The Use of Online Directories

In the early days of the World Wide Web, a lot of people were setting up websites, but for people trying to use the web – the problem was how to find what they were looking for. The idea of online directories made sense as online versions of paper directories, which had been useful for a long time.

Online directories appeared by the hundred and served their purpose until the search engines became effective enough to replace them as the best way to find websites, topics, phrases, names etc. on the Internet.

Online directories can still serve a purpose as part of an online marketing strategy. For example, they are handy for businesses that do not have a website. This at least gives the business name, address and contact details findable on the Internet.

Best of the Web (https://bestoftheweb.com/) is probably the biggest of the directories still surviving. It claims to have 16 million businesses registered and is based in the U.S. but has local state versions e.g. https://botw.org/local/new-york/ and a UK version at https://botw.org.uk

Niche Directories

Having an entry in a niche directory can be useful and can get traffic to your website. These directories target a specific to an industry or an interest etc. If your website falls into such a specific niche, then consider an entry.

This can have a positive effect on your website ranking if the directory is well respected. Trade Association directories are the main niche directories.

Free or Paid Listings?

Most directories offer free listings with the option to pay to get a better listing such as with more photos, more prominence in searches etc.

But, it is difficult to justify spending a lot of money on an enhanced listing when the money could be spent on direct online advertising instead with Google, Bing, Facebook and others.

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August 30, 2021

Gmail Phishing Scams

Scammers have long used Hotmail, Yahoo, Yandex email accounts and those of many other email providers. But seldom used Gmail as it is more difficult to create Gmail accounts.

However, people trust Gmail more so the scammers are now creating and using more Gmail accounts.

The Typical Scam

You receive an email from someone you know and open it.
It contains a message and an attached file. As you know the person who sent the message you open the attached file without thinking.
When you click the attachment, you are redirected to what seems to be the Gmail sign-in page and you enter your login and password.
The result is not what you expect. You have in fact given your login and password to a scammer on a fake webpage made to look like a Gmail login screen.
The attachment that is sent isn’t actually an attachment; it is just an image of an attachment which links to a fake Gmail sign in page. When you enter your Gmail login details, it sends them to the scammer and she has instant access to your email account.
As the scammers can access your account, they can send emails that appear to be from you and hence it’s easier for them to convince people who know you to pass on confidential information. And the cycle continues with more people being targeted.

The Dangers

There’s a lot a scammer can do with your email address as most websites use it as an ID. A scammer may try your login and password on numerous websites in the hope of gaining access in your name and hence be able to buy products and you get the bills etc.

Most websites have a ‘forgotten password’ feature so if the scammer uses that they can get the ‘reset password’ message and get hence change your password. Getting access to your own account then becomes seriously difficult.

How to av

oid the Gmail Phishing scam:

Stay cautious and if not sure of an email then do not open it or any attachment
Do not click on links in emails
Beware of messages claiming to be from friends but that seem odd
Beware of any messages claiming to be from Google about your account

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

August 29, 2021

Stupidest Spam of the Week Random Phrases

Some scammers write a few paragraphs that are intended to get people to click a link, then use software to rearrange the phrases in the hope of getting past the anti-malware checks by the email providers.

The disadvantage of this is that the rearranged phrases are usually gibberish unless the original text was carefully written and most scammers aren’t able to do that.

A latest email is an example of the rubbish generated by the rewriting software. It contains these examples:

“don’t you agree contained in the committing rating”

“to offer a selection of its content material material material to a new better”

“just for usual commentary, rrt is possible moreover”

“you are able to can be health the actual global”

“basically financed using a provide using the aid of the forex”

If you receive emails that make no sense, don’t reply or question them – consign them to the bin immediately.

In this email, the link that the scammer wants you to click contains the following “is-charmdate-scam” amongst the random letters and numbers – not a link to be clicked by anyone sensible.

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August 28, 2021

Time-Wasters Update

An email tells us we have to confirm the password for one of our email accounts or risk losing it. The message claims to be from the radio station but is fact from prpfnf.co.kr which is the republic of Korea. Our radio station is not in Korea, so it’s a scam.

Yet another supposed diabetes remedy email. This one claims it has a secret that your doctor and the scientists wont tell you – about this magical way to cure the medical condition in just 30 seconds per day using an ancient remedy. Then you can eat all the sweet food you want with no spike in your blood sugar. Only likely if the remedy kills the patient. An unpleasant way to cure diabetes.

The next scam email offers instant tooth cavity repair. You have to mix coconut oil with a secret mineral only known by the scammer and then use it to fill any cavities instantly. It is supposed to be a secret, but the email also says that millions of people have done this and there’s a 100% success rate. Anyone who’s had cavities treated by a dentist knows that step 1 by the dentist is to remove the decay that has caused the cavity and clean it completely as otherwise putting a filler over the hole will just let the decay continue underneath until the tooth is eaten away. Stupid scammer.

Most scammers are fairly dumb, but this latest one sent an email with the first line ‘Please advise your most competitive price and expedited delivery for the attached items asap on or before 27.24.2021’ but forgot to attach the supposed list of products. Depending on whether it’s an American or English date format, it’s either the 24^th or 27^th month of 2021 which makes it sometime in the year 2023. What a moron.

There are huge numbers of emails claiming to be from Chinese companies offering all sorts of products and it can be difficult to tell if they are genuinely stupid people who think that sending out emails by the billion to random email addresses is the best way to get business from people outside China or are they just scam emails. One recent one is titled ‘Signage Manufacturing’ and says it’s from xgxsigns.com. But the message contains simple grammatical and spelling mistakes such as ‘price competition,high quanlity I am thomsom’ and there is no excuse for that as everyone has spell checkers and grammar checkers. So, probably scams.

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August 27, 2021

When You Know It’s a Scam Call

Someone has called you with the intention of cheating you – stealing from you. Fortunately, you realise this and then have to decide what to do about this.

So, what do you do next?

The simple answer is to just put the phone down but it’s very likely they will call back – either immediately or later in the day.

You could politely tell them you know it’s a scam and put the phone down.

However, when you’re polite to the scammers, they don’t give up – they or fellow scammers are likely to keep calling back, trying to wear you down.

Some of us choose to give the caller a mouthful of bad language – shout and swear at them, tell them exactly what you think of someone who phones up trying to steal from vulnerable people. That might make you feel a little better, so why not try it.

Or you could decide to play them at their own game and waste their time.

Time-Wasting Suggestions

“You say my computer is breaking the law and you’re going to help me. Thank you. I’ll just get my glasses” and leave the caller hanging on till they get bored and give up. Any repeat callers – use the same trick till they give up.
Act excited and really interested. Then tell them to just wait for a minute while you answer the door. Then put your phone down and just forget about it.
Sell them something imaginary. “How about I give you a great deal; I can send you two boxes of my organic homemade candles for ninety dollars and we both walk away from this as the winner” and just spend the rest of the call dodging their questions and continuing to try to sell whatever you want. Usually they give up after a few minutes, so don’t expect to actually sell anything. If they agree to buy something in order to get your address – give fake details.
Keep saying “can you hold on a second?” And then put them on hold for five minutes. Get back on, say a few words, let them start talking, then say “oh dear, can you hang on again? Be right back”. Keep repeating till they give up.
If you tell them you just have to go get your credit card – they will hang on for longer before giving up.
Jack says he usually just start talking to them about really weird but totally made up personal problems.
Acting dumb can be fun – ‘I don’t understand’ repeated each time they ask you a question can really drive the caller mad.

Be creative and really waste their time.

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

August 26, 2021

Singapore Scam Shield

This is a very useful APP that blocks scam messages and texts but is only available in Singapore and is only for iOS phones currently but they are working on an Android version.

That’s a shame, as we all need one of these APPS.

The APP can do the following:

Block scam calls – Scam Shield compares an incoming call against a list maintained by the Singapore Police Force to determine if the number has been used for illegal purposes and blocks it.
Filter scam Text messages – when you receive an SMS from an unknown contact, Scam Shield will determine if the SMS is a scam and filter the messages to a junk SMS folder.
Report scam messages – you can report scam messages from other chat apps such as WhatsApp, Wechat, IMO, Viber, etc. You can forward the messages via Scam Shield’s in-app reporting function.

Privacy

There are strict rules on what ScamShield can or cannot read. If a message comes from a known contact, then iOS does not pass the message to Scamshield. If you have previously interacted with an unknown contact or decided to engage an unknown contact in conversation then ScamShield will not get to see the message. Only messages sent by unknown persons via SMS will be passed to Scam Shield.

Also, the APP also does not have any access to your location data or any personal data.

How does ScamShield work?

The app filters incoming calls and text messages. ScamShield compares an incoming call against a list maintained by the Singapore Police Force to determine if the number has been used for illegal purposes and blocks it.

When you receive an incoming SMS from an unknown contact, ScamShield will determine if the SMS is a scam using an on-device algorithm and filters the messages to a junk SMS folder.

Remember, the APP only works in Singapore.

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