Ever wonder how in the world you get one of those emails that says that a long lost relative left millions of dollars in the bank, in some country, and if you reply, you could get all that money?

Well, today, a customer passed along a nice link that was a 3-part interview with a “419″ scammer. You’re not the only person out there that receives these emails – even Protocol16 receives them…

We always recommend that our customers educate themselves, and this is some very good reading to see why you should just delete these emails as quickly as you can.
Justin

It didn’t take long, but the scammers have already started spamming for Haitian relief. I actually received my first scam for Haitian relief last night and while it looked legitimate, it wasn’t. I also received another spam early this morning that was legitimate – how do you tell the difference?

It’s hard to tell the difference, but there is one thing to keep in mind. Stay away from any email that lists web addresses to go to. Many of these sites can be built to look like the real thing, complete with credit card processing, in under 2 hours. Stay away from mobile phone texting numbers that you don’t know about as well. Texting the wrong number can cost much more than you realize, and the amount doesn’t go to a good cause.

Here are legitimate donation sites and numbers to text to: (This is, by no means, a full list)

Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/ – Red “Donate” button on top right.

Doctors without Borders: http://doctorswithoutborders.org/ – Red “Donate” button on top right.

CARE: http://www.care.org/ – “Donate Now” button in middle of page.

UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org/ - Yellow “Haiti Earthquake Donate Now” on right of page.

$10 Donation for Wireless Subscribers: text ” HAITI ” to 90999 to make a $10 donation that is billed to your cell phone. 100% of all money donated will be passed on to the Red Cross.

$5 Donation for Wireless Subscribers: text ” YELE ” to 501501 to make a $5 donation that is billed to your cell phone. Campaign run by Wyclef Jean and Yele Haiti.

To see who is donating (larger businesses) and their amounts, visit the Huffington Post’s Relief Round Up page.

Again, this post is completely meant to protect you, your credit and your donations. If something doesn’t look right, it just may very well be a scam. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Justin

[Edit: As of 17Jan10, CNN has put together a story on this topic as well, complete with FBI commentary.]

There is a new scam going around that everyone in Portland needs to know about. There is a new type of scam going around that computer repair companies are attempting that really don’t work, and could leave you in a serious world of hurt if you let these people into your computer.

A company called “Click & Fix” was spotted, over Christmas, making phone calls to random people stating that their computer was letting information onto the internet and that they would fix it for you, for a fee. All you have to do is hand over credit card information and open a file or web address to allow them access to your location.

If you’ve been reading my articles or seen the video’s I occasionally put up, you don’t want to give credit card information out to people you don’t know over the phone or in software that magically shows up and holds your computer for ransom… Please be careful, afterall, we have a whole new year to go through!

As always, if you have anything to share, anything you’ve seen or just have a question, please feel free to contact us!
Justin