Category: Warning

PAX Cyber Coins

Digital currencies  (or cryto currencies)  are big business with BitCoin leading the way and a lot of people have made big money from BitCoin. There are some who lost a lot of course as the price can be highly volatile.

There is a new sort of cyber currency called PAX coins. It’s really a means of betting on other cyber currencies and companies on the PayperEx market but scam emails are circulating about PAX that give a deliberately simplified and misleading view on PAX.

Refer to https://fightbackonline.org/index.php/guidance/12-explanations/92-payperex-exchange-and-pax-cyber-coins for further information on PayperEx and PAX coins.

The scam emails claim ”Finally PAX is here! A True and very special digital coin”

“If you bought 100 dollars where the Bitcoin on that day seven years ago it will be worth 73 million dollars”

And so it goes on linking the past of Bitcoin with the future of PAX, but of course there is no connection or correlation.

PAX coins cannot be bought as such, only traded on PayperEx and the value depends on the value of the items that the PAX coins represent.

Trading on PayperEx is very new and it may be legitimate, but the risks are huge and these emails are just scammers looking for easy money.

Do you have an opinion on this matter? Please comment in the box below.

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Easy To Guess Passwords and PIN Numbers

Most people have realised that they need to have passwords and pin numbers that can’t be easily guessed – don’t use your birthday or year of birth or the dog’s name or a common word etc.

But latest reports show there are still many people with passwords or pin numbers that are very easy to guess.

28% of people in a recent survey had a password that is in the top 20 most common ones and hence could be guessed very easily.

If they can be easily guessed they you could be hacked and lose money and more.

If your pin number is on the list below then change it urgently.

  • 1234
  • 1111
  • 0000
  • 1212
  • 7777
  • 1004
  • 2000
  • 4444
  • 2222
  • 6969

If you password is ”password” or “123456” or “12345678” then change it urgently.

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

The Missed Parcel Delivery Scam

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, huge numbers of parcels are delivered by Royal Mail and if you’re not at home when the postman calls then she leaves a card telling you where and when  you can pick up the item and a phone number for more information.

But scammers have been creating fake ‘missed delivery” cards that look very similar to the original Royal Mail version which is called the ‘Something For You’ card.

The scammer posts the fake card through your door and hopes that you phone the number on the card.

If you do, it’s a very expensive call to a long recorded message and you will may only notice when your phone bill arrives just how expensive it was.

There are other variants on this scam, including one where the delivery is claimed to be highly valuable and you must phone urgently or one where you have to phone and pay a charge for re-delivery. Of course there is no such item.

Take care before calling the number on any mail delivery cards put through your letter box.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

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Doorstep Safety

There are many genuine trades people and sellers who knock at your door offering legitimate services and products. But, there are also many scammers who want to talk you into bad deals or just steal your money.

For many older and vulnerable people, doorstep sellers can be frightening or too convincing.

If you don’t feel safe answering the door to someone you don’t know then don’t. Someone calling unexpectedly has no right to your time or courtesy. It’s your choice to answer or ignore.

The following precautions may help:-

  1. Keep your doors locked even when at home
  2. Have a chain on your front door so you can safely open it just a few inches
  3. Have a spy hole (or electronic eye) fitted in the door so you can who’s knocking
  4. Get a Trading Standards sticker ‘NO COLD CALLERS’

Trading Standards say you should never sign anything on the spot, never agree to allow any work to start right away and remember that you normally have a 14 day cooling-off period during which you can cancel any work and receive a refund of money paid.

They also say that you should never agree to have work done by someone just passing by. If some work is needed, get at least two quotations from reputable traders. Your local Trading Standards Service may operate an ‘approved trader scheme’ or use check-a-trade or similar review website.

Bogus callers may turn up on your doorstep and say that they have come to investigate a water leak or they are lost and need a drink of water. Sometimes they may say they have a child who has lost a ball in your back garden. They are probably trying to trick you to let them into your home so they can steal cash and valuable items. Don’t let them in.

It isn’t rude to ask someone to leave – it is your right.

Do Neighbourhood Watches Help to Reduce Door-to-Door Scammers?

The anecdotal evidence is that they do reduce this type of crime. This is largely because people are more aware of possible crimes and do keep an eye out for unexpected visitors to their doors. Also, door-to-door crooks tend to avoid areas where there are any signs of organisation against crime.

Stay Safe.

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KB Says Don’t Be Fooled – Trust Your Gut

A post by K.B. Beaumaaks

I am 52 and considered to be of the baby boomer generation. We were raised in a world without the internet, taught to respect our elders and certain professions were considered very trustworthy. Examples are doctors, teachers, police officers etc…. we  were raised that these are people we could trust no matter what and for the most part this was absolutely true.

I had not one but two similar situations happen to me and I am an educated professional with an upper level income. My scams occurred not with an outsider but a partner…. yep first with my ex husband who was a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine then to a boyfriend who was a Police Officer. Two professions that were “trustworthy professions” I was blinded by the scammers that they were. My point is to trust your gut no matter who the person is. If it feels wrong…. chances are it is wrong.

See below for KB’s posts about her first and second husbands

https://fightback.ninja/test/kb-married-to-a-scammer/

https://fightback.ninja/test/kb-and-the-police-officer-scammer/

Generally, the geriatric or elderly community were the ones that were scammed by door to door salespersons or telephone scammers. Today people believe the less educated, the lower income, elderly community are the ones prone to scammers. This is absolutely not true according to The Better Business Bureau.

People today believe what they read on the internet, they impulse shop, they receive emails and phone calls about tax issues or debt collectors and we fall for it believing oh if its on the internet, it must be true.

I have written a book called The Preah Secrets and it deals with my veterinary husband and how I discovered his heist and how I followed my gut to eventually discover his intentions of deceit. I prepared and eventually sought justice for myself. I hope the book inspires others to follow their instincts and remember, scams can happen to anyone by anyone.

Go to http://kbbeaumaaks.com/index.php for further insight and to buy the book.

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

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PDFs Are Not as Safe As You Think

We are all used to having to be careful opening certain emails, zipped files,  WORD, EXCEL and other types of files in case they contain some kind of malware – virus, ransomware, Trojan etc.

But most people feel safe opening PDF documents.

However, scammers are using PDFs more and more as attachments in email or malicious downloads on websites.

PDFs can contain javascript programming which can have malicious intent and they can contain links which of course could go to any website.

Microsoft Malware Protection Center released a list of PDF filenames that are commonly used in malicious emails and websites. Scammers keep making new names of course.

  • pdf_new.pdf
  • auhtjseubpazbo5.pdf
  • avjudtcobzimxnj2.pdf
  • pricelist.pdf
  • couple_saying_lucky.pdf
  • 5661f.pdf 7927
  • 9fbe0.pdf 7065
  • pdf_old.pdf

Q. How can you protect yourself against malicious content?

Most of the PDF exploits use Javascript so if you disable that then a large part of the problem is blocked.

However, common sense goes a long way in protecting you.

  1. Do not open an email or download anything that is sent to you by someone you don’t know
  2. Make sure your email settings are on high protection and your anti-virus and anti-malware programmes are working
  3. If there’s a file on email you really want to open but aren’t sure then save it and then scan it (usually you right mouse click and select scan – depending on which anti-malware solutions you use)

Of course, you should run regular scans of your computer to ensure no malware has been installed.

How to Turn Off Javascript in PDFs

If you use a programme other than ADOBE for opening PDFs then you’ll need to check how to disable Javascript. If you use ADOBE then see below:-

  1. Start Acrobat or ADOBE
  2. Select EDIT then PREFERENCES
  3. Select the Javascript category
  4. Uncheck the Enable Acrobat Javascript option
  5. Save and exit

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