Recently an older friend told me he'd like to know if his old friends were on Facebook. He had moved many times in his long life and eventually lost touch with his old contacts, you know how it is. Since I knew he owned a PC plus Internet I was about to ask him why he wouldn't simply take a look online. After all, he was perfectly capable of inputting names like Krzysztof Szyszkowitz himself! I got his answer before I could ask and it drove me mad inside. Facebook was new to him, certainly very complicated and generally, at his age… Frankly, that's a shame. He didn't lack the motivation or doubt their controversial privacy policies, he simply thought himself incapable. But why? Any moderately sane person familiar with mouse and keyboard can do so much more with their computer! "If I can show you ten guys with the IQ of a fire hydrant that made it onto Facebook, will you promise me that you'll give it a try?"
Mails with serious content in an official tone, final notices or seemingly technical issues are enough to unsettle most readers. Often, this is an attempt at cheating you out of your money as I described last week. How can you catch on to the scammers, where do they give themselves away? The first step is to realize that your personal information is already in the wrong hands.
Have you heard of Major Abacha Tunde? This brave Nigerian man has been spending his life on a Russian secret space station since 1990 and can only see his beloved home from orbit. Unfortunately, he cannot come home because his country doesn't have the foreign exchange to bring him back. Tragic isn't it? But you can help him and make it rich in the process! This good man naturally cannot spend his luxurious salary (no duty free shops in space) and Amazon only delivers world-wide. For only a few thousand Euros you can help Major Abacha Tunde get back to earth - and collect a giant yield. Don't believe me? Good for you! This is just one bizarre example of a phishing mail meant to cheat you out of your money. Read on to learn what phishing is all about!
There I was standing in the flat countryside looking at my cellphone when - dare I write it - the unthinkable happened, I was offline. No business mails, no friends to chat with on Whatsapp and the blog was suddenly far far away. With mixed feelings, I looked around, saw cows, wind turbines, the gray sky and not a soul. No vibrations would announce the arrival of a new message, no delicate ping would direct my attention to important company news. Alone, offline with only the wind in my face and some unexpected peace and quiet.
My beloved Samsung S4 mini hasn't aged well over the years. Buttons are loose, the Android version feels ancient and the battery is on its last legs. What to do? Certainly not spend $600 on a high-end cellphone, my contract didn't warrant any subsidized replacement so I ventured into the legendary realm of China cellphones! The risk: These phones are not made for Western markets and there are no official distribution channels. Read on to learn about the entailing disadvantages and why I've begun to feel slightly paranoid.
