Phishing Scams

Carol has been telling me every day that she has received 2, or 3 or 4 emails from Mcafee about a problem, either with her account expiring, her computer, or something.  We don’t use Mcafee, so it’s clearly a phishing scam, and also, when you look at the actual address it came from, it’s not Mcafee.
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Another person I know had a pop-up from “Microsoft” saying his computer had problems, and he needed to call the number and get it fixed right away. While he did call the number, and he gave access to his computer, the person on the other end seemed to really want him to buy some other software to protect his computer.

I’ve said before, don’t let anyone onto your computer that you aren’t married to or didn’t spring forth from your loins. I’m serious. Don’t give your computer over to a stranger. There are a few rare exceptions, basically, if I approve of them, but that’s it.

Your important data is on your computer. If something goes wrong, turn it off. The problem can wait until you talk to a friend or legitimate computer person. But Microsoft or Apple will never call you, they will never send a pop-up saying there’s a problem with a phone# to call, and you should never, EVER, give a stranger access to your computer.