I was listening to a tech podcast today and heard something new. Apparently, you aren’t supposed to ask any of your voice assistant for phone numbers. A guy called in and said that his mom asked one of her devices for the phone number of Amazon Customer Service and she called the number that was provided. It turned out to be a direct number to a scammer, who gained access to the woman’s Amazon account and placed a large order. They also went a step further and conned her into giving them access to her computer. The bad actor was on the machine for about an hour before her son found out what was going on and pulled the plug.
What the host of the podcast hypothesized is that the voice assistant went to the internet and spat out a number that it found as a result of the query. Anyone can make a website and claim to be a large company, get it into the Google search results and viola.
The lady had an Apple Computer and they are rather impervious to malware but that is not to say there wasn’t anything on the machine. More than not, there is probably at minimum a RAT (Random Access Trojan) on the machine so the bad actor can remote back in to the machine as needed. Best and safest bet is to blow the machine away and start over with a fresh new copy of the Operating System and then restore your data. This is yet another good case for why you should regularly back up your files, you never know when and/or how a disaster will strike. I feel sorry for the lady apparently this is the second time she got duped. These types of scams seem to always affect older folks who aren’t as hip to the tactics that bad actors use.
I have the number to Amazon Customer Service. I had to dig for the number years ago on their website. I found it, called and found myself having to reach out to them again within the next month. Since it’s not easy to find the number I wrote it down when I found it and added it to my contacts so now, I am always prepared. What I find amazing is that when you call (since it’s a toll-free number) they know who you are, have your account and just ask you to verify a couple small things then the call takes off from there. I some how think they have a voice print recorded and they use it to match against the caller to confirm identity despite the verification questions. I can’t prove that 100% but being a technology company, it wouldn’t surprise me. They already know my voice from all of the stuff I ask Alexa, despite the fact that I have never setup a voice profile so the device can get to “know me better”.
Interesting times we live in and you just can’t be too careful today. Kind of sad in a way that you have to watch out for silly stuff like this but it can easily wind up costing you a small fortune, especially if they get access to your bank account or a credit card.
====SWITCHING TO NORMAL MODE NOW======
In other news keeping with the daily blathering’s. The cat seems to know when the weekend is around because she bothered the hell out of me all night last night asking for food multiple times. I was so glad that I made my haircut appointment late in the afternoon. It gave me a chance to relax a bit and work in a small nap.
Made it out for my haircut. Didn’t exactly feel the greatest, my stomach was doing some strange things. However, after my haircut I went to grab up the mail. Then on to the cat food store. They had less on the shelves this week than last week. Then on to Target to grab some litter and found Trout Cat Food so I grabbed that up. That was Gator’s supper and she was quite thrilled with it.
I am behind on my weekend tasks but thankfully I still have another day and I do believe it will all come together. I am currently working on my bed clothes. They sound like they are about done so I will have to go up to fetch the next load of laundry. Then when ever it is that I do get upstairs for the night I will work on the dishes. That should put me in better shape.
I plan to grab breakfast and groceries tomorrow as per usual. Then I have the rest of the day to do with as I please. I didn’t venture out tonight for supper. I looked at the menu for the new burger place I’ve talked about. Turns out they really don’t have much of a menu. They have a $6 milk shake which I do think is quite expensive. It’s starting to sound a little more like that scene from Pulp Fiction.
Friday was one hell of a day at work. A surprise person who added herself to the mix of people that made Friday their last day. Not that we couldn’t take one more but it is far better to have ample notice to plan and prepare, sometimes you just don’t get that. There are far more people leaving than starting and we are losing some people that I consider to be good talent. That Great Resignation movement is very much still in full force and my employer isn’t hurting at the moment. The more people that leave make much more work for me, so I look at it as job security. I learned this week that we are also planning some major technology changes that will likely cause upheaval with our end users but then again change does that. It also means there will be some work for me since I am involved with onboarding and offboarding.
I put in a time off request for a couple days in May so that I can go see my doctor. It’s a Thursday/Friday combo as I always do. I am working from home normally on those days but a break is always nice. I look forward to being in his office again it will be the first time this year since I had COVID and that prevented me from going over in person. I am interested in lab results to see what is going on inside my body and if my A1C is still in check. I took my sugar this afternoon just before I was leaving for my haircut and got a reading of 82. That is low for me so I ate something and grabbed a piece of hard candy as I walked out the door. That helped perk me up a bit. I tend to slack on regular eating on the weekend in the hopes that I can shed a pound or two, sometimes my body goes with the flow and other times like today I don’t exactly feel the greatest and have to eat.
The weather is warming up a bit and feels much more like Spring than Winter. However, were at the odd point in the year where one day it’s great and the next day you’re in the deep freeze. I just hope that we have much more of a spring before the hot days of summer are thrusted upon us and we are forced to turn on the AC. For the last number of years, we have a very short spring and go straight into summer. I heard one of my neighbors today mow their grass for the first time. It’s getting close for me but I think it is a task that can be put off for another week or two. My lawn guy already reached out to me and I told him to start when it needs it. I am watching closely so that I can track it for payment purposes.
Happy April everyone. I hope that you survived April Fools Day and didn’t get too many pranks played on you. Enjoy the weekend and be well, we will talk again soon.
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