Category Archives: Consumer Alerts

Granny Scams target senior citizens

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The “Jamaican lottery scam,” also known as advanced-fee fraud, is made up of scam artists that trick people, mostly senior citizens, out of their money with a false notification of a lottery winning, inheritance or Publisher Clearing House sweepstakes prize. In these “granny scams”, the fraudsters convince the victim to send money in order to […]

Tax Season Email Scam Aims to Steal from Uncle Sam

Every year around tax season, we see a huge spike in tax-related social engineering attacks. Social engineering is a type of cyber attack that attempts to psychologically manipulate users, tricking them into downloading malicious software or divulging confidential information. Very often, these attacks take the form of a fraudulent email created to mimic an email Read more…

We are looking for another Queen/Kings of AVAST FREEks to join the AVAST team :)

Part time job for a social media agent   Do you blog, comment, respond, post, chat, like, re-tweet, add to circles, pin…? Do you monitor what’s hot on social media in your language? Do you have 2 hours a day that you can fully dedicate to avast! social media? Can you be the eyes and […]

How do I get rid of annoying toolbars?

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Question of the week:  A toolbar suddenly appeared in my browser. I tried to uninstall it through the Control Panel, but it’s still there. How can I get rid of it? Have you installed free software lately? Sometimes toolbars and other unwanted add-ons are included in free downloads. Most of the time, but not always, […]

Celebrity “Doxxing” Scandal Sheds Light on Cyber Risk

Recently, news broke that the private information of a few unlucky celebrities and politicians was leaked online.  The data, which includes everything from bank statements to mortgage terms and car loans, was made available on a Russian website. It’s unfortunate that well-known performers like Jay-Z, Beyonce, Britney Spears, and Kim Kardashian have had their information Read more…

Mobile Drive-By Malware example

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Several days ago we received a complaint about javascrpt.ru. After a bit of research, we found that it tries to mimic ajax.google.com and jquery, but the code is an obfuscated/packed redirector. After removing two layers of obfuscation, we found a list of conditions checking visitors’ user Agent. From these conditions. we got a clue and […]

Pros and Cons of Mobile Banking

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Many major commercial banks are now offering consumers the choice to make deposits, send money, and perform other routine tasks using a mobile app. Bank customers can now use a smartphone or tablet for basic transactions like check deposits and bill payments, making it easier to keep an eye on finances without a trip to Read more…

How do I use the new Software Updater in avast 8?

Question of the week:  I just updated my avast to version 8. The new look is great! There’s a feature called Software Updater that looks interesting. How do I use it? Great question, and thanks for the compliment on avast! 8’s new look. To answer your question about the new avast! Software Updater, let me […]

Recent Breach at Evernote Offers a Lesson in Password Management

Just this weekend, some 50 million Evernote users, myself included, were asked to reset our account passwords after their security team saw signs of an attempted attack on information, including usernames, passwords, and application-linked email addresses. Luckily, there is no evidence to suggest that payment information for Evernote Business or Evernote Premium account holders has Read more…