This week I started volunteering one afternoon a week with a local literacy group. They are teaching fundamental computer skills to adults and I’m helping out when needed. We spent our first two hours talking about the parts of a computer and learning to turn it on and off properly. A little boring to my mind, but the five people attending were all excited and can hardly wait until next week.

One thing I was more than a little surprised at was the instructors’ advice about identity theft. She’s an older lady, and told the participants that they should never use online banking or make any online purchases. Since I do both all the time, I don’t really understand her logic.

That’s like saying don’t drive a car because you could get into an accident. Yes, you could, but not taking any risks for fear of harm doesn’t allow for a very fulfilling life. Instead, you need to be careful when doing anything – from driving to banking.

So tell me, what do you think? Is there such a thing as being too careful?

Technorati Tags: identity theft, online banking, online purchases

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I had a little problem with my PayPal account recently. I had some money in my PayPal account, but I had been paid in Canadian funds. And then I bought something on eBay. I had to pay it in American funds. I’d thought that the money would just come out of my PayPal account. But since the money was in Canadian funds, they wouldn’t take it. Instead they took it from my bank which took two weeks. If I had realized that, I could have had the funds changed into American. That would’ve solved everything. Now I know for the future. Thankfully, the eBay seller was more than accommodating.

Technorati Tags: eBay, Paypal, converting funds

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I read recently about a rental scam on Kijiji. Some disgruntled tenants advertised the fixtures in the home they were renting. The renters said that the house was being demolished and people could freely take what they needed before it was torn down. No one seemed to think it sounded too good to be true, so people came and stripped everything in the house. Sure, the renters were arrested, but imagine the damage that had to be repaired.

Also in our area,  a local couple were taken for thousands when they bought a car sight unseen that was advertised on Craigslist . They were told that the car wasn’t availabe for viewing right away, but they were given all the particulars, including pictures and documents, so the couple thought it was a legitimate sale.  They were even shown an eBay listing for the car. And since it was such a fabulous buy, the couple didn’t want to miss out, so they paid first and found out later that it was a scam.

I know, crooks seem to get smarter all the time and many of us seem to forget our brains as soon as we think we can save money. Repeat after me: if it sounds too good ………

Technorati Tags: kijiji, craigslist, crooks, scams

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I’m a bit nervous to be posting again since I’ve had so much trouble with my updates being sent to my list multiple times. I’m really sorry that happened and I’ve been assured that the problem is resolved, so here goes.

I’ve posted before about getting false emails from Paypal, telling me my account had a problem and I needed to click the link and fix it. I know better than to pay attention to them, but the most recent one gave me a panic attack. It was a short email, just advising me that a new email address (and then a specific hotmail address was mentioned) had been added to my Paypal account.

Well, I’ve never logged into my Paypal account so fast. There was no extra email address listed and I breathed a sigh of relief. But instead of forgetting about it, I forwarded the false email to Paypal. Here is their response:

“Thanks for forwarding that suspicious-looking email. You’re right – it
was a phishing attempt, and we’re working on stopping the fraud. By
reporting the problem, you’ve made a difference!

Identity thieves try to trick you into revealing your password or other
personal information through phishing emails and fake websites. To learn
more about online safety, click “Security Center” on any PayPal webpage.

Every email counts. When you forward suspicious-looking emails to
spoof@paypal.com, you help keep yourself and others safe from identity
theft. Your account security is very important to us, so we appreciate your
extra effort.”

It didn’t take me more than a minute to forward that email to Paypal. Maybe as a result, some of these crooks can be caught. I invite you to do the same and send any suspicious Paypal emails you receive to the address above. Together we can make the Internet a safer place.

Technorati Tags: Paypal, phishing emails, spoof email

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

All of my family are on Facebook, so it was just a matter of time before I registered too. It’s nice to keep up with what everyone is doing and much easier to post photos once for all to see.

And that is the one thing that I also don’t like about Facebook. The fact that if someone on my friends list posts photos, it’s possible for people that I don’t even know to see them.

For example, someone where my daughter works tagged a picture of her, so it showed up in daughter’s tagged photos. When I clicked on the photo, I was taken to the group of photos it was originally with. In this case, pictures of the company party. So I was able to look at all of the photos this other person took even though I don’t know her at all.

Maybe I’m being too sensitive about it, but I don’t like the fact that private pictures are not really private at all!

Technorati Tags: Facebook, photos, privacy issues

Bookmark It

Hide Sites