Author: comptroller

Action Fraud Scam Calls

The scam typically goes like this:-

  1. The victim receives a cold-call from a fraudster claiming to work for Action Fraud.
  2. When the call is answered, an automated system asks the responder to “press 1 if they have made a report to Action Fraud.”
  3. When the responder presses 1, they are transferred to a fraudster.
  4. The victim is informed that their computer has been hacked and their bank account has been accessed without permission and money taken.
  5. The scammer may ask some simple questions to build trust e.g. are the lights on your router flashing? Do you have credit cards? Do you have more computers in the house?
  6. The scammer may ask the victim to run some programmes on their PC and use the results on screen to ‘prove’ that the computer has been compromised.
  7. The scammer asks for access to the computer and ask the victim to install remote control software to make it possible for the scammer to take control.
  8. Once they can control the computer the scammer can search for financial and personal information an if possible access the victim’s bank account.
  9. Victims discover later on that money has been stolen from their account or maybe days later that someone is spending on their credit card etc.

What Can You Do?

Even if the caller is knows details such as your name or address, don’t give out any personal or financial information during a cold call.

Don’t give a caller remote access to your computer, don’t go to a website they give you and don’t install software they recommend or supply.

Action Fraud does not use an automated machine to speak to victims of fraud, so if you receive a suspicious call, hang up immediately.

If you think your bank or payment card details have been compromised, or if you believe you have been defrauded, contact your bank immediately.

Do enter your email address and click on the subscribe button on top right to keep up to date with new posts.

Fightback Ninja Signature

UK Cyber Force

The UK government announced the creation of a £250m cyber-force unit that will combat terrorist groups and domestic gangs.

The government is planning it to be an offensive cyber warfare unit in a bid to meet the online threat posed by Russia, North Korea, Iran and other countries active in cyber-attacks.

Experts will be recruited from the military, security services and industry for the project which will be set up by the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ.

In July 2019, a parliamentary committee warned that ministers are failing to get to grip with the shortage in cyber security experts despite the “potentially severe implications” for national security.

MPs and peers said the situation is of “serious concern”, but the Government response lacks “urgency”.

They warned that the WannaCry attack in May 2017, which hit the NHS, showed the need to protect critical national infrastructure  from cyber threats.

In July, a Government spokeswoman said: “We have a £1.9 billion National Cyber Security Strategy, opened the world-leading National Cyber Security Centre and continue to build on our cyber security knowledge, skills and capability.”

For obvious reasons, the UK’s cyber-attack capabilities are a secret, but are widely regarded to be very active.

Do leave a comment on this post – click on the post title then scroll down to leave your comment.

Fightback Ninja Signature

Facebook Caught Over Onavo APP

Facebook created an APP called Onavo which is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and it’s free and a lot of Facebook users have downloaded the APPLE and Android versions.

A VPN is way to keep your identification and IP address confidential and it encrypts all data passed between your browser and any websites you visit while using the VPN.

People use VPNs to protect their privacy so what do Facebook do? They thought it was a good idea to collect all of the data passed through the VPN software and use it for their own purposes.

They were caught out because this breaks the rules that APPLE impose on all APPS registered on iTunes so APPLE told Facebook to remove the Onavo APP from their APP store.

The word ‘private’ in Virtual Private Network should have told Facebook that its users want privacy – and that definitely includes privacy from Facebook which should not have been recording the users actions and using that data.

Mark Zuckerberg claims in court and on TV that he’s so sorry that Facebook has made mistakes and will learn from these problems. But they appear to simply carry on with the same disregard for people’s privacy.

Apple’s strong commitment to protecting user data and privacy led them to update the privacy guidelines with a ban on apps that “collect information about which other apps are installed on a user’s device for the purposes of analytics or advertising/marketing.”

Onavo is still on Google’s APP store – let’s hope Google wakes up to this and removes the Facebook APP.

Be warned – if you use Onavo it will spy on you.
It’s better to find a more reputable VPN.

Do Share this post on social media – click on the post title then scroll down to the social media share buttons.

Fightback Ninja Signature

Are Amazon Vine Reviews Genuine?

Amazon Vine is a service for Amazon’s “most trusted” reviewers – a sort of club for top reviewers. These reviewers are called Vine Voices and they get new and pre-release items to review and to keep. So that is a good benefit.

A Vine review on a product is identified with a green stripe. Amazon invites customers to become Vine Voices based on their reviewer rank, which is a reflection of the quality and helpfulness of their reviews as judged by other Amazon customers. Amazon provides Vine members with free products that have been submitted to the programme by participating vendors.

Amazon say that Vine reviews are the independent opinions of the Vine Voices as the vendor cannot influence, modify or edit the reviews. Amazon does not modify or edit Vine reviews, as long as they comply with the posting guidelines. Amazon Vine is an invitation-only programme. Customers who consistently write helpful reviews and develop a reputation for expertise in specific product categories are most likely to be invited into the programme.

  1. Are Vine Voices expected to write only positive reviews?

No. We welcome honest opinion about the product – positive or negative. Of course Vine reviews must conform to all our posting guidelines. Customers can vote on the helpfulness of Vine reviews just like they can for any other review.

  1. Are Vine Voices paid for writing reviews or pressured to write favourable reviews?

No. Voices are not paid to participate in the programme and write reviews

All Vine products are submitted by vendors to Amazon, and distributed by Amazon to the Vine Voices. Vendors have no contact with the Vine Voices, and have no influence over which Vine Voices will review their products.

You have to conclude that Amazon Vine reviews are genuine and as they are written by the ‘best’ reviewers, you may want to check their reviews (where available) before purchasing relevant items.

Do leave a comment on this post if you are a Vine Voice or if you have opinions on this matter – click on the post title then scroll down to leave your comment.

Fightback Ninja Signature