Unusual Amazon purchases? Not really.

Several people, including my brother, have told me in the past couple of weeks they've been alerted to alleged purchases on their credit cards or "unusual" purchases on their Amazon accounts only to eventually find out the claim was false. What should you do if this happens to you?

Let's start with what you DO NOT DO:
1) Do not give the caller or sender of the email your requested personal information.  They are trying to access your username, password, credit card number, etc. so that they may indeed make purchases with that information.
2) Don't click on any link in the email you've been sent "warning" you of this problem/purchase.
3) Do not panic; it is NOT an emergency.

What SHOULD YOU DO?
1) Hang up if you receive a phone call alerting you to this kind of activity.
2) If concerned, log in to your bank account, credit card or Amazon account to view recent activity.  Enter the URL in the browser; DO NOT use a link provided in the email.
3) If you have questions about your credit card being used, call the number located on the back of your card NOT the one in the email.
4) Stay calm and know there are customer service departments, not the caller on the phone, to answer your questions if you feel the need to contact someone about the alleged charge.

Scammers are professional criminals.  Their goal is to steal your identity and financial information. They know what they are doing and hope that you don't.  If you do slip up and give out your bank account info or credit card information, immediately contact those companies.  More than likely, they will then monitor your account for unusual activity rather than close the account.

Stay alert, be cautious, and keep your personal information private.

Use your Mute button!

 What's your favorite videoconferencing app?  Zoom? FaceTime? Google Meet? Skype? Facebook Messenger? 

Videoconferencing has certainly thrived the last 6 months, not just for businesses but for most of us personally.  And, many of us have become fairly comfortable with these applications, I think.

But, do you know someone who never mutes themselves?  Can you hear their TV, telephone, background music or a dog barking?  If so, maybe you can share today's tip with them: 
 
Use the mute button when you are not talking during a group videoconference.  Leave it on Mute until you are ready to speak.  Often you can't hear your own background noise, but everyone else can.  Don't know where the mute button is located?  Read further:

On a computer, mouse over the screen until you see a button or a microphone icon for "Audio".  Once you click on the "button" you should see a line through a microphone.  That indicates your audio is off and no one can hear you or what is going on in your home.
If you're using a mobile device, touch the screen with your finger to make all the buttons/tools viewable.  A microphone should appear with the word "Mute" underneath it.  Tap it to turn audio off and you will see a slash through the icon.  When you are ready to talk, tap the same icon again. 

I don't think people mean to be rude; they just don't know how to use all of the controls/buttons in the app.  You can be a friend and gently offer this tip to those who may need it.  :-)

Happy beautiful-fall-day Tech Tuesday!

Who's Using My Network?

 If you notice a slowdown on your network one of the first things you should check is to see if someone outside of your household has connected.  "Piggybackers" can make your network run more slowly and sometimes hinder the way your devices are working.  How can you determine this?

Fing is a great free app for both iOS and Android devices. Once downloaded you don't need to set up any kind of account nor do you need to enable permissions when asked just to run a check of how many devices are on your network.  You should have a pretty good idea of what devices you have so if there is something strange showing up it is worth questioning.  Any Smart plugs or devices will show up on your network.  The first time I ran Fing it displayed 29 devices on our network!  Shocked  me, but there are indeed that many smart plugs and devices  (computers. mobile devices, Roku's, Apple TV's and printers) on our network now that my mom is living with us. 

If you do see devices that do not belong to you, it is time to change the password on your WiFi network.  Remember:  If you change your WiFi password, ALL devices connected to it will have to have the new password entered on them.  That's a real chore but entirely worth it if someone is using your WiFi without permission.  It could be a legal issue, too, if they are using your network for illegal activity on the web.

It's our responsibility to do as much as we can to stay secure online. Fing can help you do that.  (If you are a ValuNet customer using Plume pods in your home, the Plume app on your phone will monitor your network just like Fing).

Have a wonderful day; big change in weather here in the Midwest!

Jeline

Is it my computer or the webpage?

 Occasionally you may run into a problem with websites loading.  Even after reloading the page, the page still doesn't load and/or there is a message something like "DNS server error" or "DNS can not be found."

I've had this happen a couple of times in the last month and in a Zoom session the other evening one of the participants said he could access no webpages but he could get Zoom to work.  

I use two tools to help me troubleshoot this problem when it occurs: 
1) First I use speedtest.net or the Speedtest app on my phone.  This is a quick tool you can use to determine if your download and upload speeds match what you are paying for.  (They will never quite reach the advertised speed unless you are hardwired into the internet but they should be close).

2)  If you find your internet is strong but you still can't access the website, then I recommend using downdetector.com  You can check the status of any website and see what others are saying.  That will let you know if it is just your system or a problem with the website. 

I've found both of these resources to be useful since last spring when I had to rely on Zoom for making connections with different groups.

Well, it's a corn-freezing and salsa-making day in our household so I need to get busy. Love, love, love this time of year!
Hope you have a wonderful day!