Inflammation Belly Scam

The email title is ‘Flatten Your Inflammation Belly’ which is interesting as there is a lot of recent research suggesting that inflammation plays an important part in how quickly we age.  Also that diet and exercise can lead to increases in inflammation which can be damaging.

This interest is why the scammer picked the subject.

However, the email is just a typical scam.

It says “80% of men and women over 40 suffer from this problem”.

“Do this one simple trick to flatten your inflammation belly”.

There’s lots of pointless detail and it ends up with

“Do this one trick to wake-up 1 pound lighter tomorrow”

So, where does the one pound go – does it de-materialise or does a chunk of flesh simply fall off.

There’s an unpleasant thought.

No thanks

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Stupidest Scam or Spam of the Week Heart Tar

Scammers have pounced on another ancient medicine and claim magical effects for it from curing almost any disease to removing all plaque from your arteries instantly.

The ancient Indian Ayurvedic holistic system of medicine uses many ingredients as supplements and medicines that are little known to Western medicine.

One such ingredient is Shilajit which is a black substance found  in some rocky areas in the Himalayas and is thought to be largely decomposed plant remains.

It does contain a lot of chemicals and has been used for centuries in Ayurveda but there have been very few scientific studies of its effects so it’s largely a case of some people claiming various properties for the substance and as yet there isn’t the evidence to prove or disprove them.

The scammers claim that within days “your heart will be pumping like it did when you were 20 years old!”

There is no evidence for this and it is clearly impossible – just a claim from a scammer.

The scammers also claim there are no side effects whereas the limited studies carried out have identified many side effects known to have happened to takers of the substance, including  hormone imbalance.

It is likely the substance has some beneficial effects on health when correctly prescribed, but as with all such medicine there will be problems and it is not a magic pill.

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ISO27001 Information Security Standard

ISO 27001, also known as IEC 27001 is an information security standard and is published by the International Organization for Standardization  and the International Electrotechnical Commission.

Most organizations have some information security controls, but these may not be sufficiently comprehensive in their coverage. An information security management system (ISMS) can remedy this situation.

It specifies a management system and gives specific requirements. Organizations that meet the requirements may be certified by an accredited certification body following successful completion of an audit.

ISO 27001 requires that management:

  • Systematically examine the organization’s information security risks, taking account of the threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts
  • Design and implement a coherent and comprehensive suite of information security controls and/or other forms of risk treatment (such as risk avoidance or risk transfer) to address those risks that are deemed unacceptable
  • Adopt an overarching management process to ensure that the information security controls continue to meet the organization’s information security needs on an ongoing basis

The ISO 27001 certification, like other ISO management system certifications, usually involves a three-stage external audit process.

Stage 1 is a preliminary, informal review of the ISMS, for example checking the existence and completeness of key documentation such as the organization’s information security policy, Statement of Applicability and Risk Treatment Plan. This stage serves to familiarize the auditors with the organization and vice versa.

Stage 2 is a more detailed and formal compliance audit, independently testing the ISMS against the requirements specified in ISO/ 27001. The auditors will seek evidence to confirm that the management system has been properly designed and implemented, and is in fact in operation (for example by confirming that a security committee or similar management body meets regularly to oversee the ISMS). Certification audits are usually conducted by ISO 27001 Lead Auditors. Passing this stage results in the ISMS being certified compliant with ISO/ 27001.

Stage 3 is Ongoing and involves follow-up reviews or audits to confirm that the organization remains in compliance with the standard. Certification maintenance requires periodic re-assessment audits to confirm that the ISMS continues to operate as specified and intended. These should happen at least annually but (by agreement with management) are often conducted more frequently, particularly while the ISMS is still maturing.

For detailed information on ISO 27001 refer to https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/iso27001

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The BT Support Internet Scam

This is a latest version of the support call scam.

The Fightback Ninja received a call from ‘Agnes’ at BT support.

She told me they have found that my Internet connection is not working properly and that my IP address shows up as being in California. So they suspect someone has illegally gained access to my Internet connection and that is bad.

Once they have checked they will be able to help me to block this problem.

I just agreed with her as she listed each step, knowing this to be a stupid scam but interested in the process the scammers go through to steal from people.

There were a lot of people talking in her background and I complained that I could hardly hear over the noise. She told me I could hear perfectly well. ‘Agnes’ is a bossy scammer.

Agnes then asked me to check my IP address and said she could explain how to do that.

I checked online and my IP address of course shows my real location, not California as ‘Agnes’ claimed.

Agnes was now getting angry when I told her I could see on screen that the IP address was showing its location correctly. And she accused me of telling stories.

I told her I wasn’t a lying cheating scammer like her.

Then she put the phone down as it was obvious I wasn’t going to be scammed.

These horrible people will take money from anyone – do not believe cold callers unless you can prove who they are and what they say.  Anyone cold calling your home about your Internet connection is almost certainly a scammer.

Note: If you want to know the IP address for your device  there are various ways to check depending on what  device you’re using but a simple website such as https://www.iplocation.net/ will tell you your current IP address and also give you the apparent location of that IP address.

The apparent location will likely show the nearest town but sometimes may show the location of your Internet Service Provider instead so don’t be concerned if that’s the case.

The apparent IP location is generally unimportant – it’s mostly just for the curious.

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

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