Sextortion

I commented on a blog a short time ago giving some advice regarding Sextortion.  I am posting an edited version of my comment here in the hopes the advice will be of help and/or can maybe prevent someone from falling into this trap. 

1. It’s best not to pay any ransom and to involve law enforcement. There is no real assurance or guarantee the threat actor won’t publish your information, presuming they have it. 

2. Block the person’s screen name in the app your using and if you have exchange phone numbers, block their phone number so you aren’t continued to be bothered. If your using an app to communicate, report the person on the app.  If they did this to you, chances are good they did it to someone else as well. 

3. If you want to cruise/date I would suggest getting a second phone number just for that purpose and not to ever give out your real phone number and perhaps withholding his last name. Similarly I’d get a second email account for cruising/dating purposes.  There are still a lot of good and honest people in the world, the problem is it's really challenging to find them.

One rule of thumb I have is not to take nudes ever. Because once it's out there it lives forever and you never know when that might come back to bite you. I realize the thrill of sending nudes but if your going to send them at least wait to get to know the person and be certain that you can trust them.  You might not care about it but if you think about it that nude can be weaponized and used against you, that’s why no matter what I just don’t take them.  It’s your body and totally up to you, just keep in mind that it can come back to haunt you.  

It's really sad when some folks fall into this "trap" especially teenagers.  Some teenagers have not seen a way out and sadly have wound up taking their own life.  Parents are people and some like others are more understanding.  Only you know your situation best.  I think that if it comes down to your personal safety versus coming out/being exposed.  Better that you tell your loved ones that your gay than take your own life.  It’s not worth that and so many parents wished that their child / family member would have just told them.  That said, I realize that some folks don't accept gay people but at the end of the day you have to live your life for you!  After all it's your life and you deserve to be happy and your authentic self.  It’s all about being comfortable in the skin your in.  Once you are, it’s the best feeling in the world! 

Best tip ever … if your gut is telling you something isn’t right, listen to that and do not ignore it!!  Better safe than sorry.  Also, always operate with caution in mind.  I realize hormones get carried away and you want to drop your guard or forget about common sense.  I’ve been there and know first hand it’s not as easy as it sounds.  

A huge tip off that something is wrong is often Threat actors (aka that person you’ve been communicating with) will start on an app but then put on pressure to move off the app for "convenience sake" or provide some other excuse. This is so the app has no knowledge of what they are doing and when/if you choose to report them they have either moved on to a different screen name or there is very little data that shows any kind of violation of the TOS (Terms Of Service) of the app. Always stay on the app for safety sake. 

An additional step you can take is to use a service to get your personal information off the web.  Data brokers post your personal information to the web and it's next to impossible to combat this alone. It's like a game of whack-a-mole as soon as you get your information deleted from one site, it pops up on another. There are several services that will scour the web for you and do this on your behalf. You of course have to pay them for this service. Personally, I use several companies as I find that one just isn't enough unless you go for top tier service plans but the cost that I have seen is typically thousands of dollars.  Yearly or monthly affordable options are offered by most companies and some suggestions on services are... Delete Me, Incogni, Aura, Optery and Easy Opt Out.

A recent development, Google will also help for free by removing some search results, check out this link for more info…https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/12719076?hl=en
Understand that while the search result won’t appear in Google it can appear in other search engines and/or it’s still available on the web just not readily linked for easy access. 

Disclaimer … This is just personal advice that I have come across over the years.  None of the companies mentioned are sponsors.  I am not an expert in this field but have had one bad experience that I could see was going south quicker than anything.  Another tip off is if you get long emails that drone on and on.  It’s probably a scam and the person will eventually wind up asking you for money.  Believe it or not there are kits the threat actors buy that have those emails scripted out, so they just copy and paste. 

Why Mommy?

Finally a relaxing Saturday.  I didn’t sleep in because Rudy was my alarm clock.  I did use my new white noise machine last night and it was great.  I had been relying on my Amazon Echo for this but if the internet goes out or Amazon just decides the white noise stops and that will cause me to immediately wake up.  Now I don’t have to worry about that, only a power failure will make it stop and those well thankfully they don’t happen that often and if one does happen it will for sure wake me.  Lots of alarms go off when I loose power so it’s not something I could sleep through. 

I watched some TV after passing out breakfast for the cats.  Finally gave in and got some breakfast myself.  Checked my phone and all was quiet and calm.  Eventually I wound up back in bed to take a nap.  I haven’t had a nap in a week and man I’ll tell you what that was amazing.  I’m sure it will mess up my sleep tonight but I know I won’t be up all night long. 

Eventually towards the afternoon I got up and showered.  That too felt good.  Threw on some clothes and my hat & coat, went out for the mail.  Got a bill from the lawn guys which perplexed me.  I paid my last bill and it is rather odd to have a bill come rolling in not even two weeks later.  Turns out it was a duplicate bill for the last time they were here in November.  I already paid that but rather than just not paying the invoice I sent a letter and explained myself.  I don’t know why every single lawn person/company that I get can’t seem to manage the accounting piece.  I get overcharged, duplicate billed or billing just stops then I send in money and that really messes them up.  It’s just simple accounting.  I’m no rocket scientist and certainly not a super smart person but smart enough to know that I don’t pay twice for service I only got one time.  If this happens to me I can only imagine that I am not alone and their other customers have similar problems.  That’s why it pays to keep records, you never know when you’ll need to rely on them to help prove your case. 

I went to a steakhouse for some fancy dressed up chicken.  I was surprised that the place was packed at 4p.  Normally the place is just starting to fill up but the holidays bring people together.  I jumped in the waiting line which wasn’t that long.  I sat down and noticed a little blond boy, he had to be about 5 to 7 years old.  He smiled at me.  I thought he wanted in the jug of peanuts next to me he had been near them just before I sat down.  He said something to his mom.  She explained that I was just waiting for a table.  I offered to move, thinking again he wanted peanuts and she told me that he asked why I was all alone.  Wow, smart kid.  I could have said because my husband died but just sat there silently a little sad and touched by the remark. 

After my meal back home to work on laundry and writing that letter as well as paying bills.  I’ve been fending off Mora for a while.  I passed out treats at the normal time.  She came in and squealed I picked her up and flipped her over.  Just rubbed her belly and she was purring and soaking it up like the sponge that she is.  That satisfied her for a while and she left me.  Now she’s back chirping again and wanting more attention.  Actually, I think she wants me to go up stairs which I am headed there in short order. 

Found a great deal on a refurbished iPad Air 2, a folio keyboard case and a knock off Apple Pen/Stylus.  All of this was on Amazon.  I really want to give in and buy it.  Money isn’t the issue for me it’s that I think it will sit and I won’t get much use out of it.  I thought well I could take it to the office when I go, plus it would be nice to travel with.  However, at the end of the day I know that I’ve got good intentions just like when I purchased an iPad years ago.  It’s sitting on the kitchen table battery dead and needing a charge.  It’s super old, I did use it for a while but really wanted a laptop.  However, I don’t like the small phone screen and an iPad would help with that but then it’s also more devices that I would need to charge.  I am just teetering on the fence.  I saw the full retail price on the iPad Air 2 and there is no way I’d pay full retail but I am not typically one who buys anything refurbished or used not that there is anything wrong with it, you can get some good deals.  Hmm, what to do?

Before I close this out I got one of those texts claiming to be the post office having a package for me and unable to deliver it because the zip code was missing.  These are always scams and could lead to phishing or malware.  Your best defense is to block the number and delete the text.  You can report it to your carrier if you’d like.  I’ve seen several videos on YouTube over the past few days with the hack of the cellular networks everyone is getting pelted by these.  It’s also a good idea not to use SMS Text messages to get authentication or 2FA codes so says the government, just because the cellular networks have been compromised and chances are good all of our usage is being monitored.  End to End Encryption is the best but a text from a bank to your phone isn’t encrypted.  If you go iPhone to iPhone or Android to Android those texts are encrypted.  Nothing really seems “safe” anymore and privacy seems to be something that went out with high button shoes.  Like the average person I’m just living my life and not up to anything nefarious but still there is a reasonable expectation of privacy that I think we are all entitled to. 

Hope that you had a great Saturday.  Christmas is only a few days away.  The thought of being all alone on Christmas isn’t exactly sitting well with me but I am planning for that to be the case.  Better to plan for the worst and hope for the best. 

Stay warm & take care!

Busy Saturday

It’s been one busy Saturday with some drama and no nap.  I am so tired and ready for bed. 

Started the day out with two early wake up calls from Rudy.  I gave in on the second one because it was a half hour before my normal wake up time of 7a.  I try to keep the same routine on the weekends, I’m told a consistent sleep routine helps promote healthy and consistent sleep, although that doesn’t seem to be the case for me. 

Fed the cats and got a shower.  The house was cool and it felt like a crisp September morning when I stepped outside.  I headed out for some breakfast.  Had the worst service and was happy to get back on the road. 

Stopped by the post office which is where the drama started.  I got a cell phone bill in someone else name using my home address.  I don’t use my physical home address for anything everything goes to my PO BOX.  I double checked the address just in case the post office made a mistake and nope it’s right.  I opened the mail to find a huge bill.  No phone number on the bill just an account number. 

Went out to see my friends, it’s been 3 months since I’ve been out there and they were all quite worried about me.  Talked about my vehicle and set plans in motion for some maintenance work to be done while I am on vacation.  I will find out the date it can all be done on Monday because my friend has to coordinate some of the work with a friend of his.  We caught up and it was an enjoyable visit.  I left this time feeling better than I did the last time. 

On to home to feed the cats their lunch and try to deal with this cell phone bill that isn’t mine.  Called the company and they told me to go to a retail store they would be able to help me.  Went to the retail store and they told me to call “the fraud department”.  I asked for a phone number and they didn’t have one.  The guy called the secret number he had and found that department is closed because it’s Saturday.  He managed to get someone on the phone from a different area for support.  The person who’s bill this is got a phone and service, never paid their bill and now it’s in collections.  They only used my home address and didn’t have any of my information.  I don’t know much more than that for privacy reasons.  Not exactly sure how you get a phone without showing some form of id and going through address verification.  It’s post-paid service so they had to pass a credit check. 

The more I thought about this I ended up where I thought I would, at the police station.  I turned in a report for fraud to cover the bases.  I also thought perhaps someone typed in the wrong address so maybe the police could find the person in there vast database.  I looked on-line and didn’t see any such person in the area but the data on the web and what the police have access to is two totally different things.  I got a case number and if I want a copy of the report I have to come back during business hours and pay for it in cash.  That’s fucking stupid I’m the victim and your charging me, that is seriously messed up. 

Stopped by the pet food store and spent way too much money, almost forgot to get cat nip.  They stopped selling the cheap stuff I used to buy and now it’s all got designer names like I am buying Marijuana.  I hate the correlation that they make between cat nip and a drug.  So much so that I won’t be buying that at the cat food store anymore.  Found some generic cat nip on Amazon and it’s cheap.  Amazon for the win!

Came back home and put the food away, spent time with the cats and watched some YouTube videos to pass time.  Then I went out for supper.  To a Greek place.  The last time I was there was with my late spouse so it’s been several years.  One of my friends told me to try the Stuffed Soul.  That is what I ordered and damn it was a lot of food.  Very good but I had to bring some of it home.  I will be back. 

Back home for the day.  Time to take care of some laundry and it’s churning away now.  The cats are pestering me to go upstairs but all of the bedding is in the laundry.  I don’t want to sleep on a naked mattress.  They however wouldn’t care so long as they could be near me that’s all that matters. 

Wrote a letter to the Cell Phone Company to summarize what hell I had been through and asked them politely to take my address out of their system.  Since the account is in collections I know that there will be more mail to follow.  A bill collector sending demand letters won’t believe that I’m not the person who they are trying to collect from, those people are lied to every day of the week and have probably heard some creative stories.  I am responsible and pay all of my bills on time. 

In going through my mail got another notification that my information was exposed in a Data Breach.  This is turning out to be an every week thing.  Signed up for more free credit monitoring.  I’ve got so much of that if anyone ever does try anything my inbox and phone will light up like a Christmas tree from all of the notifications. 

That my friends concludes the events of the day.  Hopefully, I sleep well tonight.  Breakfast out again tomorrow and grocery shopping.  I’m thinking about Mexican food for supper tomorrow night but that could change. 

I hope that you had a great day and all is well in your world.  Take care and come back soon.  

April 2nd

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.

Cybersecurity & Smart Sex Toys

October is Cybersecurity awareness month.  You might be scheduled for some training at work or you might be reminded about typical things to lookout for like phishing emails and the like. 

I came across an interesting article as it relates to both cybersecurity and sex.  There are some guys who practice chastity by locking themselves in a cage.  The old fashion way was a cage and a small padlock went on, your master or partner kept the key to ensure that you remained faithful.  This is a turn on for some guys and a company developed a remote controlled cage that can be locked and unlocked via your smart phone.  Turns out there is a flaw in their app and you could wind up getting locked in permanently.  I know ER doctors see a lot of strange things but could you imagine being locked in this device and wanting free, so you turn to the local ER?  It’s got nightmare written all over it, not to mention it the embarrassment and laughter it would cause. 

If your interested in this, take a gander at the article that Techcrunch posted https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/06/qiui-smart-chastity-sex-toy-security-flaw/  If your not interested but curious to know what the cage looks like, a photo appears below.  The one safe thing about all cages that I have seen or heard of is that they allow you to go to the bathroom but you just can’t get aroused or you will be in some pain. 

If your not familiar with it there is a technique called Sextortion.  You get an email from someone who claims to have watched you pleasure yourself while watching porn, they have video of you and screen captures of you.  They claim to have installed a virus on your machine and tell you not to report this to the authorities or they will know.  Unless you pay x dollar by x date they will release the video to everyone in your contacts.  I’ve gotten a few of these emails myself and I don’t deny watching porn.  The joke is on the sender though because I don’t have a webcam.  Most people though are embarrassed and concerned.  I am sure that someone has paid the ransom or demand because this is a semi popular technique that has been used for a while.  I found an interesting article and thought I’d share that with you as well.   https://www.brookings.edu/research/sextortion-cybersecurity-teenagers-and-remote-sexual-assault/

I don’t think that cons, scams and schemes will ever stop because of greed for the almighty dollar.  However, the one thing that most criminals think is that they are smart and won’t get caught.  I am pretty certain there are a large portion of people who don’t get caught, especially on their first offense, but that builds confidence and eventually if your dumb enough to keep doing the same thing you wind up getting caught in the end. 

Hope you enjoyed this and that your doing well.  Take care and I will talk with you peeps again soon, be well!

Virtual Kidnapping – Scam

Last night I was watching The Doctors and learned of a new scam.  You get a call from someone who claims to have kidnapped a relative of yours.  They put a person on the phone that is the gender of the relative they supposedly kidnapped and then they demand money from you.  In reality your relative is safe and sound and no kidnapping has actually taken place.  Apparently people have fallen for this and paid the ransom.  It strikes me that I would try to find the whereabouts of my relative before I even considered paying ransom.  Law Enforcement is investigating this but I thought of my readers when I heard of the scam and wanted to alert you to it.