Microsoft Phone Scam and Reading Meme
Jul. 22nd, 2015 08:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. There's a nasty Microsoft Phone Scam going around. A computerized voice called me - to inform me that my computer was sending weird signals and to press one to talk to a Microsoft Engineer. I hung up. (Because Microsoft doesn't do that. And I happen to have a MAC operating system so it doesn't apply.) And then looked it up on the internet. Here is what snopes has to say about it:
Microsoft does not make unsolicited phone calls to help you fix your computer
In this scam cybercriminals call you and claim to be from Microsoft Tech Support. They offer to help solve your computer problems. Once the crooks have gained your trust, they attempt to steal from you and damage your computer with malware including viruses and spyware.
Although law enforcement can trace phone numbers, perpetrators often use pay phones, disposable cellular phones, or stolen cellular phone numbers. It's better to avoid being conned rather than try to repair damage afterwards.
Treat all unsolicited phone calls with skepticism. Do not provide any personal information.
If you receive an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft Tech Support, hang up. We do not make these kinds of calls.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/microsoft.asp#lk6AqGZlOAXzkWPS.99
By the way? The fact-checking sites are snopes.com or factcheck.org.
2. Wed Reading Meme
* Just finished
The Gods of Gotham by Lindsey Fray for a book club that's meeting in August. It's the first book in a mystery series by Fray. Sort of similar in tone and style to Caleb Carr's The Alienist, except I liked The Alienist slightly better. The book is well researched, and told in dialect, with lots of 19th century slang. It takes place in 1845 NYC just after a historic fire. And concerns the first police force. Reminds me a little bit of the television series "Copper" in tone and characters. The detective is a newly minted copper who has been tasked with discovering the murderer of 19 poor orphaned Irish children (kinchen) found in unmarked graves. Except all is not what it seems.
Examines religious prejudice at the time in some amount of depth. Each chapter has a snippet from Protestant 1800 historical texts condemning the Irish immigrants and in particular the Catholic Church. The view is - how can you worship God if you are deifying a Pope or going through the POPE to hear God's word? The idolatry of the Pope or Papacy is what the Protestants objected to and condemned many of the Catholic immigrants. The religious and racial prejudice in the book against the new Irish immigrants is reminiscent of the current prejudice in the US against the Hispanic/Mexican immigrants.
People were upset with immigrants who came in and took their jobs for lower wages, or no benefits.
They felt the immigrants were taking away their homes, their jobs, etc. They didn't need more competition.
Another major theme in the book is sexism or gender inequality - women struggle in this book. But they are rather powerful in their own right. Far more so than in some other books that I've read regarding this time period. But the occupations open to them for money or trade are limited.
(For example there are no women cops or firemen or politicians. The most powerful woman in the story is a Madam at a brothel.)
Other issues touched on are sexual orientation and racism based on "Color" not just nationality.
What I'm Reading Now
Sort of re-reading Anne McCaffrey's Dragon-Riders of Pern, but it's not really holding up as a re-read. I remember loving this series when I was 12 years of age. But I also loved Battle Star Galatica, Battle of the Planets, Wonder Woman, and Star Wars. Of the four, Star Wars is the only one that really still has much weight behind it. It's not bad, it's just...not what I remembered. The dialogue is a bit stale, and the descriptions perfunctory. I'm looking for something with a bit of romance, some adventure, mystery, and a bit of a thriller. I'm not finding it. It's either too much romance or too much thriller or too much mystery...
I might try the Spymaster series...but it slants too heavily on the romance end. I could just go ahead and buy the new Illona Andrews book out on August 15 - but $15 for a Kindle edition seems pricy to me. Particularly if it will go down to $5 in about two-three years.
Microsoft does not make unsolicited phone calls to help you fix your computer
In this scam cybercriminals call you and claim to be from Microsoft Tech Support. They offer to help solve your computer problems. Once the crooks have gained your trust, they attempt to steal from you and damage your computer with malware including viruses and spyware.
Although law enforcement can trace phone numbers, perpetrators often use pay phones, disposable cellular phones, or stolen cellular phone numbers. It's better to avoid being conned rather than try to repair damage afterwards.
Treat all unsolicited phone calls with skepticism. Do not provide any personal information.
If you receive an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft Tech Support, hang up. We do not make these kinds of calls.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/microsoft.asp#lk6AqGZlOAXzkWPS.99
By the way? The fact-checking sites are snopes.com or factcheck.org.
2. Wed Reading Meme
* Just finished
The Gods of Gotham by Lindsey Fray for a book club that's meeting in August. It's the first book in a mystery series by Fray. Sort of similar in tone and style to Caleb Carr's The Alienist, except I liked The Alienist slightly better. The book is well researched, and told in dialect, with lots of 19th century slang. It takes place in 1845 NYC just after a historic fire. And concerns the first police force. Reminds me a little bit of the television series "Copper" in tone and characters. The detective is a newly minted copper who has been tasked with discovering the murderer of 19 poor orphaned Irish children (kinchen) found in unmarked graves. Except all is not what it seems.
Examines religious prejudice at the time in some amount of depth. Each chapter has a snippet from Protestant 1800 historical texts condemning the Irish immigrants and in particular the Catholic Church. The view is - how can you worship God if you are deifying a Pope or going through the POPE to hear God's word? The idolatry of the Pope or Papacy is what the Protestants objected to and condemned many of the Catholic immigrants. The religious and racial prejudice in the book against the new Irish immigrants is reminiscent of the current prejudice in the US against the Hispanic/Mexican immigrants.
People were upset with immigrants who came in and took their jobs for lower wages, or no benefits.
They felt the immigrants were taking away their homes, their jobs, etc. They didn't need more competition.
Another major theme in the book is sexism or gender inequality - women struggle in this book. But they are rather powerful in their own right. Far more so than in some other books that I've read regarding this time period. But the occupations open to them for money or trade are limited.
(For example there are no women cops or firemen or politicians. The most powerful woman in the story is a Madam at a brothel.)
Other issues touched on are sexual orientation and racism based on "Color" not just nationality.
What I'm Reading Now
Sort of re-reading Anne McCaffrey's Dragon-Riders of Pern, but it's not really holding up as a re-read. I remember loving this series when I was 12 years of age. But I also loved Battle Star Galatica, Battle of the Planets, Wonder Woman, and Star Wars. Of the four, Star Wars is the only one that really still has much weight behind it. It's not bad, it's just...not what I remembered. The dialogue is a bit stale, and the descriptions perfunctory. I'm looking for something with a bit of romance, some adventure, mystery, and a bit of a thriller. I'm not finding it. It's either too much romance or too much thriller or too much mystery...
I might try the Spymaster series...but it slants too heavily on the romance end. I could just go ahead and buy the new Illona Andrews book out on August 15 - but $15 for a Kindle edition seems pricy to me. Particularly if it will go down to $5 in about two-three years.
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Microsoft Scam
Date: 2015-07-23 02:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-23 04:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
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