Internet anxiety

[cbo111]

So, in the past week I have experienced:
1. A text from a gentleman willing to share $2.5mil with him if I respond to him.
2. A fake PayPal email stating my account may have been compromised and to click on a link to resolve the problem. A query with PayPal confirmed there was no compromise. I changed my password just to be safe.
3. An email from "Apple-ID-Team" stating in poor English that my account had a request to "process on Jan Tue 2018," with an email recovery address of "siegfried1930@gmail.com" from Kyoto, Japan. I changed my password on this phish just to be on the safe side.
4. Every few weeks I get a legitimate email and text from my good friends at Equifax (the folks that lost all our data) mysecureID folks stating:
"Dear client,
As part of your enrollment in TrustedID Premier, we monitor your credit report each day for certain key changes, including an account balance change, a new inquiry, new accounts, or address changes.
We've noticed a change on your credit report, and we encourage you to log in to your account to view details at www.trustedid.com.
Each time I get one of these notices, I log in and find nothing amiss, credit report has nothing new or unusual. I spoke to one of their reps on the help line and she provided a cryptic explanation that I should release my credit freeze so they could investigate the issue. The person had a heavy accent so I could not get a clear explanation of why they needed me to release my credit freeze. So now, every few weeks I log in to confirm there is no problem.

All of this crap makes me want to exit the internet world and do things the old fashioned way, which I realize is no longer even possible.
This seems to be getting worse with no real solutions coming from our government or financial institutions. What steps are you all taking to protect your electronically vulnerable stuff?

 

[easysurfer]

About 6 months ago, I used VeraCrypt to create encrypted containers for sensitive information. Better than nothing if important data get stolen from my PC.

At first, the process using encrypted containers seemed cumbersome. Now, my feelings have changed and like Karl Malden used to say, "Don't leave home without them".

 

[W2R]

I have no problems ignoring this type of junk e-mail.

What I *thought* this thread was going to be about, was a type of internet anxiety that nearly drove me over the edge on the 2nd and 3rd of January! Thanks to Cox Cable, my internet was out and I was freaking out.

 

[jazz4cash]

I have no problems ignoring this type of junk e-mail.



What I *thought* this thread was going to be about, was a type of internet anxiety that nearly drove me over the edge on the 2nd and 3rd of January! Thanks to Cox Cable, my internet was out and I was freaking out.

That sounds serious. I hope you are joking.

 

[braumeister]

What steps are you all taking to protect your electronically vulnerable stuff?

Send me a fax with your telex code and I'll share my techniques.

 

[Amethyst]

I thought the thread was going to deal with anxiety brought on by the tendency to compare oneself with other people's social media postings (where everyone else has more friends and fun than you do), or the fear that one's avatar/fake Internet identity will be "outed," or maybe the fear that one is spending too much time on the Net and not doing enough in real life.

As for fake online appeals and semi-threats, I ignore or delete those.

 

[HFWR]

The problem with spamming, phishing, spoofing, cloning, etc. is that many folks are seemingly ignorant. And that ignorance allows these things to spread/succeed.

“Fake” news is even worse, as the dumbing of America accelerates...

But having used computers, and the interweb, since they were ox-powered makes me more cautious than most relative newbies, and therefore less of a target.

 

[RonBoyd]

 

[aja8888]

What steps are you all taking to protect your electronically vulnerable stuff?

Dump your Facebook account.

 

[MRG]

I practice safe computing. I wrap myself in a full body condom before touching the keyboard.

 

[Koogie]

I practice safe computing. I wrap myself in a full body condom before touching the keyboard.

Lubricant can't be good for your peripherals !!

 

[cbo111]

Dump your Facebook account.

Yes, I am beginning to realize that Facebook is not friendly website. They siphon off all your information and sell it.

 

[MRG]

Lubricant can't be good for your peripherals !!

Probably not.

I w*rked in IT where many best praticices for security were required(lubes were not allowed onsite).


I don't mean to be flippant in my response, it's just the proper way to do things. I have to take the needed precautions(virus protection, email phishing awareness...) and adjust my behavior.


I wish it was different. Things were more secure with SNA, of course this conversation would not exist with an SNA network.

 

[tmm99]

I have no problems ignoring this type of junk e-mail.

What I *thought* this thread was going to be about, was a type of internet anxiety that nearly drove me over the edge on the 2nd and 3rd of January! Thanks to Cox Cable, my internet was out and I was freaking out.

That would have driven me mad too!

 

[tmm99]

I routinely get fake emails about Paypal and Apple. It is annoying for sure, but I've never changed my passwords because of these emails. They are like pests that won't go away, but I do absolutely nothing about them. I used to look at the sender's real email address to see who it actually came from, but I don't bother anymore.

 

[W2R]

That would have driven me mad too!

I really didn't realize how crummy it is to have no internet for a period of time, until it happened to me. What to do? I couldn't even play games on my wi-fi iPad because most of the games demand an internet connection. I didn't have internet on my phone (which I hardly ever use), either, until I figured out that the problems was my settings. Frank's internet was out too, and he loves streaming movies but couldn't do that either.

So, we listened to podcasts that we had already downloaded (and had already listened to ), and I played a video game while he listened to his ham radio. I listened to OTA TV a little. We were having a hard freeze at the time, but I could not get further information on any of the news or weather stories on TV. Basic information and entertainment seemed awfully limited without internet.

I was so happy when it finally was restored.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

It's definitely not a panacea but I maintain a couple of email addresses and use different ones for different situations (correspondence with friends, contests, utility bills/accounts, app/forum accounts, etc) pending on the likelihood that it can get spammed, compromised, etc. It helps me parse through junk a bit better.

 

[Koogie]

Probably not.
I w*rked in IT where many best praticices for security were required(lubes were not allowed onsite).
I don't mean to be flippant in my response,...

On the other hand, your skin must be like a baby covered in oil...

 

[audreyh1]

I remember chain letters from my childhood days. I would be highly annoyed to receive one - with the manipulative message and sometimes ominous warnings. But I never participated because I didn’t like getting them, and I didn’t want to do that to someone else: “Copy this and send it to five people “ - yeah, right.

I think of those old days when I see manipulative Facebook shares passed on. Oh yeah, 10 or more years ago I might have gotten an email chain letter.

People seem quite happy to do those Facebook shares. They bug me and I wouldn’t touch them. Ugh!

 

[tmm99]

I remember chain letters from my childhood days. I would be highly annoyed to receive one - with the manipulative message and sometimes ominous warnings. But I never participated because I didn’t like getting them, and I didn’t want to do that to someone else: “Copy this and send it to five people “ - yeah, right.

I think of those old days when I see manipulative Facebook shares passed on. Oh yeah, 10 or more years ago I might have gotten an email chain letter.

People seem quite happy to do those Facebook shares. They bug me and I wouldn’t touch them. Ugh!

Me either. I refused to perpetuate the chain letters, and I refuse now to respond to anybody trying to force me to participate on FB.

 

[tmm99]

I really didn't realize how crummy it is to have no internet for a period of time, until it happened to me. What to do? I couldn't even play games on my wi-fi iPad because most of the games demand an internet connection. I didn't have internet on my phone (which I hardly ever use), either, until I figured out that the problems was my settings. Frank's internet was out too, and he loves streaming movies but couldn't do that either.

I so would have been panicking in your situation. Seriously!

 

[DrRoy]

There is an upside and downside to practically everything. You have to deal with the bad to get the good.

 

[dixonge]

So, in the past week I have experienced:
1. A text from a gentleman willing to share $2.5mil with him if I respond to him.
2. A fake PayPal email stating my account may have been compromised and to click on a link to resolve the problem. A query with PayPal confirmed there was no compromise. I changed my password just to be safe.
3. An email from "Apple-ID-Team" stating in poor English that my account had a request to "process on Jan Tue 2018," with an email recovery address of "siegfried1930@gmail.com" from Kyoto, Japan. I changed my password on this phish just to be on the safe side.
4. Every few weeks I get a legitimate email and text from my good friends at Equifax (the folks that lost all our data) mysecureID folks stating:
"Dear client,
As part of your enrollment in TrustedID Premier, we monitor your credit report each day for certain key changes, including an account balance change, a new inquiry, new accounts, or address changes.
We've noticed a change on your credit report, and we encourage you to log in to your account to view details at www.trustedid.com.
Each time I get one of these notices, I log in and find nothing amiss, credit report has nothing new or unusual. I spoke to one of their reps on the help line and she provided a cryptic explanation that I should release my credit freeze so they could investigate the issue. The person had a heavy accent so I could not get a clear explanation of why they needed me to release my credit freeze. So now, every few weeks I log in to confirm there is no problem.

All of this crap makes me want to exit the internet world and do things the old fashioned way, which I realize is no longer even possible.
This seems to be getting worse with no real solutions coming from our government or financial institutions. What steps are you all taking to protect your electronically vulnerable stuff?

First, you should always *ignore* emails like that. Frankly, you shouldn't even be *seeing* them. 99% of the spam I receive goes straight to the junk folder automatically. Those emails are completely false/fake. You should never take any action based on them.

Second, if you're worried in general, use a password manager. 1Password or Last Pass or others remember and enter the User ID and password for you.

Third, Equifax wants to sell you extra services. Unless they state that a new account has been opened in your name, one that you are unaware of, just delete those emails.

Fourth, other than using common sense, my only protection is the built-in Windows Defender anti-virus software and a password manager (1Password). I've been on the internet since the late 80's.

 

[scrabbler1]

I got hit with a lot of spam in late July of 2016 because my email address had somehow gotten out there on the DarkWeb. It took me a while to figure it out, but I finally managed to filter it out by adjusting some of the settings in my email. I use a PC-based and internet-based email system but the settings can be done only on the internet side. By using an Exclusive setting on the spam filter, I have any email whose sender's address is not in the Contacts list go to Junk Mail. Then, I allow only the non-Junk mail to get downloaded to my PC email.


This level of filtering sometimes prevents legit emails from getting through to my PC because my contacts list on the internet side doesn't have all the addresses my PC has. This problem has been fading over time, though. Another related problem is my getting a legit email from a new source and it doesn't get through and I forget to check my Junk Mail folder on the internet side to see if it is there. Stuff stays there for a week although I can adjust that setting if I need to. I can block the domain name of senders of Junk Mail although the spammers change the domain names all the time. I wish I could specify wild cards in the domain names but my email provider (Juno) ignores my requests to do that.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

First, you should always *ignore* emails like that. Frankly, you shouldn't even be *seeing* them. 99% of the spam I receive goes straight to the junk folder automatically. Those emails are completely false/fake. You should never take any action based on them.

Gmail has an excellent spam filter. It also enables users to report spam so the filter can adapt. It's gotten to the point where I get only a few spam emails per day using Gmail's browser interface.