It seems like the scamming never stops. I get multiple scam and phishing email and text messages every day. Most of these are obvious scams, but some are very well crafted and it’s easy to see how people can be tricked.

Here are a few examples of Scams from my Inbox:

This first one claims to be from Social Security saying that there is a discrepancy in my 2025 earnings. The email included a helpful link so I could log into my account right from the email. Instead, I went to SSA.gov and logged into my account to see about this “discrepancy” in my 2025 earnings.

The second one warns that our email will be deactivated if we don’t confirm by a certain day. Again, they provided a helpful link.  I took a close look  at  the  “to” address  and saw that it wasn’t  from  my  email  provider.

Here’s a text I got. Notice the phone numbers don’t match, and my “child” didn’t ask me to call them on the new number, just respond with a text. When I got this text to “Mom”, I called both of my kids to see what was up. Worst case, they really did change their phone from a Boulder number to a Virginia area code. (They didn’t!)

And, of course, there’s the “We charged your card on file $399.99. If there’s a problem, please give us a call.” This one is slightly different in that it came via Paypal, and doesn’t say what the “Subs-cription” is for. These generally say they are from an anti-virus software company. When you call the number, highly trained scammers will answer insisting that you probably already have a virus and need to let them log into your computer to see. That’s when they’ll upload malware onto your PC or Mac.

Then there’s the “Keanu Scam” aka the “Costner Scam”. I don’t have any personal emails or texts about this one, but the Hollywood Reporter recently published an article about how this is playing out, primarily on Facebook.

What do these examples tell us?

Whenever you get an email that makes you upset or angry, take a minute to look at where it is coming from. Is it from someone you know who is already in your address book? Is it about an account you have already?

How to protect yourself from scams?

1. Change your passwords:

There have been many data breaches recently, and millions of email/password combinations have been “harvested”.

Complaint acknowledged: I know! Once you change your password for an app, you must change it on your phone, tablet, computer, and anywhere else you use the app as well. It’s a hassle, but do it. (Here’s a recent blog on creating a secure password.)

a. First Priority:

Change your password for ALL your online financial accounts (banks, credit cards, investment, PayPal, etc.). Do this today and then, monthly.

b. Second Priority:

Change your password for your shopping accounts (Patagonia, L.L.Bean, REI, etc.), and ANY account where you have saved your credit card info. Put a note in your calendar and do this every month. When making an online purchase, uncheck that box that says “Save all my information for future purchases”.

c. Tie for Second Priority:

Your social media accounts are a treasure trove for scammers. If your account gets hacked, the scammers can post on your account. This is how I got scammed last year.  (Read about how I got scammed here.) When you get a Private Message asking for money, confirm it’s really from your friend. (Did their car REALLY break down in Omaha?) When you see that your friend is selling something on Marketplace, give them a call directly and ask.

Recommendation: Change the password on all of your social media accounts at least monthly.

2. Set up 2FA:

For key accounts, especially all of your financial accounts, set up Two-Factor Authentication. Then, you’ll receive a phone call or text message with a code to enter when signing in. I’ve done this for my financial accounts and the account which manages GeekForHireInc.com.

3. Independently verify info:

When the email, text, or phone call you’ve received causes alarm OR if you wonder if it’s true, take a minute to check via a known good source. For example, when I received the email from Social Security notifying me of a “discrepancy”, I went to SSA.gov and logged into my account to see what they said about my 2025 earnings. With the text to “Mom”, I called both of my kids to see what was up. Worst case, they really did change their phone to a number with a Virginia area code. (They didn’t!)

a. Email Scams:

Read your emails very carefully. Scammers know we get a lot of emails this time of year, especially from online shopping accounts. They can guess that we might be ordering from Amazon or Costco and may email us saying there is a “problem” with our order. They want us to click on this handy link they’ve provided. The email has an excellent rendition of the Amazon logo, and they have “spoofed” the URLs to make them look like the link will direct you to Amazon. Don’t fall for it! Go to your account and verify any problems there.

One especially tricky email is from Norton and other anti-virus/security providers. They email that they will process your “subscription renewal” on a future date for big buck$. If you don’t want to renew, just call the number in the email. Then, they ask for permission to access your computer to make sure you don’t have any viruses. If you let them, they’ll have fun. You end up with stolen data and malware on your machine.

b. Text Scams:

Texts and emails are the most common way to get pulled into phishing scams. By now, we all know that text messages from “USPS” or “FedEx” about delayed deliveries are scams. Read the message carefully. Is it coming from a number you’ve already saved on your phone? Don’t click on that link! Go to the app or website you already have to confirm there is a problem and correct it there.

4. Phone Call Scams:

When you get a phone call from a number you don’t recognize, don’t answer the call. If it’s legit, they’ll leave a message and you can call them back.

Conclusion:

Use secure passwords wherever you log in, AND change your passwords frequently. Be incredibly diligent with Social Media and Financial accounts!

It’s summertime! For many of us that means vacation time, whether road trips nearby or flights far away. Chris calls me a “road warrior” and I’ve picked up some essential travel apps along the way for my summer travel.  Most of these apps are free for basic info. Some have a monthly or annual fee with additional features. Bookmark this post so you can refer to the proper app when  you need it.

Weather

Wherever you are, you need to be aware of your surroundings. Here are the apps I use at home, for summer travel, and on road trips:

• General: WeatherUnderground. Hands down. There’s a plethora of information for each location, including Air Quality Index which is helpful if I’m in an area with wildfire smoke. Apple Android
• Just for fun: WTForecast gives you the weather and provides sage/humorous advice. My forecast the other day was “Go outside. It’s f…g sunny. And take the trash out while you’re there.” Apple Android

Storms & Bad Weather

There’s weather, and then there is bad weather!

• Lightning: I’ve bookmarked the LightningMaps.org site. I use it when I want to know how far away that last strike was, or if it’s safe to go swimming.
• Wind: One of my favorite apps is available from Nullschool Technologies. The developer created the Earth app “to pursue my passion of blending software and art to make Earth science accessible to everyone.” This is a beautiful app! Play with the options. You can see Waves, Particulates, and Space/ Auroras.
• Aurora/Northern Lights: I use “My Aurora Forecast & Alerts”. This app shows me the KP index for my location as well as the percentage chance of seeing the Aurora in the next hour. I’ve turned alerts on and I’ll sometimes get an alert tone in the middle of the night! I like that it shows the intensity of the aurora in my area, and what the cloud cover is like. Apple Android
• Wildfires and Smoke: While wildfire haze provides great sunset photos, it’s nice to not travel to an area that is already burning. I use InciWeb to track fires and AirNow to track smoke in the US. These are both US Government sites, so neither of them tracks wildfires out side of the US. (It also appears that neither is tracking fires in Alaska at this time. If you’re traveling to Alaska, use this site.) Here’s info for Canada, and I’ve found this map which tracks fires, earthquakes, and volcanoes worldwide.
• Hurricanes: I like the NOAA site.  It tracks hurricanes in the North Atlantic, Central Pacific (Hawaii), and Eastern Pacific (California & Mexico coasts).
• YouTube weather channel: If you’ve heard about a big storm coming in the US, check out the Ryan Hall Y’All channel.

Travel

However you’re traveling, there’s an app for that:

• Plane: When will your favorite aunt land? Is her flight on time? I use FlightRadar24 to track flights. This app works whether you have the exact flight number or just know where the plane is flying from and to. If I’ve got a loud plane or helicopter overhead, I’ll check that out too.  You can actually see all the air traffic, even weather balloons traveling at an altitude of 57,000 feet! Apple Android
• Roads: I’ve been using Waze to plan my road trips. I can see my speed, the local speed limit, all kinds of hazards – debris, a big pothole, construction, accidents, slow traffic, or potential speed traps. It calculates the tolls along the route and gives options for toll-free roads. (Note: Waze is owned by Google and collects my data – and yours, but I think it’s the best app for road trips.) Apple Android
• Outdoors: The Gaia GPS app is great for hiking. You can drop a pin at your favorite overlook, see elevation gains, and record your trail. The National Park Service app shows all the activities available at our National Parks. Want to see wildlife? Look at the stars? Want to see all the National Parks located in your state? This is where you go. Remember, that many National Parks now require a reservation to enter, so plan ahead!
• Elevation: Many people already have an altimeter built into their SmartWatch. If you don’t have a SmartWatch and you’re already paying for AllTrails.com, Strava.com, or another running/biking app, use that. (I can’t find a good free alternative.)
• Indigenous People Worldwide: If you’ve ever wondered who originally lived where you’re wandering today, download the Native Lands app. You can see the extent of their Territory and what language they spoke. Apple Android

Miscellaneous iPhone Utilities:

• Language translation: I’ve been using the Apple “Translate” app. Select the two languages, and then you can either type or speak the word or phrase. It will show the translation, and you can click the “play” button to hear it. Chris was on a bus once where the driver didn’t speak English. There was bad weather, the road was closed, and they had to take a detour. The driver had the Translate app and was able to provide information to the passengers.
• Currency translation: The Apple calculator gives you an easy way to translate dollars into many other currencies. Click on the image of a calculator on the bottom left of the Calculator app and slide the “Convert” tab to “on”. Then select the two currencies.
• Location: My kids do a lot of backcountry hiking, and I’m happy they’ve turned on their location in the “Find My” app. I can see where their phones are and when they’re back from their hike. This is something you can turn on and off if you don’t want to share your location 24/7.

Conclusion:

Wherever your summer travel take you, use these travel apps to plan your road trips and stay aware of your surroundings. Enjoy the summertime! (And if you need remote PC support while traveling, give us a call!)

Recommended Messaging Apps

We’ve had several customers ask us about secure messaging recently. Last year it was disclosed that text messages between Apple and Android don’t use End-to-End Encryption (E2EE). This means (theoretically) that a message your iPhone sends to your friend’s Android could be compromised and read by others. Almost everyone we text with has an iPhone, but there are a few people who don’t.

With Facebook/ Meta tracking and retaining almost everything about its users, we need to look elsewhere for secure messaging.  Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp (owned by Facebook/Meta) are not recommended. Many people use WhatsApp to communicate with relatives and friends overseas. It may be time to look for a more secure channel. Facebook/Meta accesses and stores a lot of data about you. They then use this data to target ads, and sell your information to advertisers and other companies.* Some of this information includes:

• Name
• Email
• Phone
• Message content
• Photos & videos
• Browsing History
• Political Views
• Sexual Orientation
• Health Information
• Location
• Contacts

It’s time for a deep dive into Secure Messaging apps.

Messaging Apps:

Besides Messenger and WhatsApp, some of the other Messaging Apps you may have heard of include Briar, Element, Matrix, Session, Telegram, Threema, Tox, Wire, and Signal. I’ll look at each with the following criteria in mind:

Criteria:

• has End-to-End-Encryption (E2EE)
• is free to sign up and use
• has Two Factor Authentication (2FA)
• allows texting, phone calls, and video calls.
• Only collects and stores a minimum of personal data.
• Works with Apple and Android
• Ease of use – can you convince your non-techy friends to use it too?

Summary of each Secure Messaging App:

Briar:

Briar only works with Android.

Element:

Element has 2FA, is free for most users, works with Apple and Android, has decentralized servers, and works with Apple and Android. Why are we not recommending it? Everything I’m reading indicates that it is difficult to set up. That will turn a lot of my friends off.

Matrix:

Although Matrix.org ticks all the security boxes, it’s a bloated, slow app, and it doesn’t appear you can easily message others.

Session:

Session doesn’t use true 2FA for authentication. I’ve also seen reports that Session texting is slow.

Telegram:

This app requires access to your Contact list and does not have full E2EE.

Threema:

Based on my research, everything else being equal, I would recommend Threema over other apps EXCEPT for 2 things. First, it’s not free ($4), so you’ll have a hard time getting your contacts to convert. Second, it’s not widely used, except in Germany. As Chris says about adopting new technology: “Cutting edge is good. Bleeding edge is not.”

Tox:

Tox does not use true 2FA.

Wire:

Wire does not have 2FA.

Signal:

Signal is the app that we recommend. It’s got E2EE, works with Apple and Android, and only collects your phone number. I started using it a few months ago and have convinced many of my non-technical friends to also make the switch. The one downside is that it uses centralized servers. For reasons that I don’t understand, decentralized servers are better. (Chris explained it to me, but it didn’t stick!) Signal allows audio and video calls in addition to texting.

Recent news about Signal doesn’t concern me. The reasons this was a problem are a) The person setting up the group chat included several people they shouldn’t have included, and b) US law states that government communications of this type must be preserved indefinitely. This chat was set up to delete all messages within a few weeks. There were other reasons, but those are the biggies. This was more “user error” than a flaw in the app.

Signal also allows audio and video calls. Audio calls work great, I haven’t tested video calls yet.

Secure Messaging – Conclusion: 

Download the Signal app and start asking your friends & family to use it too. One friend is already using Signal to communicate with family overseas. Setting it up gives you the choice of having people find you by phone number. I clicked the “NO” button there. I’ve recommended Signal in the past. Here’s an article about Signal from 2018, about the time I stopped using Facebook Messenger.

* (Twitter does the same thing, but it isn’t generally used as a messaging app.)

I don’t know about you, but when I think “Spring Cleaning”, I’m thinking about dust bunnies, not my technology. What about you? Do you think about Spring Cleaning your tech? Here are some tips for you:

Spring Cleaning Your Tech – aka Computer Maintenance:

FIRST – ANTI-VIRUS:

Take a minute every month or so to scan your computer for viruses. Many of our customers use ESET, which Chris has recommended for years. It’s easy to do. Just open the ESET/NOD32 app and click on “Scan Your Computer”. It will run in the background while you continue working. When it’s done, it will tell you and let you know if it has found anything suspicious.

SECOND – BACKUPS:

Back up your computer regularly, especially if you have precious data on it. I use Dropbox, which backs up everything automatically. Also, the Dropbox app is on my phone so that I can access files from anywhere. The “Starred” folder is where I keep my frequently used files. These come up first, so I don’t have to search for them. I keep insurance documents and other essential papers and frequently accessed Word and Excel files in that folder.

THIRD – PHOTOS:

Purchase several thumb drives and make a copy of the photo albums you have stored on your computer. (I like this one with dual USB-C and USB-A for convenience.)  Keep one and give the rest as gifts to your kids, parents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc.

FOURTH – PASSWORDS:

There have been several significant data breaches recently, and the hackers have lists of birthdays, SS numbers, addresses, and associated passwords! Change your passwords for financial accounts now, and set a reminder to change it every month! That includes your checking, savings, and investment accounts. Don’t forget about any app or website where you’ve saved credit card information, like eBay, PayPal, Amazon, etc.

FIFTH – 2FA:

While you’re at it, please change the password on ALL of your social media accounts. This is especially true if you have a business account. Set up two-factor-authorization (2FA) at the same time. We’re getting a lot of requests about hacked Facebook or Instagram accounts. I haven’t heard any success stories here. Once your Facebook account is out of your control, there really isn’t a way to get it back.

Conclusion: 

Today is a great day to run your virus scanner, change passwords, and back up your data!