Spam
JAI GURU DEVA OM!!!
Saturday, March 15th, 2008Nothing’s gonna change my world….
Nothing’s gonna change my world….
Nothing’s gonna change my world….
Nothing’s gonna change my world….
fleire: pokyyyy
fleire: pocky
fleire: picky
Paul Mark Tubal: ricky
Paul Mark Tubal: bobby
fleire: how’s the being weird coming along
Paul Mark Tubal: oh you know
Paul Mark Tubal: just hanging around
Paul Mark Tubal: being a mushroom nobody is cool
fleire
The difference between a journalist and a blogger…
Thursday, March 13th, 2008The difference between a journalist and a blogger is that journalists have to adhere to certain guidelines that govern the freedom of speech. …………….. However, I simply detest people who place vicious comments and slanderous statements in blogs yet sign their messages as ‘anonymous.’ If you have something to say, don’t hide behind a false [...]
Comments awaiting moderation
Thursday, February 28th, 2008Ay naku! Talagang di ko ma gets why people or maybe robots will leave spam comments using sex enhancing drugs like Viagra* or Cialis*.
Is it not enough for them to spam the comments and leave an anonymous name or baka nga talaga Viagra and Cialis have budget to pay for commenters to do this. Sa [...]
Avoid WordPress comment spam in two steps!
Friday, February 22nd, 2008For months now, this blog has been freed from comment spam I used to experience before because I found out the most effective ways to avoid WordPress spam.
1. Deactivating Akismet. Previously, I was getting at least 200 spam comments per day. I had to scan them one-by-one because some comments were filtered as spam by Akismet. Out of frustration, I deactivated the plugin with thoughts of completely avoiding these spam messages. True enough, I have not received spam comments since then.
Note: Do not delete Akismet from the plugins directory because you’re blog may experience another spam flood.
2. Install a spam blocking plugin. Currently I am using Matriphe Keycode, one of the best anti spam plugins I’ve ever used.
Zango Support: Zango is not a threat
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008I just noticed that an allegedly Zango Support personnel posted a comment on one of my published posts in BlogEngage where I was talking about how the Zango software posed as a threat. Just to give them the benefit of the doubt, I would like to post his comment:
Zango Support says:
In the above post Zango is listed as a threat.
We would like to correct this listing.
Zango is a safe and secure program which will not harm users’ computer.
We are certainly aware of the ever-growing number of harmful applications that have surfaced on the Web.
Please be assured that Zango, unlike such applications, will always make the user’s privacy our top priority. Zango is a safe and secure program which installs itself only upon user’s download and does nothing without the user’s consent.
Following are some clarifications on the function of Zango’s software:1. Zango does not build personal profiles.
2. Zango does not gather any data you enter in online forms.
3. Zango does not access any sensitive information entered while surfing, such as account details, passwords, credit card information, products you purchase online, etc.
4. Zango’s installation does not install any third party applications. In addition, Zango can be installed only through a standard download process initiated by the user from Zango’s websites and is easy to uninstall.
Unfortunately, it appears that some scanning applications have mistakenly included Zango on their lists. We are aware of this situation and our legal team is contacting these companies in order to be removed from their lists.
Zango is a user friendly program, and it is of paramount importance to us that our program will function properly and will be easily installed and removed
You can remove Zango from your computer via “Add\Remove programs” (Start -> Control Panel -> Add\Remove programs), you may use our uninstaller and you may also use the uninstall instructions we offer under the Zango component in the program’s list
To remove Zango from your computer, please do the following:
1. Close all open applications/programs/windows
2. Go to: ‘Start’ - ‘Settings’ - ‘Control Panel’ - ‘Add\Remove Programs’
3. Click on ‘Zango Browser and Wowpapers Tools’
4. Click ‘Change/Remove’ button
5. Check the components you wish to remove, click ‘Next’ and follow the on-screen instructions.
6. Restart your computer
Alternatively, you can use our uninstaller:
1. Click on the following link - http://installs.zango.com/downloads/Uninstaller/Uninstaller.exe
2. Click ‘Run’ and follow on-screen instructions
3. Restart your computer.
Zango support team can be easily contacted through our help site:
http://catalog.zango.com/destination/corporate/supportform.aspx
or directly at: zangocustomersupport@zango.com
Just few reminders before installing this software:
1. Zango software clearly states in their applications that “In exchange for free access to Zango Games (or any of their programs for that matter), users are shown 2-3 targeted Websites while browsing online.”
2. Symantec and McAfee, two of the reputable internet and computer security software companies, listed Zango as malicious software.
3. StopBadware.org lists a number of undesirable behaviors associated with Zango Easy Messenger, including “behaves as spyware”, “automatically runs on startup”, “displays pop-up advertisements”, “installs adware”, and “bundled software cannot be closed”. Wikipedia
4. Zango, formerly 180solutions and Hotbar, is listed at Wikipedia’s “Well-known adware programs”
5. A great discussion about “180solutions’s Misleading Installation Methods” was posted after several issues were raised about Zango.
Tags:Anti Spam, Computer, e mail viruses, Internet, Online Tips, Spam, Spam Filter, Technology, Tips
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Lesson to Learn: Never open an anonymous e-mail
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Especially if contains an attachment. Most likely, it contains a virus.
Just few minutes ago, I received e-mails from an unknown wlifer007 containing attachments. Out of curiosity (and of stupidity because I was already suspecting it contained viruses), I opened the e-mails, tried to download the attachments. Good thing Yahoo! Mail has built-in Norton Anti-virus, which has effectively detected the e-mail worm, named W32.Blackmal.E@mm!enc.
I tried to look for the worm definitions and here are what I found out:
W32.Blackmal.E@mm is a mass-mailing worm that attempts to spread through network shares and lower security settings. On the third day of every month it attempts to rewrite files with certain extensions with custom text.
The e-mails I have received contained this files: eBook.Uu, Video_part.mim, and Attachments00.HQX.
Here’s what I should have done:
1. I should have not opened the e-mail in the first place, because the sender was stranger to me.
2. I should have not tried to download the attachment, even if Yahoo! Mail has a built-in antivirus scanner because not all viruses can be detected.
3. I was already suspicious, so I should have followed my instincts.
4. I already had this lesson before and even posted tips about it, I should have followed it.
Tags:Anti Spam, Computer, E mail Frauds, e mail viruses, Internet, Online Tips, Spam, Spam Filter, Tips
Read 58 times by 30 visitors
How to Spot a Fake Paypal E-mail?
Friday, January 18th, 2008Recently, Tim of BeThumbed PayPal account was hacked because of filling up a fake form which was purportedly sent by a Paypal staff. I’ve also received a similar e-mail, but I just ignored it. Good thing I was busy blogging at that time that I totally forgot about the e-mail. I also logged in directly to their website to read if similar announcement appeared in their “What’s New” section.
Paypal had been particular in securing their merchants’ accounts. They provided tips on how to protect your account.
Fake Paypal vs Real Paypal e-mails:
- A fake Paypal e-mail usually contains greetings like “Dear PayPal user” or “Dear PayPal Member”. A real Paypal e-mail addresses the member by his/her first and last name or the business name associated with your PayPal account.
- A fake Paypal e-mail usually does not contain your e-mail address as recipient, especially if it was sent by an autobot mailers like what most hackers use.
- I have also observed that real Paypal e-mails contain a copyright footer containing the PayPal e-mail ID at the bottom.
Copyright © 1999-2007 PayPal. All rights reserved.
Consumer advisory- PayPal Pte. Ltd., the holder of PayPal’s stored value
facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Users are advised to read the terms and conditions carefully.PayPal Email ID
Dave Taylor provided 10 helpful tips on how you can recognize fake Paypal e-mails.
Tags:Anti Spam, Blogging, Chain E mails, chain letters, Computer, E mail Frauds, e mail viruses, How To, Internet, Internet Scams, Online Tips, PayPal, Prevent Spam, Spam, Spam Filter, Tips
Read 67 times by 34 visitors
Beware: Fake ‘Bangko Sentral’ scam e-mail
Friday, December 14th, 2007A new scam e-mail purportedly coming from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raises alarm.
The e-mail is designed like the previous Nigerian, Western Union scam e-mails in which personal information and bank accounts are gathered that can be used for fraudulent acts and crimes.
“Please beware as this comes from a syndicate using the name of our central bank and our governor to gain information that could be used possibly for fraudulent activities. We request you therefore to disregard this spurious message and to warn your family and friends against this scam,” the BSP said in a statement.
“For the record, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is not in the business of safekeeping money or gold or other valuables for private individuals,” it added.
The BSP through the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has solicited the help of several international agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States to track down, stop and possibly prosecute its perpetrators.
The BSP said recipients of the fake e-mail should report it to the bank at tel no. 523-4832, fax no. 523-6210 or to the AMLC at 523-4421 or 536-7358. ABS-CBNNews.com
The FBI advisory said the scam e-mail informs the recipient that he has received a large amount of money, free of any liens or encumbrances. It asks the recipient to send his full name, address, contact information, occupation, age and sex to mr_tetangco@gmail.com, which is allegedly the BSP governor’s personal e-mail address.
If you receive similar e-mails, the best way to avoid getting scammed is rejecting it, especially if the sender was unfamiliar to you. Just by looking at the e-mail also, you will already know if it’s scam or not.
Tags:Anti Spam, Internet, Online Tips, Spam, Tips
Read 61 times by 26 visitors
Beware of phishing
Wednesday, November 14th, 2007Recently, a blogger acquaintance of mine got his Gmail account hacked into and hijacked. The hijacker then proceeded to send out scam emails to this blogger’s contacts, basically asking for money. My friend, Richard, may have been a victim of phishing. As a result, he couldn’t access his Blogger account either, so he had to [...]
A Western Union Money Transfer Scam?
Friday, November 2nd, 2007How to recognize phishing scams and fraudulent e-mails?
Sender: “Mark James”
Subject: WESTERN UNION PAYMENT UPDATE
Message:
Dear Sir/Madam, There is an issue with the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER in the amount of $500,000.00 USD directed in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03, at the owner of this email address. The International Monetary Fund contacted us for your compensation a couple of hours ago due to your allocated security code. They said that they choose to send it to an email address instead of a name. We are unable to complete a transfer directed at an email address,so we require some more information in order to complete this transfer. FULL NAME: FULL CONTACT ADDRESS: MOBILE PHONE NUMBER: OCCUPATION: MARITAL STATUS AND AGE: In order to resolve this problem,please email us immediately. As soon as this information is received,and you have complied with the requirements of payment of the western union charges, payment will be made to your nominated bank account or at the counter directly from The Western Union Transfering Bank. When emailing,please use reference number 250-147 for our mutual convenience. THE MANAGEMENT OF WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER,OFFICE NIGERIA BRANCH. Sincerely, Mr Mark James. Western Union Payments Direct Email : markjamesx@ubbi.com
Here’s another scam email targeting unsuspecting internet users. I received this e-mail yesterday. I’ve been receiving similar e-mails before but I didn’t pay any attention to them. At first glance, I already knew that it was one of those phishing scams aiming to get valuable information from victims.
Why Western Union?
- Because Western Union Money Transfer has been used widely to transfer funds and payments due to its convenience and secured transactions. Even Google, the search and advertising giant are now opting payments through Western Union. Scammers took it as an advantage to attract victims.
Why is it a scam?
- The format of the addressee as Dear Sir/Madam. Phishing e-mail messages are usually sent out in bulk and often do not contain your first or last name. The phrase “at the owner of this email address” also depicts similar pattern.
- The phrase “please email us immediately.” conveys urgency so that you’ll respond immediately without thinking.
- An amount of $500,000.00 USD is no joke, thus information for claim should not be sent through ordinary e-mails instead, it should have been sent via registered e-mail.
- “They said that they choose to send it to an email address instead of a name.” Why should it be the case?
- A respected organization such as the International Monetary Fund or IMF should opt to channel any important information, instead it should have directly contacted the intended recipient.
- The sender’s e-mail address is hosted by a dating site.
- The general format of the letter. A formal business letter should be written in full block.
Scam Help and Resources:
Vancity.com provides some tips on how to spot phishing scams and fraudulent e-mails.
Microsoft has tips to recognize phishing scams and fraudulent e-mails.
Scam Resources. Use these “preventive” resources to protect yourself from being taken in by the latest scams (if it’s too late, these same resources will help you get justice). If you want to know if a company is a scam then check these resources.
Tags:Anti Spam, Chain E mails, chain letters, E mail Frauds, Internet, Internet Scams, Online Tips, Spam, Spam Filter, Tips
Read 69 times by 26 visitors
Why live in the Philippines?
Thursday, September 13th, 2007Here is what a well travelled Filipino has to say to people he meets along the way……. don’t you agree?
Because of the bad press this country is getting. When I travel people often ask me why I live in the Philippines . Well here it is.
It is the only place on earth……….
Di ko alam kung matatawa ako rito o maiinis….
*
Pinoys, Pinoy culture and Dattebayo
Saturday, September 8th, 2007This is a compilation of the officemates’ response to Dattebayo’s racist response “LOL @ Filipino TV”:
http://pepper.idge.net/slashdot/philipinos
Patrick Padilla:
Honestly, it’s an OUCH for us – but I think that this document states that we SHOULD NOT and SHOULD STOP impersonating others. The bad thing is that those Pinoys that got the “edge” are the ones trying to screw up other people’s
Ban text spam for good!
Friday, August 10th, 2007
The National Telecommunications had imposed a law about penalizing giant cellphone companies for sending unsolicited text messages composed mainly of advertisements and promotions. Smart Telecom was penalized a total of P20,800 and Globe of P12,200 for unwanted messages.
But the penalty imposed has not prevented these companies from sending spam text messages. I am a SMART subscriber and spam messages about the company’s latest promotions and offers, especially right after I reload my account, have been regular annoyance at my inbox, some of which, I admit, are tempting. Since these are spam, which rhymes with scam by the way, I do not easily succumb to them.
Why was this measure not effective? These maybe are few of the reasons:
1. Because a P20,800 is far incomparable to what they gain out of member subscriptions, which usually costs P2.50 (or P5.00 or more because there are offers which necessitates several texts for full registration). We are aware that these networks have millions of subscribers; probably half of it will subscribe, which may generate thousands of profit. Maybe P20,800 is not even a quarter of what they gain.
2. Although many has been complaining about spam messages, some also join these offers. The adage that goes “Walang manloloko kung walang magpapaloko” similarly applies to this case.
3. Lack of implementation of the law. Since the two cellphone giants have been penalized, have we heard of new penalties imposed? No.
Recently, Sen. Nene Pimentel proposed a law that will ban these spam messages. Under Senate Bill 1138, he proposes to bar telecommunications companies from sending unsolicited materials, such as commercial ads and contests to cellular phone subscribers via short message service or text, GMA News reports.
This was in response to the various complaints he received regarding these unsolicited text messages. Some subscribers also complained that these messages increased their phone bills or has resulted to rapid consumption call credit load of post-paid subscribers.
Under Senate Bill 1138, network companies are barred from sending unsolicited materials such as advertisements, offerings, promotions, subscriptions and other notifications to their subscribers via text or SMS.
The only exception is the sending of legitimate notices of past due accounts.
Violators would be fined between P20,000 to P100,000. A director, officer or employee found to have authorized or allowed the prohibited act shall likewise be fined P1,000 for the first offense; P2,000 for the second offense and P3,000 for the third offense
Image courtesy of Softpedia.com
Tags:Current Events, In the News, Philippine Politics, Philippines, Politics, Spam, Spam Filter, Technology
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E-gold is used in phishing activities
Sunday, June 24th, 2007Here’s another one of those ‘phishing’ e-mail scams that should aware internet users, especially e-Gold members. Last week, I received an e-mail from the “account robot” of e-Gold telling me to update my account information because it was ‘outdated.’
Click thumbnail to enlarge the picture.
I’ve been an e-Gold member since 2005 because of my money making activities before I signed up with Google Adsense.
I have not checked my e-Gold account for a long time so I felt obliged to check and change my profile. Without my suspecting that it was a scam, I clicked the link to the account login page. I didn’t know that the URL address was linking to a ‘phishing’ website. Good thing I have SiteAdvisor, a Mozilla Firefox extension, installed so I was redirected to a warning page about the website.
Why I didn’t suspect that it was a scam?
1. The e-mail was particularly sent to my e-mail address.
2. The e-mail was from a AccountRobot_donotreply@e-gold.com.
3. It has the company logo on it although I know that it is always possible to include it in a scam e-mail.
4. The link to privacy policy of e-Gold was included in the e-mail.
5. The overall appearance of the e-mail was not meant to scam.
I had so many questions when I found out that it was a phishing e-mail. First, how did this e-mail harvester know my e-Gold registered e-mail address? Does this mean that the privacy policy of e-Gold is not being followed? The privacy policy states that:
“Issuer” means e-gold Ltd., a Nevis Corporation.
- Unless (1) otherwise approved by User or (2) ordered by a court or arbitration body of acceptable jurisdiction, as determined by Issuer, Issuer shall not reveal User’s contact or identifying information or transaction history to any third party.
- Issuer will not store Passphrase in plaintext. No employee of Issuer will ever ask for User’s Passphrase.
Second, the sender has an e-mail account from e-Gold.com. Could this mean that it’s one of their staff who’s trying to scam the users? Hmm, could it be that there are bases for the previous accusations to e-Gold?
Tags:Blogging, Chain E mails, chain letters, Computer, E mail Frauds, e mail viruses, Internet, Internet Scams, Making Money Online, Spam
Read 52 times by 17 visitors
the promisecatering services
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007Scam Alert: You won $500! Yahoo!® Mail congratulates you!
Monday, March 19th, 2007You won $500! Yahoo!® Mail congratulates you!, the subject of an e-mail I have received yesterday said. Attractive subject, isn’t it? Curious about it, I hurriedly open the e-mail, of course with excitement to see the price I have “won”. It’s $500 for God’s sake! Although, I was already suspecting that it was fraud.
The e-mail [...]
How to make your Yahoo! Mail inbox spam-free?
Thursday, February 15th, 2007I am using Yahoo! Mail as my primary e-mail address provider because of its user-friendly interface. But ever since, I’ve already have a problem with its inefficient spam filter. I’ve blocked quite a number of spam e-mail addresses, but spam messages from these addresses still make their way to my inbox. I have tried numerous [...]
Smart and Globe Telecom were fined for text spam!
Wednesday, February 7th, 2007Jhay posted about the current pestilence of mobile world, spam text messages. I’ve been receiving promotional text messages and “free” inspiring quotes, feng shui tips, etc. from Smart every time I load up. I usually reload my cell phone thrice a week and it is how frequent I get those messages. Although they are helpful [...]