scammers

PayPal has released a list of tips for avoiding scam emails. It follows officials in the UK receiving more than a thousand reports of phishing emails in just one day. The reports were about a series of fake emails claming to be from PayPal . They ... followed a familiar format of claiming the recipient's account had been limited because of a violation of the company's Acceptable Use Policy. (Source: countypress.co.uk ) The messages included a link supposedly pointing to PayPal for the user to log in and confirm their identity. In fact the link took the user to a fake page designed to trick them ... (view more)

An email with a "winky face" for a subject line has helped a malware campaign become one of the most widespread in the world. It's a scam to expand the reach of the Phorpiex botnet which distributes spam and malware from infected machines to others ... online the Internet. According to researchers at security company Check Point, Phorpiex jumped from the 13th most detected malware campaign in May to the number two slot last month. It reports that one in 50 organizations suffered at least one attempted breach from Phorpiex last month. (Source: zdnet.com ) Ransomware, Botnets and Blackmail The ... (view more)

Google has removed 25 malicious Android apps which tried to steal user Facebook logins. As always, it's worth checking devices to see if these apps are installed, because they won't automatically uninstall from phones even being ousted from the Play ... Store. This particular batch of apps didn't have a common subject, but each promised to carry out a basic function, including: a flashlight, file cleaner, or card game. Hidden deep inside each app was malicious software that ran behind the scenes. The malware came alive each time an app was opened on the phone, specifically checking to see if the ... (view more)

Google is increasing privacy on Chrome with a change to the way it connects users to websites. But businesses will be able to disable the move so they can keep tabs on staff. The change is to the way Chrome connects with Domain Name Servers (DNS), ... which act a little like a telephone directory for the Internet. A DNS takes a website address that a user types into their browser and finds the matching IP address, which identifies the specific connection to the device such as a server (or service) that physically stores the website's files. In the past, the connection between Chrome and a DNS was ... (view more)

A third-party Android app store has been hit by a big data breach. Aptoide users who registered between 21 July 2016 and 28 January 2018 may be affected. Aptoide works in a same way as Google's own Play app store, but isn't subject to its content ... regulations or security vettings. As with all third-party stores, users must confirm they accept security risks when installing apps from it. A hacker has published data from 20 million users and claims to have details of another 19 million users altogether. That's a big chunk of the 150 million people Aptoide claims have used its service at some ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Gina S. writes: " Dear Dennis, Last week, I was using my PC when suddenly a red screen appeared, stating that my 'PC ran into a problem' and to call 1-855-935-0555 to speak to Microsoft. I tried to close the window but the screen ... was locked. That's when I called the number and spoke to a person with a very thick Indian accent . I later discovered that the company name was Live Network Help ( livenetworkhelp.com ) (also known as Live IP Support / liveipsupport.com ), which was different than the phone number on the red screen virus alert. At any rate - after about 10 minutes ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Kathleen S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I really need your help! I have been scammed by fake PayPal technical support . Here's how it happened: beginning some time in March, 2019, I received invoices from PayPal claiming that I paid ... for some kind of technical support for my computer. I have no recollection of this, so up until now I've kept deleting the emails, thinking they were sent in error. Flash forward to January 8, 2020, and I received another message stating that if I don't pay the original invoice ($399), I'm going to be charged an additional ' $500 late fee ,' and ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jerald B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I was using my computer the other day, then all of a sudden the screen turned red and started flashing, telling me my computer was at risk and I must call 1-855-551-6777 to find out the problem. I ... was on the phone for about an hour and a half, and the people that I spoke to had a very thick Indian accent . They told me that my IP address was open to anyone who wanted to use it and I must encrypt my IP address for the price of $399.00, otherwise hackers would get into my machine. I reluctantly paid the fee and felt uneasy about it. That's ... (view more)

A bill to tackle unwanted "robocalls" looks likely to become law in the US. It would use a range of approaches to tackle misleading or annoying automated calls. Robocalls are automatically-dialed marketing (or scam) phone calls - the same calls made ... by Indian tech support scammers . Using computers to place the call greatly increases the number of homes a company (or scammer) can attempt to phone - and in turn the number of calls the average home is likely to receive. The House of Representatives has now passed the proposed Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and ... (view more)

A bogus "Windows Update" distributed by email is, perhaps unsurprisingly, actually ransomware. It shouldn't fool most users but makes it a good time to remind less tech-savvy PC owners of the need to take necessary precautions. The unsolicited ... emails have a subject line of either "Critical Microsoft Windows Update!" or "Install Latest Microsoft Windows Update now!" Those who open the email will then see a message that says (complete with opening typo) "PLease install the latest critical update from Microsoft attached to this email." (Source: trustwave.com ) $500 Ransom Demand It seems a safe ... (view more)