Tech Tips

Fradulent BEST BUY eMail

Fraudulent eMail

Nasty eMail purports to be from BEST BUY and informs you that your credit card has been charged for a renewal of an Anti-Spyware Subscription.

DO NOT FALL FOR IT!

This little PITA somehow made it through my filters and showed up in my INBOX this morning.   It uses the same e-mail address I use for Facebook.   So, I’d advise all of you with Facebook accounts and my Facebook friends to set your CURRENT Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware to do a full scan of your PCs.

As I wondered how this e-mail address could have been captured, I began to think of the online games I have played at Facebook.  I cannot help but wonder which one of those companies had a security leak.  Or, maybe it was the guy I cleaned out at the Texas HoldEm tables last night.  POOF!  His nearly $800K gone in a flash when he tried to bluff his way into a $200K pot by going all in when I was holding pocket Aces and there was a pair of 8s and a pair of 9s showing.  Oh well.  I’ve been on the other side of that unlucky position more often than I care to remember.

But, back to business:  If you see an eMail like this – just DELETE IT and run a full scan of your PCs just to be safe. ALWAYS review your Anti-Virus software on a weekly basis.  Don’t just assume it is working.  Open up your Anbti-Virus Software’s Control Panel and have a look at the date of you Anti-Virus files.  They should be within the last week.  Often, within the last day or two.

Find out how to read the logs that your Anti-Virus software produces and have a look at them weekly as well. See how many problems have been caught and fixed.

Dangers Lurk In Social Networking via Mobile

A new report just released by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) describes some of the things to consider if you access social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace from your mobile devices.
Quoting from the report synopsis posted online:

While many of the privacy issues originating from the web-based access to SNSs also apply to mobile social networks, there are also a number of unique risks and threats against mobile social networks. The report aims to provide a set of recommendations for raising the awareness of social networks users and in particular of social mobile users of the risks and the possible consequences related to their improper use.

I recommend all my clients and friends download and skim through this report. Get it by clicking the link below:

http://stevemaziarz.com/blog/snreport

Nasty Virus Trojan Horse Cure

Within the last couple weeks, I have taken no less than eight calls from friends and clients who have been infected with a nasty computer “bug” that severs their online connection and causes Windows to shut down.

Check Your Anti-Virus Software Now

All of them have had varying degrees of anti-virus protection, but it didn’t catch this nasty germ.  In a couple cases, it could have been because their subscription to the update service expired.  In one case, it was because their Anti-Virus protection was turned off.

Virtually every anti-virus software that I know of places a small icon in the lower right corner of your screen (in a typical Windows environment) next to the place where the time and date are displayed.  FIND YOURS.

1. Open up the Control Panel for your particular Anti-Virus solution.
   You can generally open up the control panel for your anti-virus solution by double-clicking that icon.
2. Make sure that it is Active and that your Anti-Virus definition files are up to date.
   Here’s what it looks like for my favorite tool, AVG:

AVG Anti-Virus Control Panel

If your Anti_Virus solution has expired, is horribly out of date,  or is turned off, go ahead and take the steps to fix it! If it’s off – turn it back on.  If it is out of date, perform a manual update (most have a button on the Control Panel to do so. Find yours).  If it has expired, you can renew it.  Or, if finances are tight,  see my other posts on FREE Anti-Virus solutions (do a search or just browse the Tech Tips Category).

In most cases, the most efficient cure for this particular infection was to:

1. Save the important files off to an external drive
   I use a proprietary method I have which eliminates the chance that an especially nasty bug will transfer over to the external hard drive.  This technique is available to members of my Priority Club.
2. Wipe the system clean
3. Re-install Windows

A Better Cure

After a LOT of searching and trial and error, one of my more persistent friends found a cure for this very nasty malady which worked for her and I wanted to pass it along to you.  It is at another online forum. Follow the link below and begin looking at Post #2.

What The Tech Forum Solution

Outstanding PDF Viewer And More

Have you, like I, wondered out loud about how nice it would be to have a PDF Viewer that let me do a little bit more than view?  My need for such a product was brought about by the countless number of PDF forms that I had to download; fill out manually; and fax back.

Holy Cow! Talk about a mix of the modern world and a throw back to the Stone Age of Computing.  A FAX machine?  Who has got one of those laying around? OK. Most of you may still have a Fax/Modem card in your PC. But do you still have a “land line” / POTS to plug it in to? I ditched mine. Why pay for it when we both have cell phones and we’re in a large metro area?  I digress. Sorry. I ramble on sometimes.  There is a lot of knowledge in this head of mine just dancing around and wanting to be shared.

So, anyway, back to our quest for a PDF Viewer that would allow me to FILL OUT ANY PDF FORM AND SAVE IT. Surely, I thought, this must be a common need.  Someone somewhere must have created one by now.  So, off I went with my software sniffing bloodhound in tow.  I check all the usual sources. I tried a lot of ones that came close.  Then I hit PAY DIRT.  When I read the feature list for this incredible tool, I just couldn’t believe my eyes.

Check it out:

• Add Comments and Annotations to any PDF file (subject to security settings) – unlike the Adobe Viewer which requires the PDF creation tool to be ‘certified’ by Adobe !
• Add & apply Custom Stamps from any Image or PDF File and even your Windows Clip board !
  Mark-up pages with text and objects
• Type directly on any PDF page, not just Adobe enabled forms documents – in Typewriter mode.
• Export PDF pages or entire files to any one of the supported Image formats including BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PNG and many more …
• Extract text from a PDF page/File
• Improved navigation of large or complex PDF files both simple and enjoyable with the extended functionality of  ‘Loop’ and  ‘Pan’ Window tools
• Fill and Save Adobe Forms to disk, email or ‘post’ !
• Full Javascript Engine included
• Updated JPEG2000 Compression support – improving speed.
• Plug-Ins for both MS IE or Firefox Browser’s included
• Integrate seamlessly with your favorite translation software to translate text on the ‘fly’ – including :  ABBYY Lingvo 12, Translate It!, Lingoes.
• Includes comprehensive Help file and PDF Manual – no extra downloads required to add features etc.
• Portable version also available – can be run from any suitable device such as a Memory stick/CD/DVD etc – simply unzip and use – no installation required – just 4MB download !

What’s the price for such an outstanding tool?  FREE.  Outstanding professional software at MY FAVORITE PRICE.

CLICK HERE TO GET IT

PLEASE NOTE: Look at the very top of the page under featured products.  When last I checked it had a rather large DOWNLOAD NOW! button there.  ALSO: They have a very affordable PAID version which gives you even more features.

Outstanding Affiliate Manager

About a year ago, I needed to find some Affiliate Management Software for a client. They didn’t have a huge budget and wanted a fair amount of features.  So, as usual, I began my search with the various Open Source offerings that were out there.  I was not impressed. Then I moved on to the commercial offerings. While there were several out there, they either had a monthly fee, charged by the affiliate or were prohibitively expensive.

I easily looked at 25 different packages between the Open Source and Commercial offerings and was about to toss in the towel in frustration when I found iDevAffiliate.  It had everything I was looking for and more:

• Affordable (Starts at $99.99)
• No recurring fees (You buy it ONCE. You host it. You own it.)
• Multiple ways to pay
  • Per Sale -Flat Rate
  • Per Sale -Percentage
  • Per Click
  • Per Lead
• Multiple Payout Levels (up to 100 Per Payment Style)
• Fully Configurable (lots of options)
• Robust Marketing Support For Affiliates
  • Add unlimited text ads for Affiliates to use
  • Add unlimited banner ads for Affiliates to use
  • Add unlimited Flash banners for Affiliates to use
  • Add unlimited HTML ads for Affiliates to use
  • Add video training
  • Add PDF advertising materials
  • Page Peel Ads (this is really neat)
  • Sample Ad templates in PSD format
• Multiple Language Support
• Outstanding Affiliate Interface
  • Create and Track Campaigns
  • Create and Track Keywords
  • Traffic Logs and Statistics
  • Conversion Ratios
  • Export Tracking Data
• Interfaces to and works with a HUGE number of shopping carts and payment gateways
• Pay Affiliates via a Built-In interface to PayPal or via Hard Checks
• Optional Module to Export Payment Data to QuickBooks
  

Needless to say, I was very impressed. When I had a look at the online demos, I was sold. I recommended that we go with it and the client agreed.

PLUS – Outstanding Support

Setup was easy and went without a hitch.  Shortly after we began using the program, we noticed something amiss. I e-mailed support and was expecting the typical two day delay.  I got a response later the same day.  They pointed out that it was a configuration issue and told me exactly what I did wrong and how to fix it. One the very first try.

About a month later, I found something else that looked amiss. It was a relatively trivial item about the way the graphic charts were displayed to the Affiliates.  Again I e-mailed support and they confirmed it was an issue. Within two days, they had developed a patch and sent it to me and all was well.

I don’t know about you, but my feeling is that there is a LOT of software out there.  To me, what separates the good from the bad is how they handle support.  I’m happy to say that the folks at iDevDirect do an OUTSTANDING JOB!

Oh, and one other thing I discovered is that this software has built-in fraud detection and other outstanding tracking  features to insure accuracy.

Find Out More. See The Demos. Click on the Banner Below.