Friday, February 24, 2023

Slam the Scam Day!

SLAM those SCAMMERS on March 9th (Slam The Scam Day), and on every other day as well! Yes, I realize I posted this way early, but it's a timeless message! Stick it to those slimeball scammers, by never losing your cash, passwords, or personal info to any of them! Remember the 4 Ps:

They PRETEND to be someone you trust. Look behind the facade, to the bogus email address or misspelled website behind the message. Be sensitive to ludicrous grammar and spelling. 

They reference a PROBLEM or offer a PRIZE. Be wary of those too-good-to-be-true offers, and too-crazy-to-be-true threats. 

They PRESSURE you into acting without thinking. Always take a deep breath, then take the time to examine the details for flaws in the message, before reacting. Consider asking a friend to help analyze a message. 

They require PAYMENT or PERSONAL INFO, in non-cancellable form such as gift cards, crypto, or cash-transfer apps. 

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When in doubt, delete and forget, or better still, mark as Junk or Spam, when that option is available. If you have the energy, forward phishing emails to the anti-phishing working group (APWG) at:

reportphishing@apwg.org

And/or to the US Gov Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Spam fighters at:

phishing-report@us-cert.gov

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If you’re interested in some fun 😱 and relatively safe reading about scams, check out the subreddit r/Scams on Reddit, for some tales of woe and some great examples of the scams that people are seeing every day. Here's a link to that fascinating rabbit hole: https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Cold Foggy Snow Day

We awoke to a thick layer of snow, on this cold 13°F Wednesday morning in Littleton, and it’s supposed to continue snowing all day. Sorry for the restricted view - the glass door fogged up, after Jennefer went out to feed the birds… It does seem to convey the general feeling of the morning, especially when I try to look across the valley, and barely see the trees through the fog. We’ve got an early afternoon visit to the gym on the calendar, but I’m wondering about this scratchy throat that developed yesterday afternoon, after our walk around the lake in the cold breeze. Hmm… yeah… no…

Saturday, February 11, 2023

Chilly walk

We’re FINALLY getting out for walks again. There’s clearly a new dynamic: without Mandy to get us out, we’ve been letting the cold weather keep us inside for most of this year. The trail by the Littleton History Museum is still covered in packed snow and ice, and is super slippery in places. Not to worry - we’re being careful.