A really useful security enhancement to your phone is to implement a SIM lock which ensures that only the pairing of your phone with your SIM can be used together. Thus meaning that a SIM taken out of your phone cannot be used in another phone to receive confirmation text messages in financial scams.
Towards the bottom of the post the procedures to be followed are described. You just need to remember the PIN you’ve given to the SIM to lock it, as without that it will be IMPOSSIBLE to reconnect your phone to your SIM and your phone number.
As hardware/software has developed, has enough consideration been paid to redundancy (ie failsafe solutions). This article, whilst bemoaning the underlying architecture of Microsoft’s Windows operating systems (since Windows 3.1), points more widely to the way that modern systems don’t really address the issue of … “What if this happens, then what?”
Always good to get a review of the latest scams, and to put your mind at rest too. I intend to write another post for the Cardiff u3a website soon, and this article will be useful background …
[A short series of posts that I aim to also put up on the Digital Matters page of the Cardiff u3a website]
If you watched Rip Off Britain on January 15th [Episode 35 of Series 15 at c. 29mins 45secs into the programme] you will see an expert describe the Scam that one of our members has experienced recently and which has led me to write this post which may well be the first of a number on the subject of Scams.
This scam manifests itself by your computer screen being taken over by a popup which also freezes your screen. You are instructed by a voice-over not to turn off your machine but instead to ring a telephone number where you will be “assisted” to unlock your computer which has been locked – in this case supposedly by Microsoft, but it could be any large tech company – for your protection.
This alarming message plus the fact that your screen has frozen may lead you into thinking you better click on the button to seemingly connect to Microsoft. This will lead to a telephone conversation where you will be requested to supply information that will undoubtedly lead to fraud.
Do nothing!
Note well: No tech company will approach you in this way. They will not be doing this form of online monitoring of your devices. In this case the scam is preying on the fact that you are being led to think that your Windows Defender Security package is not working properly. No tech company would readily admit to its users of a deficiency in their programs in this way – that could lead potentially to legal action being taken against them. For a genuine issue they might issue an alert on their webpages and a request to upgrade (or whatever), or they might be forced to send an email to registered users, but they would not send unsolicited messages in this way.
It is important to realise that with this scam, at this stage, the scammers know NOTHING about you. The scam works by malicious code having been added to a website you are visiting, or to an advert on the website you are visiting. The simple solution is to press F11 to unlock your screen, note the website address and make a note not to go to that site again. [I would probably also recommend clearing your internet cache and history from your browser before closing down your computer; waiting a few moments; and then re-booting it.]
The more long-term solution is to install an Ad Blocker such as AdBlock Plus as an extension to your browser. This would act in conjunction with your standard security software which on a Windows machine could well be Windows Defender.
Happy, safer surfing.
If you want to see the recording of the message that our Digital Matters member made of the scam, watch the video below …
Here’s a video that explains what a Virtual Private Network does. I use NordVPN, but I must remember to switch it off when in the house as it’s quite unnecessary behind my router. It is useful when travelling however, and some might say essential when cruising.
The second half is a bit techie and can be skipped if all you want to do is understand what it does and how it can be used.
Ian recently had problems with his phone in which he lost his past Signal conversations. Renee had a similar problem last year as I recall. For those changing their phone and not wanting to lose their Signal conversations, this might be a useful link – https://screenrant.com/signal-transfer-conversations-new-iphone-android/
A piece of software that sits on your device and hides your IP address and user credentials from “snooping” network users. Of particular value when connecting to an unsecured public network (eg a cafe). Normally unnecessary on a home network when connecting to you router, but it obviously can provide additional security and hides your device completely from the internet.
One additional use that they have is that because you can choose the geographical location of the VPN server you wish to connect through, you can logically (or virtually) place yourself in a different country, thus enabling you to appear to be in the UK – when abroad (so that you can watch UK TV); or alternatively appear to be in a different country from home (when assessing alternative cost options for say a holiday).
— Forum Responses —
Thanks for this, I am looking at NordVPN for location shifting.
If I sign up can I use it on 2 Android phones, W10 Computer, and Android Tablet, all on one subscription ?
