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Latest Facebook Scams for week ending 1/27/12

facebook  As always, Tech Geek and More would like to thank our friends over at (LINK) Facecrooks.com (http://facecrooks NULL.com/) for the following information. Here are the latest scams seen over the past week on Facebook.

 

(LINK) THIS WEEK ONLY! $100 Applebee’s Gift Card Giveaway! – Facebook Scam (http://facecrooks NULL.com/Scam-Watch/this-week-only-100-applebees-gift-card-giveaway-facebook-scam NULL.html)

Clicking the link on the Facebook wall post takes you to the following page designed to look like Facebook:

The scammers are hoping that users will think this is a Facebook promotion. If you look closely, you will see that you are on an external website designed to look like Facebook. This is a favorite trick of the scammers. If you ‘Click Here To Begin!’ the following screen loads:

The end game here is a rogue browser plugin. As with Facebook applications, only install plugins / browser extensions from trusted sources. Based on what we have seen so far, this one doesn’t fit the bill. Installing the plugin leaves your system totally vulnerable to the developer. Similar scams have been known to pack malware and viruses. Installing the plugin is definitely not worth the risk to your system. We decided to stop here and advise you to do the same.

Continue reading

Some of the Latest Facebook Scams (As of 1/23/12)

facebook     In a continuing effort of keeping everyone informed, here are some of the more interesting Scams happening on Facebook.  The information comes courtesy of the Tech Geek and More friends over at (LINK) Facecrooks.com (http://facecrooks NULL.com/).

(LINK) Hackers Impersonate Security Team on Facebook (http://facecrooks NULL.com/Scam-Watch/hackers-impersonate-security-team-on-facebook NULL.html) – Facebook Scam

In a rather ironic twist of events, hackers are impersonating the Facebook Security Team on the social network. Their modus operandi is simple, ingenious, and one we have warned about several times in the past.

The message reads:

“Last Warning: Your Facebook account will be turned off because someone has reported you. Please do re-confirm your account security by: (link)”

Continue reading

1/18/12 – The web protests against SOPA and PIPA

Protests All Across the web

     Today a large number of web sites (Big and Small) all across the internet are protesting the SOPA and PIPA bills that are current in the congress of the United States. The protests range from sites like (LINK) Google (https://www NULL.google NULL.com/) who have put a black bar across their name

image

To sites like (LINK) Wikipedia (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Main_Page), which is going “dark” for 24 hours.

image

 

Why these bills are such a concern

The following information comes from the site OpenCongress.org

PROTECT IP Act in the Senate

“Establishes a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be “dedicated to infringing activities.” The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against the alleged infringer and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. In some cases, action could be taken to block sites without first allowing the alleged infringer to defend themselves in court”. (From LINK OpenCongress.org (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s968/show))

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House

“This bill would establish a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be dedicated to copyright infringement. The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against any site they deem to have “only limited purpose or use other than infringement,” and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. It would also make unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty up to five years in prison. This bill combines two separate Senate bills — S.968 (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s968/show) and S.978 (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s978/show) — into one big House bill”. (From LINK OpenCongress.org (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-h3261/show))

Where can you get more information about these 2 bills
(LINKS)
  • 100 Law Professors oppose Protect IP Act (http://freedomforip NULL.org/2011/07/06/100-law-professors-oppose-protect-ip-act/) – From Freedom for IP (Freedomforip.org)
  • Act Now : This Bill Seriously Screws with the Internet (http://www NULL.publicknowledge NULL.org/e-parasite-stop-online-piracy-act) (SOPA) – From Public Knowledge (Publicknowledge.org)
  • H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-h3261/show) – From Open Congress (OpenCongress.org)
  • S.968 – PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s968/show) – From Open Congress (OpenCongress.org)
  • Stop the Internet Blacklist Legislation (https://wfc2 NULL.wiredforchange NULL.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173) – From the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF.org)
  • What is Protect IP and SOPA (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VxPQ320jBLc) (Video) – From Lockergnome (On YouTube)
  • End Piracy, Not Liberty (https://www NULL.google NULL.com/landing/takeaction/) – From Google

 

Getting in touch with your Representatives in Congress

If you visit a site like (LINK) Project VoteSmart (http://votesmart NULL.org/) and enter your address on the top right,

image

you can get a list of information from the President to your local ballot measures.

image

If you click on the + next to Congressional (or whichever area interests you), you will get information like Office, First Election, Next Election, and Most Importantly Contact Information.

image

If you disagree with these bills and want to protect your freedom of speech, please contact your local Representatives in Congress and let them know that they need to vote against these bills if they want your vote in the next election.

Some of the Latest Facebook Scams (As of 1/13/12)

facebook In a continuing effort of keeping everyone informed, here are some of the more interesting Scams happening on Facebook. The information comes courtesy of the Tech Geek and More friends over at (LINK) Facecrooks.com (http://facecrooks NULL.com/).

(LINK) GUY TOUCHES 1000 BOOBS!!! – Facebook Scam (http://facecrooks NULL.com/Scam-Watch/guy-touches-1000-boobs-facebook-scam NULL.html)

With the headline of “Yo! hahaha can happen to anyone! GUY TOUCHES 1000 BOOBS!!! This scam is part of a growing trend of scammers using Flickr to peddle their malicious links. This is probably done to bypass Facebook’s filters.

Continue reading

Another Facebook Scam – $100 Texas Roadhouse Gift Card

facebook

     Scams seem to be a daily event on Facebook.  Just ran into another scam on Facebook today, this one posted (like usual) on the wall of someone in my friends list.  The person in question didn’t even realize the post was there.  The post which showed a message of “I love chipotle” was for a $100 Texas Roadhouse Card.

image

When trying to figure out if something is a scam, always look for the small mistakes. Scammers don’t usually go to any of the places they talk about or they would know better, in this case Chipotle and Texas Roadhouse are not the same place, they don’t even serve the same type of food. Continue reading

Beware of ‘Remove Facebook Timeline’ Scams (Via Facecrooks.com)

facebook The following scam alert post is courtesy of our friends at (LINK)Facecrooks.com (http://facecrooks NULL.com/Scam-Watch/beware-of-remove-facebook-timeline-scams NULL.html). For the latest information concerning Facebook scams, Tech Geek and More recommends visiting (LINK) Facecrooks (http://facecrooks NULL.com). (Thanks to Facecrooks for allowing the repost) Originally posted – January 4, 2012


When new Facebook features are added, scammers use the chaos, confusion and disdain to take advantage of unsuspecting users. The most recent instance involved the Facebook Ticker. There are ways to remove the Ticker by using browser extensions; however, there is no such fix for the Facebook Timeline.

Inside Facebook (http://networkedblogs NULL.com/sjNEW)reported the following just yesterday:

“Despite Facebook’s efforts to educate users about the new profile, some people have misconceptions that make them susceptible to scams like these. We have found 16 Timeline-related scam pages, which have collectively gained more than 71,000 likes. The largest, with nearly 19,000 likes, has been around for at least two weeks. These pages are among the top search results when searching Facebook for “timeline.”

There are several Facebook Pages, rogue applications and rogue browser extensions claiming to show you how to remove the Timeline from your profile. Just doing a quick search via the Facebook Search bar revealed the following:

(http://facecrooks NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/remove-timeline NULL.jpg)

Continue reading

Scam: Woo Hoo–I’ve just been offered a MILLION DOLLAR ATM Card (No seriously it must be true, I just got an email telling me so)

no_scam-150x150     File this under the category of “REALLY!” . The following email which was received by Tech Geek and More friends over at (LINK) zombiepancake.com (http://www NULL.zombiepancake NULL.com/) claims to be from a “Funds Clearing” and looks fairly official (At least these guys had spell checker). The email below is exactly as sent except for 2 changes, specifically to omit links, as I’m not trying to help them in their ways.  Here is the MILLION DOLLAR ATM email –

********************************************************************************************

From: Funds Clearing [mailto:fundsdp@(Omitted).org]

Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2011 12:43 PM

Subject: Your ATM MASTER CARD

Season Greetings,

We are very sorry for the delay. Your ATM MASTER CARD, Valued US$1.216Million has been activated and is ready for delivery, delivery fee of $125 is needed urgently for delivery of the MASTER CARD to your home address . Note that $5000-$10,000 is permitted daily only for each cash withdraw from any ATM MACHINE within your state.

Therefore do not delay to respond immediately and quickly send us your Receiving Address, Full Names and Telephone number. Get back to us for your Payment so that we can registration the CARD for delivery to your destination including the Parcel Tracking Number which will be provided to you after the registrations is done for easy tracking of your parcel on the arrival

God Bless

Mr. Tony Roland

ATM DEPARTMENT

SKY BANK PLC

Email: mytonyroland@yahoo(Remain removed to not give them that much credit)

********************************************************************************************

     Of course, the majority of people have enough common sense to know this is actually a scam.  Unfortunately these scams continue to happen simply because there is always someone out there who thinks “It came in an email, it must be true”.  If someone didn’t fall for it, the scammers would stop doing it, and move to something else. 

     The moral (and common sense tip) of this mornings post is simple, “If it sounds to good to be true, then its probably a scam”. This goes for Emails, Tweets, Facebook, or anything else in life. 

     Oh and lastly to Mr. Tony, from the Sky Bank, using a yahoo email address – REALLY!.  Come on, if you go through all this trouble to create a scam, couldn’t you do something better than yahoo!

Alert: Beware of Facebook Freebies! (Post via Facecrooks.com)

The following post comes from (LINK) Facecrooks.com (http://facecrooks NULL.com/Scam-Watch/beware-of-facebook-freebies NULL.html). They are a great resource for Facebook information. (Thanks to Facecrooks for allowing the repost)

**********************************************************************************

no_scam-150x150   Very few words can capture one’s attention more than the word ‘FREE.’ You would think that the constant use and overuse by marketers worldwide would eventually desensitize us to its power, but such is not the case. Just seeing the word on a page, in an online advertisement, or hearing it on the television or the radio is enough for the average person to stop and take notice.

Facebook scammers and spammers have enjoyed great success with the lure of false promises. At any given moment, you don’t have to look very hard to find the following “Free” offers or scams on Facebook:

  1. Free iPads, iPhones, Personal Computers or Tablets
  2. Free Gift Cards & Vouchers
  3. Free Airline Ticket Offers
  4. Free Facebook Credits
  5. Free Facebook Events
  6. Free Virtual & Game Items

99% of the time, the end game encountered by unsuspecting users is either a survey scam or a marketing gimmick where you have to complete several ‘special’, ‘reward’ or ‘bonus’ offers to qualify for the promotion. These offers often cost real money, and we have yet to hear of a case where the participant actually received anything after jumping through all of the hoops. (if you know of someone that has, please have them send us an email with the details – info@facecrooks.com (info null@null facecrooks NULL.com))

What’s in it for the scammers?

So why do the scam creators go through all of the trouble? If there is a word more powerful than ‘FREE,” it could be ‘MONEY.’ The more benign scams are run by marketing companies that get paid a commission for each survey completed or offer accepted. Users often submit their name, date of birth, home address, email address and phone number while signing up for the ‘special’ offers. As you can imagine, this is a treasure trove of data for unscrupulous marketers and identity thieves.

Another danger with survey scams is the potential for malware infections. Users are often tricked into downloading what they think are games, browser plug-ins or other files. If their system isn’t protected, then they could unknowingly install a virus, keylogger, or all sorts of other malware.

How can you protect yourself from these scams?

  1. The first step is to be aware that scams like this are prevalent on Facebook. If you have the mindset that most of the ‘free’ offers you encounter are bogus, then you’ll be a step ahead of the game.
  1. Think before you Click! If the offer sounds too good to be true, then don’t click that link! There is no way a company can afford to give every Facebook user a $25.00, $50.00 or $100.00 gift card. A little common sense here tells you that something is way off base.
  1. If the offer being presented sounds like it could be legitimate, then contact the company to verify the promotion. Visit their website or contact them on the telephone. This will only take a few moments and could save you a lot of trouble down the road.

As the old saying goes, “if it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is.” No where are these words of wisdom more applicable than on Facebook!

Android: Amazon App Store Free App–ATARI GREATEST HITS PRO

Amazon The Free App of the Day, Christmas Day offering from the Amazon App Store is ATARI Greatest Hits Pro. image

  The regularly free version of ATARI GREATEST HITS only comes with 1 game (Missile Command). The pro version of the app includes the following games

  • Missile Command
  • Missile Command 2600
  • Pong
  • Centipede
  • Centipede 2600
  • Millipede
  • Millipede 2600
  • Basic Math
  • Flag Capture

“You can also purchase additional Atari games quickly and easily from within this app. Choose from 25 separate packs, each of which contains three to four individual Atari games. (For example, the Adventure 4-pack contains the well-loved game Adventure, as well as Haunted House, Return to Haunted House, and Save Mary.) “

     I loaded the app on my Acer Iconia Tab 500 (16gig), and it ran just fine.  The Controls for each game are easy and responsive. The look for each game is that of the original Arcade version.  If you are an ATARI fan this is a must have. 

     You will see on the Amazon page some negative comments about the app, from what I can make out, most of the negative comments are people who did not read the part that says it comes with only 9 games and you have to buy others. Even then, the remaining game packs for the app cost $0.99 each, for games like (Listed in their packs)

  • Major Havoc – Secret Quest – Sentinel – Yars’ Revenge
  • Lunar Lander – Codebreaker – Sky Diver – Video Pinball
  • Liberator – Human Cannonball – Star Raiders – Star Ship
  • Gravitar – Demons to Diamonds – Radar Lock
  • Crystal Castle – Maze Craze – Surround
  • Black Widow – Space Duel – Desert Falcon – Space War
  • Battlezone – Red Barron – Air Sea Battle – Submarine Commander
  • Asteroids – Asteroids Deluxe – Canyon Bomber
  • Combat – Combat Two – Warlords
  • Tempest – Outlaw – Atari Video Cube
  • Super Breakout – Breakout – Circus Atari – Off the wall

News: Let your Voices be heard. Make sure you tell Congress that the Protect IP Act and SOPA ARE A BAD IDEA! (Updated 11/23/11)

image (https://wfc2 NULL.wiredforchange NULL.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173)  (Banner from EFF.org (https://www NULL.eff NULL.org/))

Tech Geek and More does not usually take a political stance as that is NOT the goal of this site. With that being said, there currently is a pair of bills in Congress that are SO SCARY that TGM feels that it has to get politically involved in this case.

 

***Update 11/23 -

Sen. Wyden of Oregon

Senator Wyden (D – Oregon) who is a steadfast opponent of the Protect IP bill. He has agreed to try and block any vote on the bill by filibustering it if it comes up for a vote.

 

“Sometimes filibusters last hours – or days – leaving Senators reading out of the dictionary or cookbooks to pass the time.”

‘Sen. Wyden agreed to read censorship opponents’ names from the floor of the Senate, and to try to enter the rest into the Congressional Record.”

 

You can visit (LINK) Stopcensorship.org (http://stopcensorship NULL.org/?referring_akid= NULL.1521576 NULL.GByv-v&source=typ-tw) to add your name to the list.


**Nov 21st Post -

 

PROTECT IP Act in the Senate

“Establishes a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be “dedicated to infringing activities.” The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against the alleged infringer and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. In some cases, action could be taken to block sites without first allowing the alleged infringer to defend themselves in court”.  (From LINK OpenCongress.org (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s968/show))

 

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House

“This bill would establish a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be dedicated to copyright infringement. The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against any site they deem to have “only limited purpose or use other than infringement,” and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. It would also make unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty up to five years in prison. This bill combines two separate Senate bills — S.968 (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s968/show) and S.978 (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s978/show) — into one big House bill”. (From LINK OpenCongress.org (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-h3261/show))

 

What’s So Scary about the bills

  1. DoJ or the copyright owner would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site
    • domain name services (DNS) record numbers. Tech Geek and More is known as 69.89.25.196 to the DNS services.  Tech Geek and More is hosted on a shared service, which means that it is not the only website on that numeric sequence.  As of this writing, there are more than 900 sites (of which there are only 2 other sites of the 900 that TGM has any involvement with)  that are all hosted on that same numerical address.  These bills do not say that they will contact the host about a site, they say that the DOJ will be “allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site”, which means without warning one day my site could go away simply as collateral damage without any notice.  Even if my site had nothing to do with the offending site.  Its not like that hasn’t happened before, (LINK) from Gizmodo (http://gizmodo NULL.com/5762161/feds-accidentally-shut-down-84000-websites-over-wrongful-kiddie-porn-accusation), a “crackdown by the Department of Homeland Security takes down 84,000 innocent websites”.
  2. Another part of the bills, “In some cases, action could be taken to block sites without first allowing the alleged infringer to defend themselves in court”.
    • Since when has it been ok to charged and NOT be allowed to defend ourselves.  What happened to “Innocent until proven guilty”.
  3. Lastly, these bills state that “The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against the alleged infringer”.
    • The bills would grant private entities like the MPAA and the RIAA the right to blacklist a site.

 

What is Protect IP and SOPA Interview from Lockergnome (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?v=VxPQ320jBLc&feature=youtu NULL.be&a)

The following video comes from Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome explaining how Protect IP and SOPA can affect everyone.

 

Brian Rowe and Marcus Barnes-Cannon w/Chris Pirillo discussing IP issues.

 

Where can you get more information about these 2 bills (LINKS)

  • 100 Law Professors oppose Protect IP Act (http://freedomforip NULL.org/2011/07/06/100-law-professors-oppose-protect-ip-act/) – From Freedom for IP (Freedomforip.org)
  • Act Now : This Bill Seriously Screws with the Internet (http://www NULL.publicknowledge NULL.org/e-parasite-stop-online-piracy-act) (SOPA) – From Public Knowledge (Publicknowledge.org)
  • H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-h3261/show) – From Open Congress (OpenCongress.org)
  • S.968 – PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s968/show) – From Open Congress (OpenCongress.org)
  • Stop the Internet Blacklist Legislation (https://wfc2 NULL.wiredforchange NULL.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173) – From the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF.org)
  • What is Protect IP and SOPA (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VxPQ320jBLc) (Video) – From Lockergnome (On YouTube)

 

Getting in touch with your Representatives in Congress

If you visit a site like (LINK) Project VoteSmart (http://votesmart NULL.org/) and enter your address on the top right,

image

you can get a list of information from the President to your local ballot measures.

image

 

If you click on the + next to Congressional (or whichever area interests you), you will get information like Office, First Election, Next Election, and Most Importantly Contact Information.

image

 

If you disagree with these bills and want to protect your freedom of speech, please contact your local Representatives in Congress and let them know that they need to vote against these bills if they want your vote in the next election.

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