Stupidest Spam of the Week Metabolism Reset

There are many scams based on curing diabetes and magic ways to reduce your blood sugar levels while still stuffing your face with chocolate, doughnuts and every dessert imaginable.

This latest one offers a magic reset button that almost instantly resolves any issues over blood sugar and hence risk of diabetes.

Supposedly a famous Harvard doctor has discovered a weird ‘Metabolism Reset’ button.

‘Weird’ seems to be a favourite word of scammers, for such emails.

The email claims that a recent study shows that hitting this reset button restores perfect blood sugar.

Of source there is no such thing as perfect blood sugar – your blood sugar level changes constantly through the day as you eat, rest, exercise etc.

The problem with diabetes is not lack of perfect blood sugar but that the body doesn’t manage the level sustainably with the appropriate release of insulin.

There is no such study of course as the whole world would know about if it existed.

And most certainly there is no reset button.

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September 25, 2021

Time-Wasters Update

Various dodgy sellers offer an emailing service that supposedly sends your emails to the contact form addresses from websites. These messages get through company spam filters generally but of course the companies do not want spam messages sent to them this way. A recent set of emails advertising this service comes from a personal Gmail address and insist on chat contact using Whatsapp or Skype or Telegram. They offer to send 1,000,000 messages for $49 so you can why the Internet is filled with spam. There’s always repulsive people looking to make money from this kind of cheating. Never use services like these.

Emails arrive offering a new completely free online dating service. But, the emails are from an address that should be a Belgian hotel rather than a dating site, so it’s just a scam to get people to sign up to a non-existent service and inputting your personal information just hands it to the scammers to use for identity theft. Never sign up for services unless you are sure they exist and are completely safe.

Scammers send out lots of emails with malware attachments. That malware will try to infect your computer if you make the mistake of downloading and opening the attached file. This latest one targets people who use Quickbooks which is an accounts system for small businesses. It says ‘Quickbooks Notification’ and claims the attached document is a spreadsheet sent to you using a Xerox workcentre. It claims to be an xls file but in fact is xlsm which means it has macros enabled. That means the scammers can add malware into the spreadsheet and make it activate as soon as the spreadsheet is opened by the victim. Never open such attached files unless you expected it and take precautions to ensure it is safe before opening it.

“We got your recommendation from one of our partners here in Italy. We have an urgent need for some of your products and would like to place a trial order with you for them today. Kindly revert back to us to enable …”. This is the ridiculous message in an email from “Giovanni”. The email is just to find out if the email address is a genuine company and if they are dumb enough to reply to what is obviously a fake message.

Another fake payment email arrives. This one claiming to be from HSBC Advising service but is in fact from solomonadj.com which is clearly not HSBC bank. The supposed attached payment slip is in fact an HTML page which is no doubt loaded with malware or a phishing page. Never click on such links.

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September 24, 2021

OWL Online Watch Link

Online Watch Link known as OWL is an online service for Neighbourhood Watches, the Police and associated bodies involved in preventing and stopping crime.

It’s designed to keep people informed of what’s going on locally relating to crime prevention for both the public and the Police.

It’s used by a lot of the Neighbourhood Watches across the UK but not all so if you input your postcode in the Find a Watch scheme box on the home page – you may well get the message “Sorry that postcode is not covered by OWL”.

OWL has been featured on Crimewatch and is growing in popularity.

The website is https://www.owl.co.uk/

Q. How does OWL help?

Local authorities send out alerts via OWL about crime and local issues in your area. It can help to prevent burglary, find missing people, makes people feel safer and catch suspects.

OWL Has National Police Approval

There is some advice on the website relating to various categories of crime, but the website is all about the OWL service.

Searching the Internet shows that many communities have incorporated OWL into their local information websites and neighbourhood watches.

Owl was created by a British company based in Hatfield.

It seems a useful tool in crime prevention and the more communities and Watches that us it the more useful it will become.

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September 23, 2021

Pension Fraudsters

Some pension fraudsters are using genuine anti-scam messages on their websites to try to make their sites look authentic. This is a very cynical ploy to use.

Recent pension freedom reforms have allowed over-55s to access their retirement savings pots and this has made them a target for scammers.

Fraud experts say that a combination of new rules, investors looking for returns and pensioners withdrawing large sums of cash have created a potentially fertile hunting ground for scammers.

Pension scammers simply copy official scam alerts onto their websites to dupe savers into thinking they are dealing with legitimate businesses, warned the Pensions regulator.

“Scammers are always developing new ways to try to get their hands on people’s pensions so everyone needs to be on the look-out for potential traps.”

Phrases Pension Fraudsters Commonly Use:

The offer won’t last long
You’re entitled to a free government review
There’s a guaranteed 7 per cent return
We’ll send a courier over with your documents
There’s a legal loophole
You’re a sophisticated investor
It’s free
Your pension company might try to talk you out of it – they just want to keep your money

Be careful.

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September 22, 2021

The Neighbourhood Watch

In these day of everything going digital, does the Neighbourhood Watch still have a role to play?

YES!

Neighbourhood Watch can provide security and assurance that nothing online can offer.

The Neighbourhood Watch scheme began in the United Kingdom in 1982 and is a partnership intended to bring people together to make their communities safer. It involves the police, Community Safety departments of local authorities, other voluntary organisations and individuals and families who want to make their neighbourhoods better places to live. It aims to help people protect themselves and their properties and to reduce the fear of crime by means of improved home security, greater vigilance, accurate reporting of suspicious incidents to the police and by fostering a community spirit. It is claimed that over 3.8 million households are covered by a neighbourhood watch.

Objectives of Neighbourhood Watch

To improve community safety generally including e.g. fire safety
To prevent crime by improving security, increasing vigilance, creating and maintaining a caring community and reducing opportunities for crime by increasing crime prevention awareness.
To assist the police in detecting crime by promoting effective communication and the prompt reporting of suspicious and criminal activity.
To reduce undue fear of crime by providing accurate information about risks and by promoting a sense of security and community spirit, particularly amongst the more vulnerable members of the community.
To improve police/community liaison by providing effective communications through Neighbourhood Watch messaging systems which warn Coordinators of local crime trends which they can disseminate to their scheme members, and by members informing the police of incidents when they occur.

Neighbourhood Watch schemes are run by their members through a coordinator and are supported by the police and in many divisions, a local Neighbourhood Watch Association.

A volunteer resident coordinator supervises the scheme and liaises with the police, they receive information and messages to keep them in touch with activities and some have marker kits, alarms and other security items, which are available to members. The schemes are a community initiative, which is supported by the police, not run by them, so success depends on what the members make of it.

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 and Neighbourhood Watch areas are usually identifiable by stickers on homes and buildings.

If there is a Neighbourhood Watch in your area, then consider joining.

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

September 20, 2021

The Pet Scam

Kim tried to buy a dog and was caught in a scam.

This is Kim’s story.

I was looking for a pet for my family and searched on line for a Shiba Inu.

This website seem professional so I contacted them. A guy responded and started to email me.

We actually talked on the phone and he sent me pictures and videos of the dog. It seemed legit. He even sent me a contact on the purchase. His procedures were that I went to buy gift cards in the amount of $500 and $300.

The dog was got $600 and $200 for shipping. I had to take photo of the cards, front and back and text it to him before he shipped out the dog.

Of course I was excited to add a new member to our family because everything seemed legit. I did as he instructed and in minutes, the balance on the card vanished.

Long story short, $800 gone and I have no dog. Please put the story out there and make people aware of these scams. This person uses different sites, but same pictures of the dogs. Here is a site he used:

https://amazingshibainu.com/

Sorry Kim, there are many criminals offering puppies and kittens for sale. Beware these scammers and never pay without meeting the animal first.

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