Have you received an email like this from something called Flip or Flipora or Infoaxe?

Flip Scam

The message comes from info@info-emailer.com but is made to look like it is coming from a friend of yours. The subject of the message gives your friend’s name and then says “sent you a friend request on Flip ”. The body of the message says:
“If you can’t see this email please click here to respond
*YOUR FRIEND’S NAME HERE* has added you as a friend
Is *YOUR FRIEND’S NAME HERE* your friend?
Yes No
Click here to block all emails from Flip, 440 N. Wolfe Rd MS# 153, Sunnyvale, CA. 94085. Privacy Policy”

Although technically this isn’t exactly a virus or scam or information phishing scheme, it sure seems like one. Flip, Flipora and Infoaxe are all the same company. The service they apparently offer is to track your web browsing habits and suggest ads and search results based on what sites you visit. It is like voluntarily signing up to have spyware or malware on your computer. The worst thing about this service is that when you sign up you inadvertently give them access to your email address book and they use that information to send all of your friends, family and co-workers junk mail inviting them to also use Flip, Flipora and Infoaxe. They may also sell your address book information to third party spammers. There is no social media site called “Flip”. The bottom line: do not follow any of the links in the message. If you did click on the links then do not type in any of your information. If you did type in your information then you should change your email password right away.

The links in the email bring you to:

http://login.flipora.com/

http://invites.info-emailer.com/

Don’t enter your information on any of these pages.

The IP addresses that they have been using for sending emails are in the 74.86.42.* range. The two messages I received came from 74.86.42.174 and 74.86.42.170. If your email service allows you to block spammers based on their IP address then you can use this information to block Flip from sending you messages.

http://www.mobiusawards.com/awards/index.asp?PROCESS=Y&F_ENTRY_YEAR=2011&F_TITLE01=&F_AWARD=&F_CATEGORY01=&F_MEDIUM=LOGO%2FTRADEMARK&F_KEYWORDS=&F_MATCH_TYPE=OR&submit1=Submit

http://www.wpp.com/wppedcream/2011/#design-branding

Check out the Utilities / Telecoms / IT section on this page. The Geeks of Gotham logo won another design award!

http://pitchcreative.marketingweek.co.uk/awards/winners2011/design.html

I have just been made aware of a variant version of the MacDefender scam. Technically this is not a virus but rather a malware program operating a classic phishing scam. “Malware” just means that it is a bad program doing something you don’t want it to do and “phishing” just means that what they are trying to do is harvest your personal information like your credit card number, email address, social security number, etc.

In this scam you are directed to a website in your Safari web browser that is designed to look like a Finder window. In front of that fake Finder window they present you with a pop-up window saying:

Apple security alert
To help protect your computer, Apple Web Security
have detected Trojans and ready to remove them.

Spyware is a type of malware that can be installed
on computers, and which collects small pieces of
information about users without their knowledge.

There are two buttons “Cancel” and “Remove all”. Below the pop-up window in large type it says:

Apple security center.

Of course this is not a real Finder window on your computer and of course there is no such thing as the “Apple security center” and you do not have any Trojans on your computer. This is just a graphic made to look like it is doing a virus scan of your Mac but in truth is doing nothing except generating the pop up window and asking you to download their malicious program (malware).

If this comes up on your screen do not click the “Remove all” button because you will be prompted to install software on your computer claiming to “fix” the problem but which will actually ask you for your credit card information so they can run up their own purchases on your card. The program will also act like a virus (but isn’t) and automatically open pornographic websites on your computer screen.

Remember, do not click the “Remove all” button, simply force quit Safari. You can do this by going to the Apple menu, clicking on Force Quit, then clicking on Safari and clicking the Force Quit button. You can then reopen Safari and just be mindful to not click on any links talking about viruses, trojans, malware or spyware in the future.

If you did install the software you can follow the instructions here to remove it: http://geeksofgotham.com/2011/05/10/macdefender-scam/

I have just been made aware of new malware phishing program known as “MacDefender” targeting Mac computers. Technically this is not a virus but rather a scam to steal your credit card information.

Basically:
Do not open or install anything called MacDefender and if you do so by accident do not give them your credit card information. If you did give them your credit card information you should call your credit card company right away and cancel your card.

The way it works:
After doing a Google Images search a window may pop-up on your screen asking you to install “MacDefender”. If you install the program then it will pop up another box saying you have a virus (you don’t) and then it will ask for your credit card information to pay for them to remove the virus. It will also open pornographic websites on your computer screen every few minutes.

To ensure you do not automatically download the app, uncheck the following box in Safari’s preferences: Safari > Preferences > General > uncheck “Open “safe” files after downloading”.

For those infected with the MacDefender malware, follow these steps to remove the program:

1. Open Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor and quit the process called MACDefender.

2. Delete MacDefender from the Applications folder by moving it to the trash

3. To ensure you do not automatically download the app again, uncheck the following: Safari > Preferences > General > uncheck “Open “safe” files after downloading”.

If you would like to set up an appointment to have me remove MacDefender from your computer just call or email me and we can schedule a time.

Given the success of our discounted rate for on-going lessons and tutoring sessions we are offering a new 5 lesson deal for $85 per hour! For $85 per hour you can sign up for 5 or more one-on-one tutoring sessions or lessons. These are one hour lessons where there will be no in-depth troubleshooting, just computer training. We offer this special rate of $85 per hour to customers who pay for all 5 lessons up front with one check for $425. Call today to schedule your first appointment: 347-GEEKS-OF, that’s 347-433-5763

The problem with most modern computers is that it doesn’t take much for them to fail. The spinning disc that has all your data etched on it (the hard drive) will quit spinning eventually, whether due to old age, dislocation or some other catastrophe. Particularly if you have a laptop. And even if it’s some other component of your computer that fails, it’ll be a costly process to get the hard drive removed and the data recovered from it.

Fortunately, with a bit of foresight this entire ordeal can be avoided. The key to feeling secure about your data is through redundancy. An external hard drive costing under a hundred dollars can be set up to automatically preserve the irreplaceable things on your hard drive (personal photos, tax returns, and the like).

If you own a Mac with a system Operating System of 10.5 or newer, you have a program called Time Machine already installed. Once you pick up an external hard drive, it’s just the flick of a switch to begin backing up the entire computer. Every hour automatically, or as you desire manually. It can even do so wirelessly, assuming you have the right hardware.

Getting a backup drive is the most smart, cost-effective tech investment to make after you’ve purchased the actual computer. Not only will all your files be easy to recover in the event of a serious problem, but you’ll be able to revisit the way the computer was at any time you’ve done a backup, so you can recover individual items that you may have moved or accidentally deleted.

Peace of mind is increasingly easy to buy nowadays; the advent of insurance conglomerates, legal recourse and money-back guarantees makes it easy to get compensated when something goes awry. But for when your computer crashes, and your data is lost, there’s no surefire way to protect those crucial computerized essentials than to purchase an external hard drive and back up your computer.

The most underused way to immediately perform some common computer actions are their associated keyboard shortcuts. While they require some focus to learn, they can be used throughout many programs and will end up saving the savvy user tons of time in the long run.

Many people are familiar with the more common ones, which I’ll list below. The ⌘ icon represents the Command key, found immediately to the left or right of the space bar on your Mac. If you don’t commonly use shortcuts, the timing might take some time to master, but I typically hold down the Command key first and press the letter in question once.

Text/Writing (commands apply to text highlighted)
⌘N – New – To create a blank document or a project from a template
⌘O – Open – Brings up a browser to select a file to open from your files
⌘S – Save – You should be doing this often enough that learning this shortcut makes lots of sense.
⌘Z – Undo – Very useful to retrace steps, also works editing photos
⌘X – Cut – Removes text from current document, and keeps it in the clipboard to be Pasted
⌘C – Copy – Copies text to clipboard without removing it
⌘V – Paste – Takes most recently added text from clipboard and inserts it into selected areas
⌘A – Select All – Highlights all text within a particular document or region
⌘P – Print – Pretty self-explanatory

Internet/Browsing (commands apply to the currently selected window)
⌘N – New Window – To bring up an additional browsing window
⌘S – Save as… – This allows you to preserve an archive of this webpage offline
⌘+ – Zoom In – Increase the size of text and images
⌘- – Zoom Out – Decrease the size of text and images
⌘R – Reload – If the page slows, freezes or your connection times out, this can trigger the webpage to appear correctly

Fun Extras
⌘⌥⌃8 – Invert Screen Colors – This one is tricky (⌥ and ⌃ represent Option and Control, both in the same row of buttons as Command)
⇧⌥K – Apple Logo! – The ⇧ stands for Shift, right above Control

There are lots of others. Once you know what buttons the funky symbols stand for, you can just look under the menu options at the top of the screen, and opposite each action is the keyboard shortcut for it.

In our continued effort to expand our online presence, we’ve created a company listing at the website thumbtack.com, which will help promote our efforts to reach out to new clients through the internet. Check out the link below for further details.

Mac in-home and in-office tech support and lessons