember, the sellers likely will have your credit card number and other
personal details to do with what they will.
So,
here are 5 quick tips to help protect you from online holiday shopping scams:
1.
Buying from reputable dealers should be a safe bet.
But always check the address bar in your browser to make sure you're where you
should be! Scammers are experts at creating phony lookalike sites where you
land after mistyping an address or by following a link.
2.
However, don't rule out newcomers and smaller firms. We don't want to stifle
enterprise or genuine bargains! But if you don't recognize the name, check it
out -- Google it and look for scam reports. Do your research and, if you're
even slightly suspicious, follow your instincts.
3.
If the seller accepts it, especially if you're buying from an auction site,
consider paying with PayPal. They can safeguard your purchase -- and they do
safeguard your credit card info.
However, when you get to the PayPal site, especially if you used a link
to get there, make doubly sure you're at paypal.com, not some bogus rip-off
site that will harvest your sign-on details and clean out your account.
And,
of course, never pay by money wire; they're untraceable and the biggest clue to
an online holiday scam. And be careful using cashier’s checks as well.
4.
When you're bargain-hunting, use recognized price comparison sites like
Pricegrabber.com, Shopzilla.com, Nextag.com or special offer sites likes
Bargainist.com or Techbargains.com -- to name a few. Looking for the best price on books? Try
Addall.com, which will do all the searching for you. Of course, they don't guarantee the
legitimacy of the firms they reference but your chances of becoming a Christmas
scam victim are significantly lower.
There
are also a couple of daily bargain sites -- Woot.com and Yugster.com -- that
you can buy from directly.
5.
Make sure it really is a bargain. Retailers of every shade are experts at
making prices look like bargains, claiming things like "75% off." And
maybe they are 75% off -- but do a price comparison check with others first.
Online
shopping may be the major target for this year's holiday scam crooks. But here
are a few other things to watch out for this season:
*
People selling stuff at your front door.
Holiday
light installation services are the big thing this year -- mostly enterprising
individuals who have perhaps lost their jobs and have seen a profitable gap in
the market. You'll get a flyer offering to provide, install and uninstall the
lights for anywhere between $100 and $250. We're not recommending that you not
use them. They can save a lot of hassle. But don't pay upfront, not even a
deposit if you can avoid it. Don't fall for the line that they need all the money
to buy the lights. Also, make sure
you get a written guarantee that they'll remove them (hold back part of the
payment till they're taken down) and make sure you know who owns the lights
once they're down.
*
Fake eCards. This is a whole subject in itself. But
you can be sure they'll be as big a hit as ever as holiday scams. You get a
message with a link to an online greeting card but, when you click it, you end
up with a virus on your PC. A
couple of simple rules here: Delete any messages that come from someone you
don't know or that don't address you by name. If they do come from someone you
know, email that person to check that they sent it before clicking the link.
*
Holiday rentals. 2009 has seen a surge in ads offering bogus vacation rentals.
You pay a deposit or even in full to get a key and that's the last you hear of
them. Classified websites are
fraught with this danger -- and it can be very difficult to check their
authenticity. Of course, there are
many legitimate owners offering rentals this way -- and countless more online.
But investigate them carefully; check testimonials, do a search for other
references. And again, don't wire cash.
There are now a large number of online rental agencies who vet owners
and this may be a safer bet.
*
Phony seasonal jobs. Yes, real seasonal jobs do exist, mainly in retail but
also a few in packing and manufacturing, but this year there are fewer of them
and more people chasing them.
Seasonal work at home schemes, like toy assembly, are
usually scams. For retail and packing jobs, deal directly with the employer or
a reputable agency -- and never pay to get work. It's a scam.
For
the law-abiding majority of citizens, the winter holiday season should be a
time to celebrate and rejoice. For the holiday scam artists it's one of the
biggest money-making opportunities of the year. Make sure you don't give them
yours!
**********************************
Question: How Do Spammers Get My
Email Address?
The
following is from Paul Gil of a bout.com
Answer:
There are four ways that spam senders get people's email addresses:
1. Spammers will illegally buy
lists of real people's email addresses.
2. Spammers will use
"harvesting" programs that scour the Internet like Google, and copy
any text that contains the "@" character.
3. Spammers will use
"dictionary" (brute force) programs like hackers.
4. You will unwittingly volunteer
your email address to dishonest subscribe/unsubscribe online services.
Buying
illegal lists of real people's email is surprisingly commonplace. Dishonest
employees of ISPs will sometimes sell information that they take from their
work servers. This can happen on eBay or on the black market. From outside the
ISP, hackers can also break in and steal ISP customer lists and then sell those
addresses to spammers.
Harvesting
programs, aka "crawl and scrape" programs, are also commonplace. Any
text on a web page that contains "@" character is fair game for these
programs, and lists of thousands of addresses can be harvested within an hour
via these robotic harvesting tools.
Dictionary
programs (brute force programs) are the third means to get spam target
addresses. Just like hacker programs, these products will generate alphabetic/numeric
combinations of addresses in sequence. While many of the results are incorrect,
these dictionary programs can create hundreds of thousands of addresses per
hour, guaranteeing that at least some will work as targets for spam.
Lastly,
dishonest subscribe/unsubscribe services will also sell your email address for
a commission. A very common unsubscribe tactic is to blast millions of people
with a false "reply to remove your address from our mailing list"
email. When users click on the "unsubscribe" link, they are actually
confirming that a real person exists at their email address.
**********************************
Tips & Tricks: Five Online
Shopping Sites That Will Save You Money
cheapstingybargains.com
CheapStingyBargains catalogues and lists discount coupons
and special deals for everything from computers to electronics and apparel to
home goods.
freeshipping.org
This
site keeps a track of any free shipping offers going on at the 1500 stores on
its list.
dealcatcher.com
Another coupon site that you should visit before making
any online purchase. They have a long list of ready to use coupons and track
more than 2000 online stores.
fatwallet.com
An
online forum with thousands of users who try out the coupons and let everyone
else know which coupons are valid and where.
coupons.com
On
this site, you’ll find electronic equivalent of newspaper coupons that
you can print and take to your nearest grocery store for an instant discount.
**********************************
Today's Topic: Online
Shopping Safety Tips
The
following is from worldstart.com
Online
shopping is a quick and easy way to get what you need for the holidays, but in
doing that, you're also taking a security risk. Don't get me wrong, most
companies have top notch security for their Web sites, but there are still some
things you need to look out for. Don't stress though! I'm here to help. Below,
you will find the top five tips for safe online shopping. Read through them and
then put them to practice. Here we go!
1.)
Know Who You're Dealing With - The first thing you
need to be aware of is the merchant you are buying from. There are a lot of
companies out there today that run completely off of their Web site, which
means you probably won't be as familiar with them as a store you could visit at
the mall. In that case, you should take some time to learn about them and the
reputation they hold. You can do that by searching them out on the Internet.
Use a search engine to see if you can find any reviews about them from other
consumers and try to find an information page on them. If previous shoppers
really like or dislike a company, chances are, you'll be able to find some
comments about them somewhere on the Web. If you take the time to do this before you order from a new business, you'll be much
better off in the end.
2.)
Protect Your Privacy - When you're shopping online, you have to think about
yourself first and that means doing whatever it takes to protect your privacy.
Before you do any ordering, you should be aware of what information the
merchant is asking of you, how it will be used and if they have any intention
of sharing it with others. The best way to do all of that is to check out the
company's Web site. If they're a legit site, they should have a Privacy Policy
posted there. You should take the time to read through that and make sure
you're comfortable with everything they say. It's a good idea to look for seals
from privacy enforcement organizations, such as TRUSTe
and BBBOnLine, as well. If you're asked to enter in
such things as your social security number or bank account information, do not
do it! Those things are red flags and they are not needed to make an online
purchase. If you pay close attention to what you're doing, you will be just
fine.
3.)
Know All the Details - When you're shopping online, you should always check out
the complete details of your purchase. For example, make sure you know all
about delivery dates, shipping and handling costs, warranties, return policies,
etc. It's also a good idea to get a company's contact information before you
finalize your order. They should have a telephone number or e-mail address on
their Web site that you can keep on hand in case you have any questions or
problems once you receive your items.
4.)
Use a Credit Card - I know that may not sound like the safest thing to do, but
it really is a good way to keep yourself safe. If you
do business with a liable credit card company, they will protect you if
anything happens while you're making online purchases. Most credit card
companies provide liability agreements, so if your card information is stolen,
they will be able to put a hold on your card and issue you a brand new number.
That way, whoever has your number is stopped from being able to use it. So, if
you suspect any suspicious activity after you make an online purchase, call
your credit card company right away and they'll be able to handle everything
for you. Also, when credit card companies see unusual activity on your card,
they will inform you about it.
When
you're using your credit card online, make sure you look for the yellow padlock
at the bottom of your Web browser or for the "https" in the URL.
Those are two signs that a site is secure and that your credit card information
will transmit safely. You should also always use strong passwords when you're
logging in to certain Web sites and make sure you don't share them with anyone.
5.)
Keep It On Record - The last thing you should always do is keep good records of
your purchases. Make sure you either print out the receipt for your
transactions or save it somewhere on your computer. Most companies send
confirmation e-mails, so it's a good idea to save that and print it out as
well. In doing that, you will be able to keep better track of your total price,
shipping and handling fees and shipping dates.
There
you have it! Now, I know I mostly talked about online companies in this
article, but these five tips go for every store you shop with online. It goes
for all the "big box" stores, the department stores, grocery stores
and so on. No matter where you're doing your shopping, you need to be aware of
your surroundings and make sure your number one priority is keeping yourself
safe. Online shopping is even better when you're smart about it.
**********************************
Question: Change Your Home
Page
Question: I got a new computer. On my old computer, when I opened
Internet Explorer, it went right to Yahoo, now it goes to Dell. Can I change it
to open to Yahoo?
Answer:
The
website that Internet Explorer opens to is called your home page.
To
change your home page to the website you want, go to that website. Click Tools
on the menu and then Internet Options. In the Internet Options window that you
now see, make sure the General tab is selected. In the Home Page section, click
the Use Current button. Click OK and you are done.
The
page you are looking at will be your new home page. If you want to change it in
the future, just follow the steps above.
**********************************
Websites of Interest:
Chanukkah
The
festival of lights begins this week.
Learn more about this holiday, the story, the traditions and much more,
at our website.
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/hanukkah.html
Pearl
Harbor Day
December
7 is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
At the National Geographic website, you can read survivors stories and
learn more about the ships and planes.
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/
Holiday
Shopping: 100 Home-Made Gift Ideas
From
about.com, visit this website for some creative gift suggestions.
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/giftstomake/tp/HomeMadeGiftIdeas.htm?r=9F
Microsoft
Fix it Solution Center
Solve
problems that occur in the Windows operating system.
http://support.microsoft.com/fixit
Online
Guide to Birds
An indispensible resource for birders and people who like
birds.
http://enature.com/fieldguides/intermediate.asp?curGroupID=1