The Dutch Guy - PC Services, Callington (2026)

05/06/2026

A customer once told me all her photos were safely backed up.
She was very confident about it. The photos were on her phone.
And he phone was syncing to the cloud. Everything seemed fine.
But then the phone failed.

When we checked the account, it turned out the cloud storage had been full for months. She'd seen messages, but thought they were just another attempt to sell her more storage. The photos she'd taken recently had never been uploaded anywhere.

Most people discover whether they have a backup at exactly the wrong moment.

A backup only matters when something goes wrong.

Take five minutes this weekend and check that your photos are actually being backed up, not just supposed to be.

There's a big difference.

Rick

04/06/2026

"Nah, nobody's interested in me. I'm not important enough to hack."
Well, perhaps not. But the thing is, they don't need to hack your PC.

It's a bit like saying nobody would burgle your house because you're not rich.
Most burglars don't care who you are. They look for an open window.

Technology isn't much different.

Most homes now have a smart TV, a printer, a camera, a speaker, maybe a few smart plugs, all connected to the same WiFi.

Most get installed, work perfectly, and are then forgotten about.
Years later they're still there, quietly connected to the network.

The laptop gets attention, as does the phone.
It's often the forgotten stuff that doesn't. Because that's usually the stuff that never gets updated.

And that's often where the open window is.

Worth checking what's connected to your WiFi every now and then.
You might be surprised.

Rick

03/06/2026

QR codes are everywhere now:
At car parks. Cafés. Restaurant tables.
The problem is that anyone can print a QR code sticker and place it over a genuine one. It takes minutes.

Your phone doesn't know where that code leads until after you've scanned it.

For car parks especially, take a moment to look at the sticker before scanning.
Does it look like it's been stuck over another code?

And when your phone shows the website address, actually read it before opening the page.

A quick glance can save you a lot of hassle.

Rick

02/06/2026

A while back a customer showed me a text on her phone.

Royal Mail, apparently.

"Your parcel couldn't be delivered. There is a small re-delivery fee. Click the link here."

The logo looked right. The spelling was perfect. There was even a tracking number. She'd already clicked it by the time she stopped to think about it.

These used to be easy to spot. Bad spelling. Strange wording. A logo that looked almost right.

Those days are mostly gone.

The messages now look completely normal because the people sending them have access to the same tools everyone else does.

The habit that helps most is:
Don't click parcel links in text messages.

If you're expecting something, go directly to the delivery company's website and enter the tracking number yourself.

It takes thirty seconds and removes most of the risk.

Rick

01/06/2026

Had a customer ring me last week. She'd had a call from someone claiming to be her bank. Very calm, very professional. They knew her name, knew where she lived, and told her there'd been suspicious activity on her account. She needed to move her money to a safe account immediately or she'd lose it.

She nearly did it. She had her banking app open and everything.

What stopped her was her daughter walking into the room and just... looking at her a bit funny.

That was it. That was the save.

The thing worth knowing is that the voice on the call may not even have been a real person. There is software available now that can clone someone's voice from a short audio clip. A Facebook video. A voicemail greeting. Even a brief recording can sometimes be enough.

Which means you could get a call that sounds like your grandchild saying they're in trouble and need money urgently. Or your bank. Or a solicitor. And you'd have every reason to think it's genuine.

The technology isn't new, but it's improved very quickly, and most people have no idea it exists.

Two things that actually help.

Agree a code word with family for emergencies. Something daft that only you'd know. If someone rings claiming to be a family member in a panic, ask for it.

And if anyone calls telling you to move money to a "safe account", hang up.

Banks don't do that.

Ring your bank back using the number on the back of your card, not a number the caller gives you.

Stay cautious out there.

Rick

19/05/2026

A lot of businesses lose time every day to small IT problems that never feel serious enough to deal with properly.

Slow PCs, patchy WiFi, printers acting up, login issues, shared folders randomly disconnecting, all the little annoyances people just “work around”.

But when several people lose 10 or 15 minutes a day to tech friction, it adds up fast.

And usually those recurring issues point to something underneath anyway, poor setup, ageing hardware, failing drives, outdated systems, all sorts.

Good IT is not just fixing disasters. A lot of it is making day to day work less frustrating.

07/05/2026

Those annoying emails where the text claims you signed up for something at some point. Except you never did.

Luckily there is an “Unsubscribe here” link, so that should sort it out and stop the emails, right?
Well, usually not.

A lot of these mails are spam sent by shady marketers, scammers, or people working through bought databases full of email addresses. They first want to know one thing:

'Is this a real email with a real person behind it?'

And the moment you click unsubscribe, you may just have answered that question for them.
“Hello. Yep, this address works and somebody is actively clicking links.”

That can lead to even more spam, phishing mails, fake invoices, fake delivery messages, and all the other rubbish.

A better idea is:

Mark it as Junk or Spam, then delete it.
Do not interact with it at all.

Same principle as somebody knocking randomly on doors at night. You do not open the door just to tell them you are not interested.

11/04/2026

Just had one of those “your bank transfer has been set up” text messages pop up. £1500 odd. Not me, apparently. Panic button included, of course.

This is called smishing. It’s phishing, but via SMS. The goal isn’t the message, it’s getting you to call that number or click something so they can take it further.

Simple rule: don’t trust the message, don’t use the number in it. If you’re unsure, open your banking app or call your bank using the number you already have saved. Not theirs.

In the UK you can forward these texts to 7726, your network will log it as spam. Then block the sender and move on.

If it tries to rush you, it’s usually not your bank. It’s someone hoping you won’t think twice.

03/04/2026

𝗔 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗗𝗣𝗗 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗫 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱.

I had a non-delivery issue with DPD this week and did what a lot of people do: reached out to DPD's official account on X (Twitter), because actually getting through to them directly is a nightmare.

That's exactly what these scammers count on. They are waiting for you.

Within minutes, an account called "DPD Help Hub" slid into my DMs. New account, barely any followers, but helpful tone. They offered compensation, sent over a professional-looking "Customer Service ID" badge, and communicated via what appeared to be a Google business domain (.goog); technical enough to feel real.

Then came the ask: download the WorldRemit app to receive your compensation. Shortly after, a verification code arrived with the message "do not share this with anyone" while they were simultaneously trying to get me to hand it over.
That's where it unraveled. No courier pays compensation. Full stop. And least of all through a money transfer app.

When I moved to cancel the whole thing, the tone flipped immediately:
"If you cancel now, you won't see your parcel for another 7 days. Nobody to blame but yourself."

I'd mentioned the parcel was needed urgently for a wedding this weekend — and they used it. Classic pressure tactic: take what you know about someone, create urgency, then threaten consequences to make you doubt yourself. Who wants to wait for 7 days on an urgent package...?

Worth knowing about that .goog domain: it's Google's 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝘽𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙈𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 platform, and any business can register to use it. It does not verify or confirm who is actually sending the message. Seeing it means nothing.

A second fake "DPD" account then contacted me: slightly different name, using links that looked like genuine dpd.co.uk URLs. Same playbook, just a bit more polished. I didn't bother checking them out. I already knew the routine.

But this is structured. It's patient. And it specifically targets people who've just complained publicly about a delivery problem, because they know you're frustrated and expecting a response.
It falls apart the moment you pause and think:

- New X account, almost no followers
- Moves conversation to DMs immediately
- Asks you to install a financial app on your phone ("I'll wait till you're ready")
- Sends you a code while telling you not to share it
- Threatens you the moment you hesitate

That's not customer service. That's a scam.

Stay sharp. And if you're chasing DPD, go directly through dpd.co.uk or their official verified accounts only.

09/02/2026

Putting a computer to sleep feels like switching it off. For most people, that seems enough.

It isn’t quite the same.

When a machine is put to sleep, things stay loaded. Memory stays in use. Background tasks stay where they are. Updates often wait for a proper restart.

Over time, this can make a computer feel slower than it should, or behave oddly in small ways, even though nothing is obviously broken.

A full shutdown or restart clears memory, resets connections, and lets updates finish properly.

Sleep is useful during the day. It just should not be the only thing a computer ever does.

Restarting once a week prevents a lot of avoidable problems on machines that are used regularly.

The Dutch Guy - PC Services

05/06/2026

04/06/2026

03/06/2026

02/06/2026

01/06/2026

19/05/2026

07/05/2026

11/04/2026

03/04/2026

09/02/2026

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