Silhouette Computer & Tutoring Solutions

12/23/2023

Well, I guess it was wishful thinking that the scammers would take a break for the holidays. Alas they appear to be in full force capitalizing on people's busy schedules and distracted minds. The phone call I received today started out like most of them, an authoritative voice with a dire message. Only instead of it being my computer is screwing up the internet, or Services Canada is coming to arrest me, it was "Your phone will be deactivated in 2 hours. If you want to know why, press one for English". I didn't hear the rest of the message because I hung up.

Putting aside the fact that I know that my phone bill is paid up, there are two red flags in this phone call.

First, the call did not identify the carrier. It was a deliberately vague opening line so as to apply to the most amount of people.

Second, failing to specify the reason for the call in the message was another red flag.

Now these two red flags are somewhat specific to my telephone carrier. It's a good idea to be familiar with the tone and format of communiques from your carrier so as to w**d out the scam calls.

Putting aside the red flags, let's assume for a moment that there is a possibility that my account is in arrears. Or that I was concerned about something else causing a problem on my account, or the voice had specified my carrier. In that case, I still *would not* press 1 to hear more. I would not have continued with the call. I would hang up and I would either call the number for my particular carrier, or I would log into my own online account or do both. Be it a telephone call, an email, a letter, at no point should you ever click on a link, continue the call or allow a stranger that contacted you to connect to your computer. Always disengage and look up the phone number to call the company directly or log into your online account.

There is the scam/hoax out there about people not releasing the telephone line on a landline. While that scam call with the landline is somewhat of a hoax and generally only applies to business phones if you want to be absolutely sure you unplug your telephone from the wall and that will kill the telephone call if the other side has managed to hang on to it. Or, call from a cell phone.

If there is some validity to the call, it will be indicated in your online account. Or when you contact the company directly. Many years ago, the Royal Bank used to have an automated voice contact people when there was a problem with their credit card. I did receive an automated call however I misheard it as World Bank and not Royal bank, and I just deleted the message and carried on. A few hours later I tried to use my Visa it didn't work. I then contacted the Royal Bank through the number on the back of the card not the number that was left on the voicemail and discovered that indeed there was a hold on my account because it had been compromised and they were issuing me new credit cards after discussing the charges and which ones were mine and which ones weren't. This is why it's always a good idea to have two credit cards from two different sources.

Out of the multitudes of calls/emails etc I have received over the last 10-15 years I've had one legitimate call about my credit card being compromised. If in doubt always assume it's a scam call. It doesn't matter whether the person on the other end of the phone is crying about how they're dying or they're in severe pain or they're being arrested, or your credit card's going to be revoked, or Service Canada is coming to arrest you. Whatever is on the other end of the phone call, email, letter etc, there will always be a way to verify the truth of it from another direction.

As for those AI calls that mimic voices of loved ones etc, a simple family code word puts a stop to them.

09/27/2022

For those of us still on the fence about Windows 11 - the first service pack has been released. Meaning, all the bugs and security issues often found in new releases have been resolved and updated, theoretically. The free upgrade offer can disappear at any time - but Microsoft has said it will not disappear before Oct 5th. That doesn't mean it'll disappear Oct 5th or anytime after that date. Only that it won't disappear before that date.

At this point, it is reasonably safe to upgrade. Make sure you back up your data before starting and follow the onscreen instructions from your "Updates" section on your computer (click the search icon in the bottom left corner and type Windows Update). If updating a laptop, make sure it is plugged into power, not running off the battery.

As always, if you're unsure how to proceed drop me an email or dm (direct message) and I can walk you through the process.

07/29/2022

You know that tech support person is so done. 🤣

02/10/2022

10/13/2021

Everyone should bank online, however, you need to make sure you're actually talking to your bank if you call them in this scenario. It's a given that you never give any information to someone that calls you out of the blue. However, with landlines, it's possible for the caller to keep the line open after you hang up. They do this by not hanging up. You pick up the phone to call out, they play a recorded dial tone, and ringing phone, pretend to answer and then you are providing information to someone you think you can trust but it's actually the person that called you in the first place.

There are a couple of ways around this, don't answer calls if they aren't from people you're expecting. Of course, this doesn't work if you run a business or are an employee that is required to answer a work cell and you call forward that cell to your home phone because you have crappy cell service at home.

When you get a call saying your card is compromised (and banks will call to tell you this, it's happened to me twice), when you hang up, wait awhile before calling the number on your card. While waiting, log into your bank account/credit card account and check for unusual charges, alerts and messages.

If possible, when you call the number on the card to check the validity of the call, do it from a different phone, ie your cell or your kid's cell etc. If the original caller was a scammer, eventually they'll give up and move on. If you have no choice but to call from the landline unplug the telephone cable from the wall for a minute, that will force the disconnect.

If, however, you've logged into your account online and there aren't any alerts or messages your best option is to simply ignore the call and go about your day. 99.99% of these calls are scams.

Police advise the public not to transfer funds to unknown individuals over phone or email

09/09/2021

Back Ups - a necessary part of computer life, the bane of our existence and something that we often forget to do and end up regretting not doing. There are many back up services out there and they often cost an arm and a leg.

However, there is a new kid on the block that provides basic back ups of your entire computer system - no data limit and holds revisions for 30 days - extendable to 1 year for $24/year. Should you suffer a catastrophic failure you can download your files over the internet or if that will take too long you can request a hard drive (if you send it back they'll refund the cost of the drive).

It runs in the background, backs up your entire computer with zero input from you after the initial setup. Caveat: Files are not guaranteed to be stored in Canada. This back up service is not for anyone storing School files, or other files that have to be stored in Canada.

Click here https://secure.backblaze.com/r/02nym6 to give it a try. $7/month or $5.41/month if you purchase the two year contract.

05/16/2021

Passwords, they're everywhere, from our devices, to email to banking, to the gym, library, even recipe sites. We need to keep our passwords secure, but as some people have found out the hard way, sometimes other people need /want those passwords and if we haven't written them down, they're gone for good in some cases. Parents have lost their children's photos when the child passes away suddenly. Messages that might explain unexpected deaths can't be retrieved. Spouses have lost important documents. There are numerous examples where a person passing away has led to the loss of critical information.

Now, you may be worried that some people might see your browsing history, but, in the grand scheme of things, browsing histories are generally irrelevant after we pass.

No one wants to think of morbid possibilities but they happen. Keeping a list of passwords secure with your will could provide peace of mind for your loved ones, could even make dealing with your demise easier. Wills should be reviewed yearly and that's a good time to review your list of passwords to account for new devices etc.

It goes without saying, you can keep that list on your computer, but make sure your computer is accessible without a password, or that some one can figure out the password. You can also use code to write your passwords, but, make sure someone that you trust knows your code.

05/11/2021

Has Outlook suddenly gone nuts on you this afternoon? You're typing the body of the message, hit the enter key and all your previous words disappear? This is a known, system wide Outlook problem that is effecting stand-alone versions and subscription services. Microsoft is working on a fix. In the meantime, you have four options, don't send any email until the fix comes down; compose your email, make sure each paragraph is perfect before hitting enter (aka return key) and having your words disappear; compose your emails without using the enter key (creating one really long, run on paragraph); or, compose your email in Word and copy and paste it into Outlook, click send without hitting enter. Your words are there, if you hit the back-space key you'll be able to see each line as you back-space it away.

When people reply to you, you will not be able to see the thread, so if you're composing those emails in Word, keep the Word document if necessary. You also won't be able to see the words in your sent email.

Yup, this is all very weird. Keep an eye on your update notifications for the update that hopefully, will come through soon.

03/18/2021

Putting aside the debate around whether or not to get the Covid vaccine, just a quick reminder, if you are planning to get it, it's free. It's free to book the appointment, the vaccine itself is free, paying to book an appointment will not get you a faster appointment. Go to the government site for your region and follow the steps there to get your vaccine in the proper time frame. As is usual with dead-beat humans, they are preying on people who want the vaccine and are prepared to pay for it. Some may say they deserve what they get, but seniors are also targeted and they often don't know better.

02/12/2021

Just spent the last hour or more troubleshooting, updating, uninstalling, generally ripping my hair out, over a malfunctioning laptop camera. I've been to multiple sites, Microsoft, ASUS, random sites, alas, no joy in getting my camera to stream video. A step back in time, about 3 hours ago while making dinner, I splashed melted butter/garlic oil on the keyboard and used a cloth to clean it, committing the cardinal sin of not shutting down first. Can you see where this is going? Yup, happens to us all at some point. The random keystroke that breaks everything. On a Microsoft thread, I found a link back to ASUS support and buried withing the instructions was a simple "look at your F10 key, is it a camera function key?". Nope, not on my laptop, but what's this 5 keys to the right, a dedicated key to quickly mute the camera and right beside it, the new snip-it tool key. Mystery solved! I've had the laptop for some months now.....maybe it's time to actually look at the keyboard?

01/23/2021

Do you have security cameras? Baby monitors with WIFI streaming? Have you changed the default password? Check your system to make sure you aren't accidentally broadcasting your private moments to strangers.

Watch Calgary man finds website showing live private camera feeds Video Online, on GlobalNews.ca

11/13/2020

Innocent fun or breaking the law? It's that time of year again when Secret-Sister gift exchanges, or Happy Holiday fun gift exchanges, or , start popping up. You know the one, send off one gift get 36 gifts in return. Anything that requires you to put your name on a list, and then email that list to your contacts and they email their contacts etc etc is a pyramid scheme and is illegal in Canada and the US. They are never legal, even if they say "sponsored, supported, cleared by . They are considered a form of gambling and come with fines and or jail time. Whether it's a $10 bottle of wine or a $1 lotto ticket, or a mere $5,000 entry gift, they are all illegal and unless you're at the top, you rarely see a return on your "investment". Keep in mind, they are legal in some countries so you'll often see them popping up on social media. Just ignore them. Secret Santa with friends is so much more fun anyway :-)

The “Secret Sister” gift exchange, wine gift exchange, and similar invitations on social media are illegal and should be ignored.