Don’t Get Scammed Over the Holidays (or Anytime)

The holidays are the perfect time for scammers to try and take advantage of you. A couple of these tips we’ve shared with you previously, but they’re worth repeating, along with some new ones.

Scammers PRETEND to be from an organization you know.

Scammers often pretend to be contacting you on behalf of the government or an organization you know. They might use a real name, like the Social Security Administration, the IRS, or Medicare, or make up a name that sounds official. Some pretend to be from a business you know, like a utility company, a tech company, or even a charity asking for donations. They use technology to change the phone number that appears on your caller ID. So the name and number you see might not be real.

Scammers say there’s a PROBLEM or a PRIZE.

They might say you’re in trouble with the government. Or you owe money. Or someone in your family had an emergency. Or that there’s a virus on your computer. Some scammers say there’s a problem with one of your accounts and that you need to verify some information. Others will lie and say you won money in a lottery or sweepstakes but must pay a fee to get it.

Scammers PRESSURE you to act immediately.

Scammers want you to act before you have time to think. If you’re on the phone, they might tell you not to hang up so you can’t check out their story. They might threaten to arrest you, sue you, take away your driver’s or business license, or deport you. They might say your computer is about to be corrupted.

Scammers tell you to PAY in a specific way.

They often insist that you pay by using cryptocurrency, by wiring money through a company like MoneyGram or Western Union, or by putting money on a gift card and then giving them the number on the back. Some will send you a check (that will later turn out to be fake), then tell you to deposit it and send them money. Some will even ask you for your bank routing information and then actually put a small amount of money in your account. But then with the same routing information, they debit money from your account. 

Take These Six Precautions to Avoid a Scam:

1. Block unwanted calls and text messages. Take steps to block unwanted calls and to filter unwanted text messages that are built into iPhone and Android phones.
2. Don’t give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn’t expect. Honest organizations won’t call, email, or text to ask for your personal information, like your Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers.
3. If you get an email or text message from a company you do business with and you think it’s real, it’s still best not to click on any links. Instead, contact them using a website or phone number you know is trustworthy. Don’t call a number they gave you or the number from your caller ID. Resist the pressure to act immediately. Honest businesses will give you time to make a decision. Anyone who pressures you to pay or give them your personal information is a scammer.
4. Know how scammers tell you to pay. Never pay someone who insists you pay with cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram, or a gift card. And never deposit a check and send money back to someone.
5. Before you do anything else, tell someone — a friend, a family member, a neighbor — what happened. Talking about it could help you, or who you’re talking with, realize it’s a scam.
6. Never enter your credit card number on an http:// website! But if the web address begins with https://, your computer is talking to the website in a secure code that no one can decipher. If a website ever asks you to enter your credit card information, you should always look to see if the web address begins with https://. If it doesn’t, you should NEVER enter sensitive information such as a credit card number, SS #, etc.

Report Scams to the FTC. If you were scammed or think you saw a scam, tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

On behalf of the TVCUC Board of Directors and all the volunteers that keep our club running to serve you, we wish you a Joyous Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!

Larry McJunkin, President

Whether you’re buying technology tools and gadgets for yourself, or family and friends, it’s easy to fall prey to gift guides that feature items based solely on affiliate marketing (where the publisher receives a percentage of the sale). For our last monthly bulletin of the year, we’re featuring some very highly rated and affordable gift ideas that we’ve vetted for both great prices and usefulness. 

At the end of our Holiday Gift Guide, I have a few important tips if you’re thinking about purchasing a new computer for yourself during the holidays. These tips will save you money (and possibly some regret) if you consider them before your purchase. 

(NOTE: Prices in our Gift Guide are at the time of publication and subject to change.)

Holiday Gift Guide

Rechargeable Hand Warmers – ($19.99/24.99) Kudos to whoever invented these! They work so much better than the disposable hand warmers and are great for cold weather walks, golf, or just to have in case you get stranded in the cold. It’s not only a convenient hand warmer but also an emergency backup battery if your mobile phone battery is low. This is a great gift for anyone on your list…including yourself.

Apple AirTags – ($24.98/29.00) For anyone who uses an iPhone, Apple AirTags have become an absolute must-have item. Keep track of and find your items along with tracking friends and devices in the Find My app. Simple one-tap setup instantly connects an AirTag with your iPhone or iPad. Great for tracking luggage, keys, pets, children, elderly loved ones, purses, backpacks…the list is endless. All communications between you and an AirTag are anonymous and encrypted for privacy. Location data and history are never stored on the AirTag.

12-inch Screen Magnifier for Smartphone – ($19.95/24.95) Mobile Phone 3D Magnifier Projector Screen for Movies, Videos, and Gaming. If you watch movies and videos on your smartphone and would like to reduce the accompanying visual fatigue and discomfort, this is a perfect solution. The screen magnifier effectively doubles the size of your display and still allows you to watch in full HD. Compatible with all smartphones and requires no external power or battery. It is lightweight and portable so you can take it with you anywhere you go.

Bose QuietComfort Noise Canceling Earbuds – ($179/199) Industry-leading, noise canceling Bluetooth earbuds with an Integrated Sound Processor. Exceptional sound quality, crystal clear call quality, beam-forming microphone and a bone-conduction sensor provide clear voice detection even in noisy environments. 8-hour battery, water resistant and fast, wireless charging.

Kasa Slim WiFi Smart Plug (4-pack) – ($39.99/49.99) These Kasa smart plugs are one of the highest-rated smart plugs available and they are the best way to easily get started in automating your home. Why get up out of your comfy recliner to turn on lights or appliances when Siri or Google will do it for you. Extremely easy and quick setup, compact design, and great for holiday lights and Christmas trees.

Oster Electronic Wine Opener – ($26.87/29.99) This is one of the best electric wine openers on the market. This wine opener has been around for over 20 years with the same design and has the best rating of any similar wine opener. Opens 30 bottles on a single charge. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for this item.

Kindle Paperwhite Book Reader– ($94.99/139.99) No gift guide would be complete without a Kindle, which is hands down, the absolute best book reader on the planet. During the holidays, Amazon deeply discounts all the Kindle models, but the Kindle Paperwhite is the best, and most affordably priced. The Paperwhite experience is so much more enjoyable than reading books on your smartphone or iPad.

Tips for Purchasing a New Computer

If you plan to purchase a new computer over the holidays, please keep these things in mind. The following advice is aimed at all-around use, such as email, surfing the internet, video calls, and photo sharing. 

RAM (Random Access Memory) – More RAM means improved computer speed. While 8 to 16 GB of RAM will be enough for most average users, more is always better.

Processor – The higher the processing power, the faster your computer will run. A 2.3GHz to 3.5GHz processor is enough for most folks. If you use your computer for lots of photo or video editing, look to the high end of this range, or even higher.

Display Resolution – This impacts the cost of a new computer more than anything, but I recommend you don’t skimp here…get the most display resolution you can afford. Basic resolution is 1024 x 768, but I recommend getting at least 2560 x 1440. Higher resolution means text and images will be sharper and easier to see. 

Disk Storage – Always…always opt for a Solid-State Drive (SSD). Greater storage space means you can save more images. videos, and files on your computer. But that said, 128GB to 256GB provides sufficient space for most users because you can get additional storage by getting an external hard drive or cloud storage later. I personally do everything from the cloud and keep my data and content backed up to an additional cloud storage solution. This means if you ever lose your computer, you will never lose the data and content that’s on it.

Larry McJunkin, President

Staying Safe Online

There are currently several ways that bad actors are convincing folks to do the wrong things online. You may have recently read in the news that Facebook just warned over a million users their private information had been leaked through some apps that let users sign into other places using Facebook. In this bulletin I’ll address how to avoid this and give you some other security tips. If you think these things will never happen to you – think again! The truth is, they happen every single week, right here in Tellico Village.

Should You Login with Facebook or Google on Other Sites or Apps? (Thanks to Karen Brown for suggesting we add this in the October Bulletin.)

The short answer is NO! 

Everywhere you go online these days, you’re required to login with a username and password. I get it – this is because sites want you to be registered so they can count you as a site subscriber for their advertisers. And since they know you’ll be more likely to comply if they make it easy to sign up and sign in, they offer the option of logging in through other ubiquitous services they know you use (primarily Google and Facebook).

Just don’t do it!

There are simply too many ways that pressing these buttons can leak your personal information or help companies track you. What could go wrong? Recently, Facebook warned a million Facebook users their accounts might have been compromised by 400 malicious apps that were designed to trick them into disclosing their Facebook log-in information by using fake log-in buttons. When you log in with Google or Facebook, you’re taking a big leap of faith that your data will be protected.

When is it okay to use log-in buttons? (Log-in with Facebook, or Log-in with Google.) The definitive answer is never, but log-in buttons aren’t necessarily always bad. If it’s a legitimate site or service, then you don’t have too much to worry about. For example, some people log in with Google to grant the Zoom video conferencing app access to their calendar, making calls pop up automatically. Here you’re trusting Zoom, but in this case it’s OK to do so.

How do you know when it is legit and when it is not? You don’t…and that’s the problem. If you want to take a chance, you might be just fine, but the safest decision is to just not do this at all. When you use these quick login methods, it helps Google and Facebook track you across websites and apps, letting them know when – and possibly even how – you’re using them.

Some good news. Both Google and Facebook have places where you can check which sites and apps you’ve connected to through their services. It’s a good idea to do a regular census – and remove anything of which you’re unsure. Here’s how to do this.

For Google, log in to your account and click on Third-party apps with account access. It lists all the third-party apps with access and places you use Google log-in and gives you the ability to revoke access to any site or app listed. 

For Facebook, log in to your account and find your way to the Apps and Websites section in Settings. (Thankfully, Facebook now automatically disables connections you haven’t used after 90 days, but it’s still worth reviewing your choices periodically.)

Three Sure Signs You’re Being Scammed!

1. You’re told to act immediately. Imposters want you to act before you have time to think and may pretend to be a relative in need, a utility company, or a financial institution.
2. They’ll ask for your personal info or codes. Never share codes or personal information when contacted unexpectedly by phone, text, email, computer alert or social media.
3. You’re asked to pay in an unusual way. Be wary if you’re asked to pay by wire transfer, gift cards or payment apps, such as PayPal or Venmo.

That’s it for this month! Remember to be vigilant as you use the internet and email. There are lots of bad actors out there who are very good at deceiving you. If you do happen to get into trouble – call our First Level Support (FLS) team immediately at (865) 408-8223.

Larry McJunkin, President

September Monthly Bulletin

Preparing Your Old Computer for Donation, Selling or Recycling

Buying a new computer? Regardless of what you’re planning to do with your old computer (PC or Mac), the first, and most important thing you should do is to completely erase the hard drive. Your best option for this is to use the recovery software on your computer to reset it back to the way it was when you first bought it. This will not only erase your data from the computer, it will also make your computer usable by the next person who owns it. While this isn’t as important for recycling, it is very important if you’re selling, trading or donating your computer. I’ll go over the standard way of doing this first, and then I’ll provide an even more simple option.

Regardless of which version of Windows you’re using, your computer likely has a small section set aside on the hard drive for system recovery. Since most of you are using a Windows 10 or 11 computer, I’ll use these as examples, but this also works the same for Windows 8.1.

If you’re using Windows 8.1 or 10, follow these steps:

1. Select Settings (the gear icon on the Start menu).
2. Select Update & Security, then Recovery.
3. Choose Remove Everything, then Remove files and Clean the drive.
4. Click Next, then Reset and Continue.
5. You may be asked whether you would like to remove files quickly or thoroughly. Select thoroughly to ensure that data cannot be recovered.

If you’re using Windows 11, follows these steps:

1. Select Start > Settings > System > Recovery.
2. Open Recovery settings.
3. Next to Reset this PC, select Reset PC.
4. Open the dropdown table and select Remove Everything.
5. Data erasure will be set to on by default. Leave it at that setting for a full system wipe.

If you’re using a Mac Computer:

When performing a system wipe on Mac computers, there are a few extra things to be aware of. The steps can change based on which processor your Mac has, and potentially which update of macOS it has. There is one method for older Intel processors, and another for the proprietary Apple Silicon chips that have been released in the past couple of years. To make sure you use the proper method for your Mac, follow the guidance Apple provides on their website.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/erase-and-reinstall-macos-mh27903/mac

Now, for that more simple option I promised you…

If you’re planning to donate your old computer, regardless of what kind it is, please consider donating it to our Technology Access Program (TAP). All you need to do is bring your computer to our TAP office, located under the Thai Bistro (enter from the rear parking lot). The very first thing TAP will do in preparation for refurbishing your old computer to repurpose it for needy children or families, is to completely wipe the hard drive…so you don’t have to do it.

TAP uses a certified military grade hard disk erasing station that renders your hard drive completely unrecoverable, even by data retrieval experts. This means you don’t have to go through the process I recommended earlier, plus you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing your old computer is being refurbished and repurposed to a deserving home.

You, our members, are the very best part of the TVCUC and we appreciate your involvement. Speaking of involvement, we are still looking for candidates for three positions on our Board of Directors that expire at the end of 2022. These positions do not require that you be a geek or computer enthusiast, but that you simply have a willingness to help us help our members and make our organization even better and stronger. We are seeking candidates for the positions of Vice President, Secretary, and Director-at-Large. If you would like to volunteer a couple of hours a month to any of these positions, please send an email to the TVCUC Nominating Committee.

Larry McJunkin, President

July Monthly Bulletin

President’s Message

Computer Problems? Try These Solutions First.

I was talking recently with Tom Verbeke, who heads up our First Level Support (FLS) team, about which technology problems we encounter most frequently. It turns out that many support calls answered by our FLS team are for repetitive problems, and we thought it would be beneficial to identify them and their common solutions in this month’s Bulletin. If you encounter any of these technology issues, it’s easy to try fixing them yourself. If that doesn’t work, you can always reach out to the FLS team.

Computer is running but there is no Internet (Windows & Mac.

1. Locate the internet modem. Unless you’ve purchased a modem, yourself, this is the device provided by Spectrum, or your internet service provider.
2. Disconnect the modem power cord.
3. Locate your Wi-Fi router (this should be connected to the modem with an ethernet cable) and disconnect the power.
4. Leave the modem and Wi-Fi router unplugged for at least 15 seconds.
5. Plug the modem back in first, wait a few seconds and then plug in the router.

Everything is frozen (Windows)

1. Press and hold the power button for 10-15 seconds. 
2. Start the machine as you normally would. This most often will result in the computer starting normally.

Computer won’t start (Windows & Mac)

1. Be sure it is connected to a live outlet? Plug a lamp into the same outlet and see if it works. (I know, you’re thinking this could never be the case) – but we find this to be the culprit more often than you would think.
2. Ensure the AC plugs are fully and tightly inserted.
3. Be sure the monitor is turned on. If you’re using a desktop with an external monitor, power or a video signal to the monitor can often be the problem.
4. If you’re using a laptop, be sure the brightness is turned up.

Printer connection issues

1. Windows 10 supports most printers, but connection issues happen. To install or add a printer (whether it’s networked, wireless or Bluetooth), go to Start > Settings > Devices > Printers & Scanners. Select Add a printer or scanner. Your device should find the printer (assuming it’s turned on and connected to Wi-Fi or the network) and should allow you to select Add device.
2. If your printer isn’t in the list, select The printer that I want isn’t listed and then follow the instructions to add it manually, using one of the options provided.
3. If you’re trying to install a local printer (connected via USB cable and not Wi-Fi), you can typically just plug it into your USB port and follow the same instructions. If your printer stops working, repeat the process.

Problems when updating Windows

If you’re running into a problem or error updating, try the following:

1. Make sure your device is connected to the internet (you’ll need an internet connection to update Windows).
2. Try to install the update manually, by following the instructions above. If unsuccessful, try the Windows Update Troubleshooter.
3. Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter: Select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot. Under Get up and Running, select Windows Update.

Bluetooth not working

If you suddenly can’t connect your Bluetooth headphones, mouse or keyboard, here are a few things you can try:

1. Make sure Bluetooth is turned on. You can do this by going to the taskbar and selecting Action Center (it looks like a message square). If you don’t see Bluetooth, select Expand. You should then see Bluetooth, and be able to select it to turn it on. If your device isn’t paired with any Bluetooth accessories, it will say “Not connected.” Your other option is to go to Start > Settings > Devices > Bluetooth and turn it on there.
2. Check your Bluetooth device. Make sure your accessory is turned on, is charged or has fresh batteries, and is close to your Windows 10 device. You can then try turning off the Bluetooth device and turning it back on after a few seconds. If it’s still not working, make sure it’s not too close to any other USB device plugged into a USB 3.0 port, since those can interfere.
3. Check your Windows 10 device. Make sure Airplane Mode is turned off (Start > Settings > Network & Internet > Airplane mode). Try turning Bluetooth on and off (see above). Finally, try removing the device and adding it again (Start > Settings > Devices > Bluetooth & other devices. Select the device you’re having trouble connecting, and choose Remove device > Yes).
4. If none of this works, Microsoft has some other tips for troubleshooting Bluetooth problems.

Larry McJunkin, President