Is this a Scam I wonder???

Just a caution to everyone...

received an email from "The Facebook Team [service@facebook.com]" addressed to me by name...

"Hey colin , Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed.You can find your new password in attached document. Thanks,The Facebook Team"

There's also a ZIP file attached...

interestingly, if I log off & log back on my "old" password still works.

Which makes me wonder whether it's a scam?

I'm not going to be opening the Zip file...

Hello,

I've just received this email 3 times in a short while:

Good evening
Dear Credit Card Holder:

The last transaction report on your credit card shows a number of transactions that have questionable background. That gives us reasons to believe that your credit card details have been stolen, and your card has been abused for making unauthorized payments.

Enclosed is the listing of transactions made with your credit card between 13.06.2009 and 15.06.2009. Please look through the enclosed document carefully and pay special attention to the last three of the listed transactions – they are the ones that we suspect to be fraudulent.

Please find time to review the enclosed account statement and confirm the transactions you have authorized in person. This would help us both to have this issue resolved as quickly as possible.

The Word-formatted copy of your transaction list:

scananida.com.pl/report_8977.exe

(I've removed the http:// from the front of the link to avoid anyone clicking on it in error)

There are a couple of obvious clues...

1. The Salutation: "Dear Credit Card Holder" - any real credit card company would address the email directly to me
2. The link to a word document is has an .EXE file extension - always a good sign!
3. I received 3 copies of the same email, two from one person & one from another!
   

So, if you receive such an email, do what I did & delete them! Don't be tempted (even a little bit!) to click the link

Is this a scam???

To be honest, I'll answer my own question... I don't know, but I've taken sensible precautions not to get caught...

Just received a phone call from 0800 030 4909 to my Mobile phone aledgedly from HSBC bank (with whom, I do have an account). He then said that he needed to confirm who I was to protect my confidentiality & security, so then read out teh first part of my post code & asked me to complete second part.

I told him that I appreciated him wanting to maintain my security & so I would support that by not providing my information!

He then said that he could provide a number for me to call back on or send info in teh post, so I said post would be fine...

If it arrives, then maybe it was genuine... if not, well, perhaps I've saved some money!!

In which case, I'm glad that I shared this!!

10 Golden Rules for Using Public WiFi safely

I've just been made aware of these top tips from ITWales.com (via the Tameside Business Family News)...

Access to the Internet via public "hotspots" is growing and will continue to grow as more and more hotspots are made available. We have McDonalds offering free Internet access and even Boris Johnson proposing that London becomes a WiFi city, with free WiFi, following the likes of Norwich!

This free bandwidth does come with an element of risk. Once you are associated to an access point, you are on the same network as others connected to the same access point, in the same way as plugging into the same network segment. A simple network discovery will show who else is connected....and from there an unscrupulous user could try and access your machine. This may not be deliberate - a Trojan may automatically be scanning in the background for, and trying to infect other machines. In addition to the possibility of direct attack, your data is probably going to be "clear text" - not encrypted.

So what are issues we face when using public ‘hotspots’?
1. Clear text data - by its very nature a hotspot will not have any encryption or security on it. It is there to enable as many people as possible to connect, as easily as possible. To offer a pre-shared security key is impractical, and the more people have a key, the less valuable a key is. What does this mean? Well if you are sending email, someone on that network will be able to see, and read that data. It is a bit like handing a postcard over a post office counter. Everyone in the post office can read it. So you really would not write anything confidential on it. To say "Hi, having a wonderful time, wish you were here" is not exactly top secret. You may not want to put all your credit card information on it!

2. Most web traffic is, by its very nature clear text. Most web sites will switch to secure, encrypted HTTPS traffic when doing commercial transactions. Web mail is normally in the clear...How can you tell if you have changed? Look for the little padlock in your browser!

3. If you are using business email, we strongly recommend using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) between you and the business mail server. This should be provided by the business. This normally is a security overlay on your traffic. This will encrypt data and ensure no eaves droppers read it.

4. Your PC needs to have a personal firewall installed, and switched on. A basic firewall is provided within Windows now. Use it! This stops unauthorised access on to the PC.

5. Many businesses will add an additional personal firewall. The clever ones will actually change the policy based upon your location, which will control the flow of data in and out of your PC in accordance with your policy.

6. Ensure your anti-virus software is installed, up-to-date and working! This will defend against known virus or Trojan attacks.

7. Turn off ad-hoc networking - WiFi has two methods of working - ad hoc and infrastructure. Infrastructure is when your PC connects to an Access Point, and then on to a wired network. Ad-hoc is when two PC’s communicate to each other directly without an Access Point. You really should ensure no one can network directly, unless there is a specific reason!

8. Shoulder surfing. Always be aware who is watching you. Don’t sit with your back to a crowd or window inviting unwanted snoopers to see you type your password or read your documents.

9. Think about the length of time you are connected. As a precaution, prepare messages off line and only connect to send and receive. This will reduce the window of opportunity for someone to capture your data.

10. Lastly, when accessing a hot spot be aware of hot spot high jacking. This is when a fake access point is used to fool you into connecting to it. It will record all traffic from your system. This type of attack is mainly used in internet cafes since access is open. Always try and make sure you connect to genuine access points.

They were originally written by David Hobson, Managing Director of Global Secure Systems (GSS) but make so much sense that I've added them here. For more information on security and WiFi visit www.gss.co.uk

IT Tip #6 - Back to Word

With this entry, I've decided to return to my first subject and concentrate on Word.

• Use Your Keyboard to Quickly Change the Case of Text
• Select the text you want to change and press SHIFT+F3.
• Each time you press the F3 key, the text case switches between Title Case, UPPERCASE, and lowercase

Save All Your Word Documents at Once

• Hold down SHIFT and click the File menu. When you hold down SHIFT, two new options appear on the File menu: Close All and Save All.
• To save all your open documents at once, click Save All. Or, to close all your open documents, click Close All; Word will prompt you to save your changes before closing any documents.
  

Speed Up Your Typing with AutoCorrect
If you find yourself typing long words again and again, you should consider setting up typing shortcuts, so you only need to type in part of the word and Word fills in the rest. For example, if I need to type Universal Solutions 4 Business Limited, I just type US4B; then I press the SPACEBAR, Word automatically spells out all the words.

To set up this shortcut:

• On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect. Select the Replace text as you type check box.
• In the Replace box, type an abbreviation you will remember—for example, US4B.
• In the With box, type the complete spelling of the word—for example, Universal Solutions 4 Business Limited
• Click Add.
• Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add additional terms, then click OK.
• You can also use this tip to quickly type people's names, technical terms—anything you want. And once you add a term to your AutoCorrect list, it also works in Excel, PowerPoint and (if you use Word as your default e-mail editor) Outlook.
  

Increase or Decrease Line Spacing in Word
To quickly change the line spacing of a paragraph in Microsoft Word:

• Select the text you want to change, then (using the numbers along the top of the alphabetical part of the keyboard):
• To set line spacing to single-space lines, press CTRL+1.
• To set line spacing to double-space lines, press CTRL+2.
• To set line spacing to 1.5-line spacing, press CTRL+5.
  

Insert Current Date and Time in Word
You can insert the current date or time in a Word document using keyboard shortcuts. Here's how:

• Position the cursor where you want to insert the date or time.
• Do one of the following:

1. To insert the date, press ALT+SHIFT+D.
2. To insert the time, press ALT+SHIFT+T.
   

Automate Repetitive Typing Tasks—Use AutoText
To create an AutoText entry for later use:

• Select the text (or graphic) you want to store as an AutoText entry. (To store paragraph formatting with the entry, include the paragraph mark in the selection.)
• On the Insert menu, point to AutoText, and then click AutoText. You will see your selected text in the Enter AutoText entries here box.
• Make sure your entry contains at least four characters. Then click Add.
• Word stores the AutoText entry for later use.

To insert an AutoText entry:

• In your document, type the first few characters of the AutoText entry.
• When Word suggests the complete AutoText entry, press ENTER or F3 to accept the entry. (To reject the entry, keep typing.)
  

Add Fake Text to a Word Document
Here's a handy function you can use whenever you need to fill a page with fake text—for example, to demonstrate a feature in Word or to work with page layout and design.

• In a Word document, type =rand(4,5) and then press ENTER.
• The numbers in parentheses correspond to the number of paragraphs (4) and the number of sentences per paragraph (5). You can change the numbers in parentheses to put more or less text on the page. Or if you want one long paragraph, just place one number in the parentheses, which will designate the number of sentences that should appear in the paragraph
  

IT Tip #5 - Viruses

I thought that a reminder of the prevention issues centred on viruses would be useful...

Obviously, to be fully protected, you need to have an up to date Anti Virus product installed. Don't wait until you're infected - that's too little too late. Anti Virus products are not expensive; the result of being infected can be! Think of Anti-Virus Software as cheap insurance! In fact, there are plenty of free versions, so there's no excuse!

Virus Detection and Prevention Tips

• Do not open any files attached to an email from an unknown, suspicious or untrustworthy source.
• Do not open any files attached to an email unless you know what it is, even if it appears to come from a dear friend or someone you know. Some viruses can replicate themselves and spread through email. Better be safe than sorry and confirm that they really sent it.
• Do not open any files attached to an email if the subject line is questionable or unexpected. If the need to do so is there always save the file to your hard drive before doing so.
• Delete chain emails and junk email. Do not forward or reply to any to them. These types of email are considered spam, which is unsolicited, intrusive mail that clogs up the network.
• Do not download any files from strangers.
• Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Ensure that the source is a legitimate and reputable one. Verify that an anti-virus program checks the files on the download site. If you're uncertain, don't download the file at all or download the file to a floppy and test it with your own anti-virus software.
• Update your anti-virus software regularly. Over 500 viruses are discovered each month, so you'll want to be protected. These updates should be at the least the products virus signature files. You may also need to update the product's scanning engine as well.
• Back up your files on a regular basis. If a virus destroys your files, at least you can replace them with your back-up copy. You should store your backup copy in a separate location from your work files, one that is preferably not on your computer.
• When in doubt, always err on the side of caution and do not open, download, or execute any files or email attachments. Not executing is the more important of these caveats. Check with your product vendors for updates, which include those for your operating system web browser, and email.
• If you are not sure about a potential virus related situation, there are many sites that offer updates on the latest threats. A couple of these are…

1. McAfee:http://www.mcafee.com/us/threat_center/default.asp
2. Norton: http://www.symantec.com/security_response/index.jsp

• What can be as important is to not react to some of the virus hoaxes that regularly appear in inboxes around the world. So, if you receive an email claiming that there's a really horrible virus around & no one can stop it & McAfee & Norton have said that it's the worst ever & other predictions of gloom, then take a deep breath, hold off the sending to all of your friends & check out the following, first...

1. http://antivirus.about.com/od/emailhoaxes/l/blenhoax.htm
2. http://pcworld.about.com/magazine/2009p061id102498.htm
   

IT Tip #4 - Making best use of Microsoft Office

Many businesses make use of the Microsoft Office Suite of programs without really doing much more than scratching the surface of what is available. The purpose of this blog entry is to highlight some of the additional features and uses to which the programs may be utilised.

Word
Some users merely use Word as an electronic typewriter; however, it is much more than that…

• In addition to assisting you to write your letters more efficiently with the use of its spell and grammar checkers, using the AutoCorrect facility and Macros can speed up any repetitive work
• Letterheads and regularly used documents can be set up as Templates to avoid the risk of saving over existing documents
• Headers and Footers can be used to record company information within a letterhead, e.g. VAT and company Registration numbers or details of directors or the company logo. They can also record page numbers and chapter headings for longer documents
• Indexes, Tables of Contents, Footnotes and Hyperlinks can make longer documents or reports more readable and easily navigated
• Using the full set of Styles, Bulleted or Numbered lists and Font or Paragraph formatting can add impact and readability to documents
• Master Documents and Sub Documents can make the production of, for example, training or other manuals a more efficient process
• The use of Mail Merge can make the sending of newsletters or mail shots a simple process
• Tables can be used in the production of minutes and other documents where a multi columnar layout is required
  

Excel
Many people associate Excel with "number crunching" – however, it can be used for much more than this allowing a user to organise and manipulate data and perform calculations, such as...

• Interactive sales analyses using Pivot Tables and Charts can aid in the effective management of a business
• The power and flexibility of the formulae and functions available make Excel a superb product for producing cash flow forecasts, budgets and management accounts
• Hyperlinks and Named Ranges can make navigating the spreadsheet a simple process
• Cell comments can be used to explain how formulae work or where information has been obtained from to help in the understanding of a spreadsheet
• Styles are used to ensure that the same type of information (e.g. totals, protected calculations, input areas) always appear the same throughout the spreadsheet
• Conditional formatting allows data to be automatically highlighted when certain criteria are met (e.g. sales above or below certain values)
• Scenarios allow for different sets of information (e.g. sales volumes) to be held within the same spreadsheet, whilst Goal Seek and Solver allow complex costing or budgeting exercises to be carried out accurately
• The database functions of Excel (Filters, Subtotals, Sorting and Grouping and Outlining) make it a useful tool for managing large amounts of data, whether these are lists of sales, clients or products
  

Access
Access is the Relational Database within the Office Suite of programs. A database is a collection of similar information about a subject. In its simplest form it is a list, e.g. telephone directory, but this can be extended to a management tool e.g. assist with managing a company's client list.

Some examples of the sort of databases that can be created are…

• Client or customer lists used for mail merges (linking to Word), call records and contracts held
• Managing employees and aiding the recruitment process
• Purchase and sales order systems
• Asset registers: Equipment, Hardware & Software, equipment out on hire
• Events management
• Inventory and warehouse control
• Help desk and project management
• Producing quotations and invoices for customers
  

PowerPoint
This allows the user to create a slide show on their computer. For example used as a tool to assist in the explanation of a business idea or plan, at a sales conference or customer presentation, PowerPoint can add impact to an already good idea or assist in its explanation. Its use on training courses is widespread as it allows the trainer to assist all delegates in their understanding of the product that is the subject of the course.

In addition, when made interactive, it can be used in its own right as a training medium for a product or service.


Publisher

• Publisher allows the user to produce professional looking promotional material to assist with the marketing of the business.
• Linked with, for example, Excel, regularly updated price lists can be professionally produced very quickly.
• Instruction and informational booklets can easily be produced using Publisher
  

Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a messaging and personal information management program that helps you manage your messages, appointments, contacts, and tasks.

• Set up different folders and use the Rules Wizard to automatically direct messages to them depending on sender or type of message (or FAX)
• Use Contacts as a source for a mail merge in Word
• Use Tasks as a reminder of what needs to be done; sort them using priorities or categories or manually
• Create Signatures for emails to include company and contact details or disclaimer notices
  

IT Tip #3 - Excel as a database

In the first of these Tips and Tricks blogs, I looked at using Word and Excel to produce Mail Merged documents, however, there was a presumption that a “Data Source” was already available in either Excel or Access. In this blog, I will look at the creation of a data source in Excel (because it is somewhat simpler than in Access!) and some of the features within Excel that allow us to take full advantage of the database that we have produced. A later one will explore some of the more advanced areas of database manipulation.

Database Terminology
Field

• A field is a column within an Excel database.

Record

• A record is a row within an Excel database

Field Name

• In an Excel database the top row of the database will normally hold the names of each field (column). It is usually descriptive text describing the function of the particular field.
• Field names are not essential for some of the database (List Management) functions, such as sorting a list. However, to use the full power of the system, you will need to define field names.

To create an Excel database

• Enter the information in the normal way, remembering to include field names in the top row. Also, remember that your data should be in the second row of your database; do not leave a blank row before inputting the data.

• Use the Tab key to proceed to the next field (or Shift+Tab to go to the preceding field). You can insert or remove rows or columns in the normal way.

• In fact, there is nothing special concerning the creation of an internal database; it is just like creating any other spreadsheet type information.

• If when entering data into a cell it is the same as in the cell above there is a neat trick that will save you typing - Press the following key combination: Ctrl+’ (apostrophe) the contents of the cell above are copied.

• You will also note that the AutoComplete “function” will automatically complete a text entry based on other entries that you’ve already made in the column. In addition, right click on the cell where you want to input information and choose Pick from List. Excel then displays a list box that shows all of the entries in the column. Click on the one that you want and it is entered into the cell.

To sort the data within a database

• Select any cell within the database range.

• From the Data drop down menu, select the Sort command, which will open the Sort dialog box.

• You will see that Excel automatically places a field name in the Sort by box. This is because the active cell was in the column for that field name when the Sort command was issued

• WARNING: If your database contains a Header Row, but you specify No header row in the Sort dialog box, then the header will be sorted (and get mixed up) along with the rest of the information contained within the database.

Filtering the database with Autofilter

• Click on any cell within the database.

• From the Data drop down menu, select Filter, and then select AutoFilter.

• Drop down controls will be displayed next to each field name. Select the one that you want to use, then choose the item that you want to select (e.g. a county or town). Only those records matching the filter will then be displayed.

IT Tip #2 - Excel & Word

Rather than concentrating on one major area of interest – mail merge using word – this time, I've offered a wider range of tips and tricks. Hopefully you will find some, or all, of them to be of use! These will work "as given" in Office 2000 - 2003, there are differences in Office 2007 which later blog entries will cover

Excel: To change the width of a column

• Find the right-hand border of the column you wish to change and follow it to the top of the worksheet into the area of the column heading.
• When the mouse pointer is moved in this area, it changes to a thick crosshair.
• Click on the right-hand column heading border and drag the mouse to the left to reduce the column, or to the right to increase the column size.

NOTE: If you enter text that exceeds the column width, it will spill over into the next column as long as the cell does not contain any data. If it contains data the entry will be truncated at the edge of the cell. Although the entire entry does not appear, it will still be intact. If you enter a number which exceeds the width of a column, ### signs will be displayed in the cell to let you know that the column is not wide enough.

Excel: To set the column width to match the data automatically

• Find the right-hand column border in the column heading area.
• Double click on the border to make the column change to fit the data in it. The column will be as wide as the largest entry in it.

Excel: To change the width of multiple columns to match the data

• Click on the heading (column letter) of the first column you want to change, and drag to highlight the other columns.
• Double click on the right-hand border of the column heading of any of the highlighted columns.
• The column widths will change to match their largest entry.

Excel, Word & PowerPoint: Auto Correct

AutoCorrect looks at the entry you are making and checks it against a (pre-defined) list of common errors. If you make a common error AutoCorrect will make the required correction. In addition, you can add your own items to the list, for example people’s names, job titles, company names, products, or even images etc. To do this…

• Open the Tools menu and select the AutoCorrect option.
• Enter the incorrect spelling in the Replace box.
• Enter the correct spelling in the With box.
• Click the Add button. The entry is now in the AutoCorrect list.
• Click OK to finish.

Excel, Word & PowerPoint: Copying and moving using the mouse

Rather than using the Edit>Cut, Edit>Copy & Edit>Paste menus or the icons on the toolbars to copy & paste, you can just use the mouse.

Drag & Drop (Cut & Paste)

• Select the range that you want to cut & paste with the mouse
• Move your mouse to the edge of the range (it will change from an open cross to an arrowhead
• Hold down the left button and drag it to where you want its new location to be
• Let go of the button

Copy & Paste

• Select the range that you want to cut & paste with the mouse
• Move your mouse to the edge of the range (it will change from an open cross to an arrowhead
• Hold down the left button and and the Control (CTRL) key on your keyboard (the pointer will now have a cross by it) drag it to where you want its new location to be
• Let go of the button

To move and copy data to another worksheet

• Select the cell or range that contains the data to be copied.
• Press and hold the ALT key and drag any edge of the selected range to the required worksheet tab.
• Place the range where required and release the mouse button.
• To copy the data carry out the above procedure holding down both the CTRL and ALT keys.

Tip #1 - Mail Merge using Word

Here, I have looked at a common request: the ability to write a mailshot letter to all clients contained in a data source held in either Excel or Access. I've set out below the method to follow for Office 2003.
The easiest way to do this is to create a Mail Merge using Word. The following steps will take you through the stages...

Creating a Mail Merge

• Create the document which you wish to merge recipient information with.This can be a letter, envelope, label or email.

• From the main menu, choose Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge to open the Mail Merge pane:
  

• When creating a letter for mail merge, you can use the open document, create a new document from a template

OR open a different existing document.

• Any selection made will have a brief definition of what the selection will do in the mail merge.

• Once done, click Next: Select recipients to open the following wizard pane:
  

• An existing list, Outlook contact or a manual new list can be selected for the recipient data source.

• If using an existing list, click the Browse option to open the Select Data Source dialog box, where you can select the list of recipients to be used:

• Double click on the file to select it. If there are multiple pages, or tables within the dat a source, the Select Table dialog box will open, and you can select one or all tables available:
  

• Select the required table, and click OK.

• This will open the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box:
  

• Instructions at the top of the dialog box tell you how to sort the recipient information, and select recipients by criteria, like a position or city.

• Click the Refresh button to view the alterations made to the list.Any names which were not selected are removed from the list.

• Once done, click OK.

• This will return you to the Wizard pane.

• Click Next: Write your letter to open the following wizard pane:

• Extra recipient information can be added to the letter in this pane, from a Greeting line to Electronic postage.

• Click to place an insertion point on the document, where you want the item to appear.

• If inserting an Address block, the Insert Address Block dialog box will open, allowing you to select how you want the address or recipient name to appear:

  

• Make your selections and click OK.

• The Address block field must be inserted if you want the contact name to appear in the letter.

• The Address block field will appear in the document:

  

• Once done, click Next: Preview your letters to open the following dialog box:

• This pane allows you to view each letter with the recipient information viewable in the content of the letter. The recipient list can also be edited even further in this pane. Once done, click Next: Complete the merge to open the following dialog box:

• Choose to edit each letter to personalise, or simply print all letters.

• The Mail Merge function allows you to create mass amounts of the same document, for multiple people, with a minimum of time and an easy procedure.