Newsletter Episode 1301

Contents:

1. Fake tech support calls
2. Is your PC running slow?
3. Speed your computer without tools
4. Share and comment

Current scam to be aware of: Fake tech support calls

Recently, a large number of people have told me they received a call from Microsoft Tech Support.

They recounted the way this tech support proved their computer was broadcasting errors to the Internet.

A few hundred dollars later, the computer was magically “fixed.”

The scam goes like this:

A victim receives a call from ( Bla Bla ) Tech Support.  The caller who has a heavy foreign accent, claims the victim’s computer is transmitting (insert a lame problem here) to their servers.

You can easily “verify” ( in sarcastic quotes) the call is legitimate by calling an 800 number that the caller gives you to call. The “supervisor” will answer and verify the tech support call is legit.

If they manage to convince you that your computer is some how infected or damaged, they will offer to fix it on the spot for a hefty fee.

Put away your wallet. This call is a scam.

Computers do not report to the mother ship when they are broken. They do not alert tech support when they become infected with a virus or spam spewing service.

You can hire someone like me to monitor and keep your computer in good shape. But you must do it ahead of time.

I have dedicated over a decade to helping clients with their computers remotely. And can actively defend you and your computer from trouble.

This is not meant to be a sales pitch, I just want you to be aware of your options so you can protect yourself from such a scam. ( Read about email scams here.)

Is your computer running slow?

How do you know?  Did your computer tell you? Did you get a pop-up window saying your computer has multiple registry errors? You may be infected with what I call a “digital leech.”

Let me give you a hint. Unless you installed a fancy program that monitors your PC, your computer WILL NOT tell you that is running slow. It will simply slow down and you will feel it.

How do you get this digital leech?

Most of the time you will be surfing an infected website when you will attract this “helper” program. Similar to the above scam, it will pretend to scour your PC for errors, then ask you for money in order to fix the non-existent problem. What a rip off.

You can speed up your computer without special tools
(a small action can make a big difference)

If you are like most people, I know I am, you like to keep things handy.

That’s when I get into trouble.  I like to keep things on my desk instead of putting them back in a drawer.

I like to be able to reach for that stapler or highlighter quickly. Same goes for my phone, fingernail clippers, paper clips, scissors, tape, radio, CDs, you name it.

So, when I am in a hurry, I reach for that… wait a minute, I could have sworn I left it right here.  One moment please…  Dang it.  I wish my desktop was a little more organized.  I can’t find my glasses!  OOPS!  I just spilled my coffee all over my tax reports!

“HONEY!”

Sound familiar?

Your computer desktop is no different.  The more junk you put on it the more time it takes to find stuff.  The computer will use up more memory when all your files are “readily available”.

CPU or processing power will be tied up taking inventory of your desktop every few seconds, just to see if anything has changed.  The more files and folders that are on your desktop, the longer it will take to get your computer to go back to what “you” were trying to do.

So, do yourself a favor and move all the stuff you have on your desktop to a folder inside your documents folder. Then create a short cut to that folder on your desktop.  That way it is still accessible quickly but it will be out of the way of your computer’s resources.  You’ll be happy – and your computer will thank you too.

Back to you…

Let me ask you this: do these tips help you?  Go ahead and leave me a comment below and be sure to mention a time when you had a similar experience.  Tell me how you dealt with it or how you plan to deal with it.

If this has been helpful to you, please share with a friend who might benefit from these tips.

If you haven’t done this already, do yourself a favor and sign-up to receive my newsletter regularly. You’ll be glad you did.

Thanks for reading and God bless.

-Juan