What are Cookies?

These are not the sort of cookies you buy in shops or make at home, but Internet cookies.

When you access a website, it is likely to store snippets of information on your computer – this is usually to help the website work efficiently e.g. remembering which pages you have already seen and not having to get you to login for each page. These snippets of information are called ‘cookies’.

There are “session” cookies and “persistent” cookies.

Session cookies are automatically deleted when you leave the website but persistent cookies stay until a date set when the cookie was created.

Most cookies are perfectly safe, but some can be used to track you without your consent.

What Are Cookies Used For?

Personalization. This usually refers to customized advertising i.e. presenting adverts where either you have selected which subjects for the adverts or your browsing is tracked so they can try to pick adverts you might respond to.

is the main way cookies are used to personalize your sessions. You may view certain items or parts of a site, and cookies use this data to help build targeted ads that you might enjoy.

Tracking. Shopping sites use cookies to track items users previously viewed, allowing the sites to suggest other goods they might like and keep items in shopping carts while they continue shopping.

Tracking cookies track multiple visits to the same site over time. Some online merchants, for example, use cookies to track visits from particular users, including the pages and products viewed. The information they gain allows them to suggest other items that might interest visitors. Gradually, a profile is built based on a user’s browsing history on that site.

Persistent cookies are used to track whether a user is logged in and under what name. They also streamline login information, so users don’t have to remember site passwords.

Cookie Settings

Find the cookie section — typically under Settings > Privacy.
Click the boxes to allow cookies. Sometimes the option says, “Allow local data.”
If you don’t want cookies, you can simply uncheck these boxes.

Removing cookies can help you mitigate your risks of privacy breaches. It can also reset your browser tracking and personalization.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

March 14, 2022

The Fake Backups Scam

An email arrives with the title “Personal Photo Uploaded Successfully”.

It claims to be from BackupsImage Share.

I don’t remember signing up for a backup service by BackupsImage Share – which of course I didn’t as the email is actually from tconviction @nwrgi.com and it’s a scam.

The email continues and has a professional layout.

Filename: DSC_74185.jpg – that’s a good name to choose as many cameras will download pictures with DSC as the prefix.

912K bytes

BackupsImage Share

Copyright BackupsImage Share

Many people will click the link just to see if it is one of their photos. But of course it’s just a basic scam – anything to get you to click on the link.

But do not click – it’s all fake.

Do click on the Facebook or Twitter icons on top right to follow Fight Back Ninja.

March 13, 2022

Would You Like a Steel Bite?

Dental treatment can be very expensive and some scammers offer cheap ways to fix dental problems.

This latest is titled “Steel Bite” and offers almost instant fixing of any tooth or gum problems through a magic new vitamin.

First off it says your problems (which can be anything at all to do with teeth or gums) are not caused by lack of dental hygiene or diet but by lack of a magic newly discovered vitamin that is so rare that only 2% of the population have it.

If that was true then nature would not have designed our teeth to need the stuff as 98% of people would have major dental problems and there weren’t any dentists for most of the existence of homo sapiens.

“But this crucial vitamin that you’ve been missing. Probably since birth!”

The scammer claims he managed to isolate this vitamin and put it into one very effective food… that reached more than 24,000 people worldwide and rebuilt their teeth and gums almost overnight!

No. Pure fantasy from a criminal trying to steal from you.

Do click on the Facebook or Twitter icons on top right to follow Fight Back Ninja.

March 12, 2022

Time-Wasters Update

“Hi. I saw your site and must tell you it is quite informative and I would welcome the opportunity to contribute guest articles”. At least this spammer is polite though very stupid as the radio station website does not have blog posts or articles. What he actually wants is to advertise sports gambling websites and is looking for reputable sites to put adverts on in return for a reciprocal arrangement. We don’t advertise like that so he’s wasting his time with us.

“Reverse neuropathic pain by squatting in this position for just 3 seconds”. The scammer claims more than 56,917 people have reversed their pain already by doing the exercise. Just simple lies of course – if there was any magic answer then the whole world would know about it rather than scammers trying desperately to get people to watch their pathetic video clip.

“Bedtime ritual torches belly fat”. Is the email subject and it goes on to tell a story about a woman named Liz who reduced her weight by 100 pounds using a special purple drink containing catechins which are a miracle ingredient that targets belly fat and destroys it. This is complete drivel as expected. Catechins are chemicals in certain plants including tea leaves and they have mild anti-oxidant properties but that’s all. No effect on weight and they certainly don’t target belly fat.

An email arrives supposedly from Mrs Linda Andy but her email address is actually bankunitedfinancial @gmail.com which is obviously a personal email address pretending to be something more. Then she claims to be Stephanie Smith and she has $8.5 million for me to give to charity and I keep a generous cut for myself. Pathetic lies.

An email from Frank Slapoffski who claims to work for a Chinese shipping agent and offers to transport our goods to or from China. Just a ridiculous email to check if our email address is valid or not. ‘Slapoffski’ is a good name for a scammer.

Do click on the Facebook or Twitter icons on top right to follow Fight Back Ninja.

March 11, 2022

The End of Keurboom Communications

Keurboom Communications was created by Gregory Rudd for the purpose of making cold calls – illegally.

He had no interest in respecting people’s wishes not to be cold called, he ignored the Telephone Preference Service and he ignored the law.

As a result, his company was handed the highest ever fine for nuisance calling after more than 1,000 people complained about automated calls.

The calls, made during an 18

month period, including road traffic accident claims and PPI compensation. Some people received repeat calls, even on the same day and during unsociable hours. The company also hid

its identity, making it harder for people to complain.

It is thought the company made up to 99.5 million such calls.

The law says that companies can only make automated marketing calls to people if they have given consent. Keurboom ignored this and called without consideration.

Following the ICO’s investigation, Keurboom Communications Ltd was placed in voluntary liquidation and Gregory Rudd banned for 6 years from being a company director.

How to Block Nuisance Callers

Register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) then reputable companies will no longer make sales and Marketing calls to your number.
Use your phone to block repeated unwanted callers and caller ID withheld numbers. Some phones allow you to do this and some services such as BT Call Protect enable this.
Use the magic phone number when a website demands your number. (More information at https://fightback.ninja/a-magic-phone-number-and-call-blocking/)

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

March 10, 2022

Investment Opportunities May Not Be What They Seem

You may get cold calls, spam emails, text messages or see adverts – offering a wonderful investment opportunity.

Perhaps it’s cyber currency or gold bars or a business debuting on the stock market or a new building of rented apartments or artwork or almost anything else.

There is a world of investments available – from the stock market to property to fine gems, but these always carry a risk – that’s why there is a reward possible.

Scammers typically offer an investment that is guaranteed and has very high returns and they have some reason why you have to act quickly or miss the opportunity.

Guarantees and high returns are normally impossible with anything legal.

Never trust cold callers or spam emails or unknown people through any other form of contact that you didn’t initiate and never be pushed into making a decision without all of the facts.

If you do want to consider an investment, then make sure to do your research and if possible get expert advice.

Don’t take unnecessary risks.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.