COMPUTER TIPS

E-mail postcards can be spam generators
Consumers are getting more spam mail than regular mail every day, and it's quite annoying. Companies have to give you an opportunity to "remove yourself" from spam mail. But often times, when you click on the link to do so, you are simply verifying that your e-mail is valid. It means you'll get even more spam!

Also, when you are sending e-mail greeting cards and postcards, you must enter your e-mail and the recipients e-mail address. Some of these companies are collecting that information solely to spam you, according to PC magazine. So, stick to sites that you know and trust when sending these cards.


Beating modem hijackers and pop-ups!
An old, but evil scam is back bigger than ever, according to a report in the St. Petersburg Times. It targets people on the Internet who use a dial-up connection. DSL and cable subscribers are not affected. What happens is you're surfing at home, and a pop-up appears. You try to click out of it, but you don't quite hit the "X." And when you're not at home or on the computer, or when you're asleep, a dialer program takes over your telephone line and makes calls to places you've never heard of.

Your phone has been hijacked. Unfortunately, the phone industry has taken the position that you are responsible for the charges. That is ridiculous. There is a lot of gray matter when it comes to resolving these issues. The industry knows all about it, but many companies claim they don't know anything about it. Verizon is at least notifying customers that it is going on. But, the only solution is to get "international call block" on your phone if you have no need to make international calls.


Don't respond to e-mails "phishing" for info
More spam mail than real e-mail now comes to our Inboxes these days, and some of it can be very deceiving. "Pre-text" e-mails are cons that look like official e-mails from companies with whom you do business. It's also known as "phishing." And two major corporations have put out warnings today about these e-mails.

The first regards an e-mail that looks like it comes from Citibank. The other is from AT&T. The Citibank e-mail claims that people must "verify their account" by clicking on a link in the e-mail. They come from Citibank security or accounts management, so they look official. And they claim that the company will have to cancel the account until the identity is verified. So, people quickly enter personal and financial information to avoid bouncing checks and other problems. AT&T's e-mail looks very official as well. It says that you need to resubmit your credit card information for billing on your Internet service. And, this is going on with tons of companies.

AOL has had problems, and Charles Schwab has information set up on its Web site specifically about these problems. You never know what can happen when this information gets in the wrong hands, so do not give out any information through these e-mails. If you're having a problem with one of the companies you do business with, contact that company directly over the phone.