Scam Or Not?

Thermodyne · #1 August 21st, 2003, 01:03 AM

Read this before patching...

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11124

Suicide Junkie · #2 August 20th, 2003, 02:08 PM

Email Rule of Thumb:
Never click a link, especially if its talking about installing patches and stuff.
Anything it says to install or delete, ignore.

Instead, close your email program, then visit the windows update site and do updates on your virus programs by yourself.

1) Links are often boobytraps that will send you down into the monster's lair.
2) Deleting a single file NEVER HELPS. Even the weakest viruses infect lots of files, so only a scanning program can find them all.
3) Putting password info into an email is like giving your wallet to the stranger with a pLastic police badge so he can check your driver's license. Don't be surprised if stuff is missing and all you hear is tires squealing in the distance.
4) Just because it is from a big, well known company does NOT prevent it from being a scam!

[ August 20, 2003, 13:11: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

minipol · #3 August 20th, 2003, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dogscoff:
I always strip MSN and MSMessenger off all my systems at the earliest opportunity. Microsoft tries very hard to stop you doing this (for example, on XP messenger has no uninstall function) but if you're determined there's always a way...

Yeah i once had to do this for a customer. Very hard to find how to do it. In the end the computer had to boot and only 2 desktop icons where to be clickable. Almost all of the start menu had to be disabled.

It was a portable pc that nurses would take with them as they visited patients on the road. By disabling nearly everything, they hoped to minimize support and it effectively did so

DavidG · #4 August 20th, 2003, 10:02 PM

It's hard not to be paranoid when MS sends you the F#$&*#^ thing 100 times!! I also got it multiple times. Why the heck would they do that??

DavidG · #5 August 20th, 2003, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
4) Just because it is from a big, well known company does NOT prevent it from being a scam!

Ditto on this. here is a scam I could have fallen for if the scammer had not been so greedy.
It was (well claimed to be) from my ISP (sympatico.ca) claiming my account was not up todate. The kind of message you get when say your Visa expires and they don't have the new expiry date.
So I click the link and get to a Sympatico page (a fake one but very well done). The only thing that triggered the warning flags were that the moron asked for some very personal info the the ISP would never want (ie PIN number, drivers license etc) Had he just asked for the Visa I may have fallen for it.

Jack Simth · #6 August 20th, 2003, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DavidG:
It's hard not to be paranoid when MS sends you the F#$&*#^ thing 100 times!! I also got it multiple times. Why the heck would they do that??

They send it to everyone on their lists once. However, apparently, it's possible to get on their lists more than once. With the number of addresses they have, and the fact that removing duplicates is an O(n^2) operation, I can understand why they do.

DavidG · #7 August 21st, 2003, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jack Simth:

quote:
Originally posted by DavidG:
It's hard not to be paranoid when MS sends you the F#$&*#^ thing 100 times!! I also got it multiple times. Why the heck would they do that??

They send it to everyone on their lists once. However, apparently, it's possible to get on their lists more than once. With the number of addresses they have, and the fact that removing duplicates is an O(n^2) operation, I can understand why they do.

The biggest software company in the world that has written some of the most complex programs can't remove duplicate addresses from a list??? What's wrong with this picture.