Archive for December, 2008

Phishing for me today

Posted: December 31, 2008 by datechguy in tech
Tags:

Well with all of the activities going on via eBay I’ve been jumping around a bit.  Looks like somebody noticed and decided to see if I was a sucker or not.  The e-mail I received follows. I’ve re-directed the links to this blog.

To: “Peter Ingemi”

Content-Type: text/html;  This is clue 1.  Large companies almost never send plain text.  That doesn’t mean that if it wasn’t plan text that it was real but it is a clue.

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:25:56 EST

Subject: Please Restore Your Account Access RXI019 This is clue 2.  The classic phishing scheme is “restore” or “fix” something.

Dear Peter Ingemi,

As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. We recently contacted you after noticing an issue on your account. They are always crying account issues. This is actually rather smart since they are sending it after some account activity.

We requested information from you for the following reason: They are playing the “request” card nice and sweet

A recent review of your account determined that we require some additional information from you in order to provide you with secure service. They always need “extra info”

Case ID Number: PP-332-990-588 Oh a case ID then it MUST be real. You’d be surprised how much that makes a difference to people.

This is a second reminder to log in to PayPal This is the first phony link. as soon as possible. Once you log in, you will be provided with steps to restore your account access.

Be sure to log in securely by using the following link:
Click here to login and restore your account access And this is the 2nd.

Once you log in, you will be provided with steps to restore your account access. We appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure account safety. Once you log it they’ve got you!

In accordance with PayPal’s User Agreement, your account access will remain limited until the issue has been resolved. Unfortunately, if access to your account remains limited for an extended period of time, it may result in further limitations or eventual account closure. We encourage you to log in to your PayPal account as soon as possible to help avoid this. This is really smart. Once they get in and change your password you will be locked out while they take every cent they can. This sentence gives you a plausible reason why your normal activities fail and how many people actually read those agreements?

To review your account and some or all of the information that PayPal used to make its decision to limit your account access, please visit the Resolution Center. If, after reviewing your account information, you seek further clarification regarding your account access, please contact PayPal by visiting the Help Center and clicking “Contact Us”. Another line to stall you.

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience. And again you are doing this for your own good.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department

PayPal Email ID PP638  The last official touch

If you look at the actual raw links you would see a long complicated link, that is another big clue.

The way to confirm that something like this is nonsense is easy.

Either put the raw address of the company (in this case http://www.paypal.com) into your browser and do a search of the base company (paypal) and follow that link. If there is something actually going on you will find it there. Don’t be the pfish who falls for the bait on the hook.

Tech for rent

Posted: December 31, 2008 by datechguy in employment, tech
Tags:

Well even though my attempts to get business via eBay has been less than successful to put it kindly I’ve decided to take the plunge and license LogMeIn for 18 months.

I’m going to keep my regular job hunt going on but I’m going to try the eBay stuff again. If I fail in my job hunt over the next 35 days I’ll put the majority of my resources to push the DaTechGuy brand to do it on my own.

January is going to be the key , the cleanup is pretty much done, the Christmas Season will have passed and schools and business will be back to normal speed. That is when I’ll see if I can generate interest in myself or no.

So it re-listing time on eBay again and trying to make a living on my own efforts. So if you need computer tech support, consider DaTechGuy and I’ll put my efforts behind your machine.

If your interested and even if you’re not I have 7 services that I’m offering:

  1. Virus cleaning
  2. Printer setup
  3. System TuneUp
  4. System Setup
  5. Router/Wireless setup
  6. Problem evalulation
  7. Fix-it (catch on for everything not listed)

Well if you need me give me a shout.

Morning Joe Echos Limbaugh

Posted: December 31, 2008 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags: , ,

The wife accidentally hit me about 3 hours ago waking me up. Unfortunately I stayed up, but that means Morning Joe and I got the chance to see the start of the show. Since I’m typing as they are speaking quotes may not be exact.

Chuck Todd is on and just pointed out that moderates and independents voted for Obama in droves even though the candidate was John McCain.

This is John McCain who is supposed to be Mr Moderate

Joe Scarborough gets it:

Republican Moderates usually do poorly Republican true believers tend to do well.

Pat questions Todd pointing out that when he selected Palin he was up for a while until the market crashed and killed him.

(all this sounds like Rush Limbaugh so far)

Todd however is blaming a bad Obama campaign rather than the Palin pick.

Here is the actual answer. Obama didn’t run a great campaign against McCain, the media ran a great campaign for Obama. Obama was and in my opinion is a rookie pitcher from a corrupt machine with a lot of questionable associations but the media decided he was the next JFK and the cure to all that was wrong with race in America. They didn’t want anything in the way of the history they were making.

As far as McCain goes rallied conservatives with Palin and could have won this campaign but his position on the bailout murdered him and kept conservatives home. The media did and still hates Palin for what she is, an actual living example of conservative values who doesn’t give a damn what they think. So they did their best to destroy her.

Limbaugh was absolutely right about this one but as always we got the government we deserve, and we have 4 years to see if it was the right move.

Update: Morning Joe would be so much better if Andrea Mitchell wasn’t on it. Unlike the others on the show she still pretends that she is a reporter and not an advocate but you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

You pay your money and you takes your chances

Posted: December 31, 2008 by datechguy in local stuff
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Got an oil delivery from my local company Lorden Oil yesterday it was for $2.39 a gal.

Back in August when prices were sky high the offered their annual pre-pay. This year it was $4.64 with a .20 cent a gallon price protection option. I figured that rather than tying up so much money, I’d be better off taking my chances and paying as I go since the price was so high I figured how much higher could it go, plus if it dropped I’d be earning the interest instead of them.

I managed to guess right this year but quite a few people haven’t:

First of all, viewers and readers should know that many customers chose to lock in when prices were higher.

They wanted to protect themselves against prices going up even more, and now they’re stuck with higher bills.

In many cases those customers must honor their contracts, even though it looks like a bad deal

However it is forgotten that your local oil company likely prepaid too:

Harry Hicks, the owner of HL Fuels, said that’s precisely what he did. He understands his customers are in a bind, but, he said, so is he. “For people who are paying $4.60, I already paid over $4 for that fuel when they prepaid,” he said.

In Boston its not just the individual customers that lot their bet this year:

The consortium in the western suburbs, which comprises Brookline, Cambridge, Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, Newton, Waltham, Watertown, Weston, and Winchester, has used the system for more than two decades and says it works: It has tied or beaten the market every year until now.

Last year, those communities locked in a rate less than $2, and watched gleefully as prices rose to more than $4 a gallon. But this year, the sharp decline in prices means a city like Newton, which estimated it would use 905,000 gallons of oil this heating season, may have to spend an extra $1.7 million, based on the current average price.

The real danger is if people decide to start running to the lawyers when nothing crooked is going on. Most years the pre-buy is a good deal, this is the first year I didn’t use it myself and the margins on this stuff isn’t a lot.

When you have the freedom to make choices, sometimes you will make the wrong one.

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