You DO NOT Owe for an Overdue Invoice

Billing Scams are a Common Form of Spear Phishing

Do NOT Click Through or Open the Attached File

It's time to take a look at a few of the e-mail scams that have been filling inboxes recently. Some of these were sent to me personally; others were forwarded to me by some of my customers, who wanted to know if they were legitimate or not.  These e-mails are cut and pasted from the originals. In any case an e-mail contains an inline URL, I have changed that URL so it will NOT "work" if you click on it by mistake.  I have NOT stripped out links completely, so that readers may use the "hover trick" to see that the links, in fact, do NOT lead to where you'd expect. (Remember, you can hover your mouse over ANY link, and a program will show its true destination in either the status bar or in a pop-up tooltip.)

You DO NOT Owe for an Outstanding Invoice from a Company Whose Name You Do Not Recognize

This spear-fishing e-mail claims you owe money, and tells you to click a link to settle your bill.  Clicking on the link will take you to a site where they will trick you into disclosing personal info, and most likely will plant malware on your system while doing so.

Why We are NOT Covering Prime Day This Year

Prime Day is Here

And in Our Opinion, it is Over-Hyped

Tomorrow, July 17 2018, is officially Prime Day.  This year, Amazon decided to start it early, so the deals officially began about an hour ago.  And as soon as the deals began, Amazon's site crashed.  Viewing Prime Day Deals seems to be a hit or miss affair.

Almost every site on the Internet is covering Prime Day.  Techlaurels has decided not to, for a couple of reasons. First of all, there are plenty of sites that ARE covering Prime Day, and most of those sites are inundating our mailboxes with "Prime Day Deals" Newsletters, it's almost verging on spam. And second of all, I just do not think Prime Day is anything that special.

They DO NOT Have Your Password

That Password They Have is Most Likely an Old One;
They STILL Are NOT Watching You Through Your Webcam

Not too long ago, we discussed the latest e-mail scam, in which they claim to be recording you through your webcam.  Well, the scammers have upped their threats, and you may be the recipient of multiple e-mails threatening to release illicit videos if you do not pay a ransom.  And these latest e-mails have a twist: they include your password! But not to worry; they are NOT legit.

When you see the password they include, you will most likely panic, as you will recognize the password as one you have used.  But most likely, it is not a current password. In my case, the e-mail included one of the earliest passwords I used on the Internet, and one I haven't used much in over a decade.