Test your computer knowledge!

A friend had her vehicle stolen from the front of her house last week which started me thinking about different things we could do with our binary buddies to either prevent or solve problems like these.

Many folks have in a drawer, previously used cell phones or even an old tablet. Just because they do not have a cell phone plan doesn’t mean they don’t work. Charge them up, turn on the phone and connect to our secured home Wi-Fi connection and the phone can surf the web, call out on Skype, Facetime or other video chat service. More importantly it will have a working camera.

The working camera can be configured to be a security camera, a baby monitor or even a spy camera. What do we need to set up our own monitoring service?

Power cord and outlet for the phone if we want the phone to monitor 24/7. Some way to mount the camera such as a tripod or duct tape. Finally we need software to run the camera on the phone (server) and software on our in use smart phone. (viewer) Windows computers, iPhones and Android phones have the ability to set up and run these apps so use the appropriate ones for your equipment. There are “free” programs with limited functions and possibly some advertising that pops up or there are some apps that can be purchased that have many functions such as real time viewing, two way communications, motion detection, night vision, or the ability to record and review events that took place while we were away.

I grabbed Wardencam (http://www.wardencam360.com/) from the Android Play Store that had a free trial version with 48 hrs of recording and good ratings and reviews. It took only a few minutes to download and install on an old tablet from the junk drawer and the same for my smart phone. The app opens for the first time and asks that we log in with a Dropbox or Google Account. Wardencam records video and stores it in our Dropbox or Google Drive cloud storage and not on Wardencam servers. The app then asks if the device is to be the camera or the viewer. I checked the tablet as the camera and my smart phone as the viewer. Within a few seconds the video from the tablet appeared on the smart phone which means I can be anywhere in the world and view what the camera is seeing. I then surfed over to my Google Drive and sure enough, there were the video captures from the tablet.

Other features are available such as motion detection, night vision, email alerts, share video and more and the Pro version of the app is $6.99 with no monthly fee.

Almost all the apps available have trial periods so find one that works best for the tasks at hand. There are also products such as Nestcam from Google and many others that work as full fledged security systems but if looking for something just to fill a gap these apps might do the trick.

The Computer Industry Almanac projects there will be 1.07 billion Internet users in 2005. They project the number to grow to 1.21 billion in 2006 and 1.35 billion in 2007. The one common element shared by all these users is called bandwidth. Think of the oil industry and how they move oil via pipelines. The number of pipelines available and the size of the pipe determine the amount of oil that can be moved. The Internet is similar. How many users there can be is limited by the amount of bandwidth available. The number and type of distribution channels such as, phone, copper and fiber optic determine bandwidth. With the explosive growth of the Internet for commerce, information transfer and scientific research, the available bandwidth is rapidly falling behind demand.  I have my Internet homepage set up to collect news articles about topics that intrigue me. Here are some that came across, that by themselves are probably innocuous, but if viewed looking for commonality….well, you decide.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) — AdZone Research, Inc. (OTC BB:ADZR.OB – News) today announced that it has received notice from a Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Government laboratory that it’s pioneering Internet tracking technology has been officially validated. The approval represents a major milestone in the company’s ability to pursue government contracts. AdZone Research specializes in automated retrieval, classification, analysis and delivery of worldwide Internet data for global defense as well as media metrics. Through surveillance of more than one half million Web sites worldwide, AdZone provides tracking and monitoring of targeted information on the Internet, with an expanded focus on global Internet analysis of security-related data transmissions.

Newswire, 2005-01-31 – At issue is PATRIOT Section 216, which expanded the government’s authority to conduct surveillance in criminal investigations using pen registers or trap and trace devices (“pen-traps”). The Department Of Justice has said openly that the new definitions allow pen-traps to collect email and IP addresses. However, the DOJ has not been so forthcoming about web surveillance. It won’t reveal whether it believes URLs can be collected using pen-traps, despite the fact that URLs clearly reveal content by identifying the web pages being read. Access to documents that might reveal whether the DOJ is using pen-traps to monitor web browsing have been requested.

Trabue Tribune Daily Post Gazette, April 1, 2005: The government announced today that beginning with the new model year for computers this September, all new computers will be required to contain a “P” chip. This new technology, akin to the “V” chip in televisions, will allow monitoring and tracking of all Internet and personal usage by owners of personal home computers. A government spokesman, demanding anonymity before speaking, stated that unlike spyware programs currently monitoring and directing the marketing habits of computer users which can be removed by the user if desired, the “P” chip is a hardware device integrated into the system board of the computer. Any attempt to remove it will disable the computer. Further, this spokesman stated that the government has no plans at this time to collect personal information. Data collected will be used to measure and distribute available bandwidth. An example would be if a “P” chip detected a spike in bandwidth from a particular computer user, it would automatically shut down the computer to prevent excess demand on the Internet. Acting much like a governor on an engine. Data collected from computers nationwide could be used to establish an Internet rationing system, or even a secondary market for usable bandwidth.

A new department under the auspices of the FTC would be charged with the responsibility of developing rules and regulations surrounding the “P” chip. This group, the Agency for Private Reporting of Internet Limitations, would turn over enforcement of the rules and regulations to the Federal Order of Operational Latency.

Internet Advocacy groups claim any monitoring of personal computers would violate privacy rules and laws pertaining to search and seizure. They also state that it is small step from monitoring and measuring to taxing users of the Internet. Speaking on the record, these groups have threatened to file Freedom of Information suits to force the release of all documents pertaining to the formation and goals of the two groups, A.P.R.I.L. and F.O.O.L.

I will keep you posted.

The terminology isn’t important. What is important is how does a thief, a crook, a con man, yes even a low life useless piece of trash get control of our computers, bank accounts, credit cards etc? Simple answer. We willingly, trustingly, non verifiably give it to them.

The worst part of this is that it doesn’t involve a virus or some other behind the scenes intrusion into our binary buddy. Once again, we, the computer user simply hand over the information these pieces of garbage need to rip us off. I receive at least a couple of calls from clients each week that have been scammed out of money. Sometimes it is 3 or 4 hundred dollars, last week a client was taken for $2500. I’ve attached a video of a woman that was scammed out of $30000, then the scammers offered to refund her money but she had to accept checks, cash them and then wire the money to the scammers from which they would issue her refund. Not once, but over and over for two years she cashed checks and wired the money elsewhere. In other words the crooks not only ripped her off, never issued a refund, but then turned her into a money mule and convinced her to launder the money for them so they couldn’t be caught.

One of the more popular scams being run today is the Refund Scam. You receive an email that says someone, somewhere purchased a big ticket item on your account and if it wasn’t you then call this phone number immediately. Below is a scam email I received recently.

The problem here is that folks see the bogus charge and immediately want it removed from their credit card so they call the number listed. From there a Refund Department scammer will kindly offer to help remove the charge but needs to have control of your computer to help you process the forms to get the refund. Scammers then have you download a remote control program that allows them to take over your computer. From here, the scammer uses a script to have you log into your bank and by blanking the screen can transfer or appear to transfer a sum larger than your refund is supposed to be. Now the scammer says that you need to send him the overage, by gift card, wire transfer etc. Scammers usually will not accept any form of payment that can be reversed hence their reliance on gift cards.

But let’s go back to the bogus email I received. Lots of red flags here that should have stopped you in your tracks. First if you read the email carefully, there is no reference to a store or company that might have sold this product. Second, the return email address isn’t a company email such as orders@walmart.com etc. Third, look at the payment terms of Net 500. In the business world that means that the client has 500 days after the invoice to pay it. Very unlikely. And finally, Windows Defender is free to download from Microsoft. The biggest flag is that you cannot go to the website of the company that supposedly sold this item and check your order history to see if it really was used by someone.

Here are two YouTube videos that show the actual scam in process. Strongly recommend that you watch them and share them with your friends and family. for warned is forearmed.