discussion Junk Mail

[Gern]

Is it just me or:

Since Jan 1 this year I've had 47 emails supposedly from McAfee or Norton telling me my internet security subscription has expired and my PC is no longer protected.

Interesting since I have a paid subscription with AVG (I daresay some of you will recommend others but I'm quite happy with AVG thanks), I cancelled my McAfee one three years ago and I've never, ever used Norton.

PS I did also get one nice mail from The Times telling me they're going to publish the last crossword I submitted. Extra Wonga! Pity there's no point buying kits as I'm in no fit condition to build anything - I can't hold my hands still enough to stay within a centimetre of where I want to put either paint, cement, putty or tools. I do have an appointment with a neurosurgeon next month, but they're going to need a REALLY good detector to find any brain activity in my head!

 

[Tim Marlow]

That’s a bit of a bugger Dave. Hope the neurosurgeon can find some sort of life....you can obviously still think so there must be activity in there.
As to the spam, I just get loads telling me I’m not using Norton on my tablet......I dropped mcaffee years ago because it was such a drag on processor resource.

 

[stona]

Not just you Dave. The Fuhrerin has received a load purporting to be from Norton.

I keep getting them telling me my Paypal account has been disabled/locked, which it isn't.

I haven't had any recently from Nigerian princes requiring a hand with $25 million...which is a shame, I could do with a bob or two :smiling3:

 

[stillp]

This might be why Steve:

Pete

 

[adt70hk]

My mum had one recently saying she had 670 million dollars waiting for her......

 

[peterairfix]

I normally get one or two from amazon and considering I don't use amazon and I don't know anyone in the amazon.

 

[stona]

That doesn't stop them trying Peter!

They just send out millions of emails at virtually zero expense in the hope of getting a handful of responses. I got one about 'my' Barclays bank account once. I have never held any sort of account with any Barclays bank!

I had a nuisance phone call about my BT Internet before Xmas. Same applies; BT is not and never has been my internet service provider.

I'm gutted about that Nigerian chap dying, I'll never get my money now

 

[Guest]

This might be why Steve:

That’s like the Famalam sketches about a Nigerian prince who has great trouble getting anyone to take him seriously. This is the only one that seems to be on YouTube, but there were several similar ones in different episodes of the show:

 

[dave]

My favourite was a phone call at my previous job with an internet based wholesaler and retailer. The gentleman told me they had done extensive research on our company and we would benefit from a website.

 

[Gern]

That's novel! I just received email notification of sales deals at Lidl - from a Waitrose mail address!

While I'm here. I use Windows mail. In order to send mail to junk I click on the three dots at the top right and select the junk option. My junk inbox now has 90 names and the icon for it has a little 'no entry' symbol on it. It's still accepting new junk, but does anyone know why that symbol is there?

Just gone back to my email to find I've just bought nearly £7000 BTC! Wonder where they got the money from?

And now I've received £19000+ BTC! Can't wait until that gets into my bank, but I do wonder if they know which account to pay it into. D'you reckon I should contact them and give them my details to make sure?

 

[dave]

No idea, but I have had an email from a Nigerian Prince who might

 

[stillp]

The last couple of weeks I've had about 2 or 3 emails each day inviting me to buy a 'bargain' copy of Microsoft Office Pro. All have come from similar gmail addresses.
Pete

 

[boatman]

DAVE i keep gettin this bloomin macafee saying its exspired an do i want to renew but i have got the crappy norton nxt yr i will try another which one do you think is best an how much ?
chris

 

[BattleshipBob]

My mum has the BT one almost every day, one problem she has never used the internet

 

[Gern]

DAVE i keep gettin this bloomin macafee saying its exspired an do i want to renew but i have got the crappy norton nxt yr i will try another which one do you think is best an how much ?
chris

You'd do better asking around Chris. I'm not any sort of 'puter expert and loads of the guys here know much more than me. I only cancelled McAfee 'cos I couldn't stop their adverts.

 

[Ian M]

Have you seen the guy on You tube that replies to spam mail and scammers. Rather funny.
I have so far this year "earned" about 20,000 bit coin. Had my American Express card, I dont own, blocked twice. My pay pal account blocked twice.... the usual suspects. Then there are the more tricky ones. You have a parcel that is ready for collection... but first you need to pay a duty of XX€ click here....... Nope.

Re the anti virus thing I use Norton. The new version covers multiple devices. Works. Has VPN and is far less system hungry than before. So for the one price I have My lap top, my desk top and smart phone. The wife has it on her laptop and smart phone.

 

[Mickc1440]

The scammers are working overtime at the moment by online, email, telephone and I even got a letter from a Japanese financial guy who wanted my help to scam an estate of a deceased man with my surname :tongue-out3:

 

[Guest]

Never sat YES when they ask is that you speaking, they have been known to record , and splice yes in a tape confirming you have ordered from them.

Always getting email's saying my PayPal account is blocked, the last time I sent it to Paypal only to be told it was not a spam, just shows how much interest they take.

 

[stona]

Have you seen the guy on You tube that replies to spam mail and scammers. Rather funny.

There's a guy who really stiffs the 'Microsoft Support' scammers.

He uses a virtual machine (obviously) and strings them along right up to the point when he gains control of THEIR network and deletes everything on their computers. The networks are surprisingly small, usually about 5-10 machines, but that's 5-10 fewer scammers able to operate while they reinstall their operating systems etc.

These guys work on a numbers game. For every thousand who hang up or take the p*ss there is one who will fall for it, quite often vulnerable people or people who really know nothing about computers.

 

[langy71]

nxt yr i will try another which one do you think is best an how much ?
chris

Firstly I'd like add that other anti virus programs are available, these are just my personal thoughts on these programs based upon my experience whilst using them, individual users may experience a better or worse experience,

I dropped Norton, McCafee, Avast and most of the other anti-virus programs due to them being very 'resource hungry',

Norton actually slowed down my Laptop, (which was running an Intel Pentium i5 processor, and 8gb of RAM ) and I ended up getting sick of constant pop ups from Avast, which seemed to like telling me to purchase various add - on programs.

(And I might add, both of these programs missed some pretty serious and nasty malware that was doing the rounds a couple of years ago.)

In the end I went with 'Total AV',

This was originally a free anti-virus which I ended up liking so much that i purchased the 'fully paid for' version.. (link below )

https://www.totalav.com/en/free-antivirus


Here's a link that's worth checking out for more info on Anti-virus programs, This isn't an exhaustive list and there are programs that haven't made it onto the list, but it gives you a bit more info..

https://www.techradar.com/uk/best/best-antivirus