Wednesday Newsbytes: Microsoft Admits It Can’t Stop Spammers, How to Avoid Spam, Surveillance is Everywhere – You Are Being Watched, Scammers are Using This Sneaky Tactic, Amazon’s Secret Coupon Page…and more!
Every day we scan the tech world for interesting news in the world of technology and sometimes from outside the world of technology. Every Wednesday, we feature some news articles that grabbed our attention over the past week. We hope you find this week’s ‘Wednesday Newsbytes’ informative and interesting!
Microsoft admits it can’t stop scammers fooling you with their latest tricks
The scammers are, apparently, just too good.
I’m a folder-emptier.
I don’t like little red circles on my iPhone and I never leave an unread email in my Hotmail inbox.
Lately, though, more and more strange things have been appearing.
Junky, phishy, evil-minded emails trying to bait me into submission.
This led me to pay extra attention to my junk mail — largely because, ironically, legitimate emails sometimes end up there.
But let’s focus on the phishy and the evil-minded that appear in both my junk mail and my inbox. Sometimes, they’re the very same emails, one day after another.
Often misspelled and written in strange typefaces, they sometimes even claim they’re from, oh, Microsoft.
But I’ve been noticing some disturbing and changing patterns.
My Company Is Taking The Trouble To Help You.
One was the increasing plethora of junk that creeps into my inbox from apparently real companies. ADT Security, LeafFilter, HelloFresh, Sono Bello Body Contouring (“One Day Fat Removal”) and American Home Warranty are names that seem to waft in daily.
And what messages. From the alleged American Home Warranty: ‘Will take the trouble of repairing your house — info here!’…
We Try, But We Can’t Stop It.
Email is, by its very nature, a medium that constantly assaults your attention, so it’s easy to open such emails automatically and even respond to them without sufficient thought.
I did it once, many years ago — I clicked on the link even. I was very, very lucky that it seemed to cause no subsequent damage.
I asked Microsoft why the company is still unable to make sure that all this sort of stuff goes straight to junk. Especially as more and more of it now appears in my regular inbox.
A company spokesman explained that you can customize your junk folder. You can more aggressively filter your junk mail — the default is set for “No Automatic Filtering.”
Ultimately, though, defeat always lurks, even in your inbox…
How To Create a Throwaway Email To Avoid Spam
Have you ever been asked to share your email address to get a discount or other offer? People are becoming more aware of the dangers involved when giving out their real email addresses.
Tips To Help Avoid Spam in Your Inbox
By not providing your personal email address, you can avoid getting spam, junk mail, malicious email and other unwanted content delivered to your personal inbox.
Try a Disposable Email Service
A disposable email address is an email address that you can use once or just temporarily when you need to provide an email address when ordering online, signing up for a service, filling out a form — or any other time you’re asked to provide an email address but you don’t want to use your personal email.
Most disposable email services are free to use or offer free and paid versions. Here are four that I recommend.
TrashMail
TrashMail is simple and straightforward. The email you receive will be forwarded to your personal email address or any address you choose. You can set a limit on the number of messages that are received and the number of days before the disposable address will stop forwarding messages.
10 Minute Mail
As the name implies, 10 Minute Mail lets you obtain a temporary email address for 10 minutes. You can send, read and reply to emails during that time, and the site allows you to receive emails with attachments. The address will expire after 10 minutes. However, there is an option of extending the timer for an additional 10 minutes if you need more time.
Maildrop
Maildrop lets you select your own temporary email address, or you can use one the site provides.
According to Maildrop, it permits plain text or HTML messages. It doesn’t allow for attachments, so any email attachment will be removed. All messages must be less than 500k in size.
To quote Maildrop: “An inbox can hold at most 10 messages, and any inbox which does not receive a message within 24 hours will be automatically cleared.”
Maildrop also uses a spam filter, so most junk mail will not come through. Maildrop has no sign up, there is no password associated with the account, no security and no privacy. It is strictly a temporary email to use quickly and be done with…
Surveillance is pervasive: Yes, you are being watched, even if no one is looking for you
Video cameras on city streets are only the most visible way your movements can be tracked.
The U.S. has the largest number of surveillance cameras per person in the world. Cameras are omnipresent on city streets and in hotels, restaurants, malls and offices. They’re also used to screen passengers for the Transportation Security Administration. And then there are smart doorbells and other home security cameras.
Most Americans are aware of video surveillance of public spaces. Likewise, most people know about online tracking – and want Congress to do something about it. But as a researcher who studies digital culture and secret communications, I believe that to understand how pervasive surveillance is, it’s important to recognize how physical and digital tracking work together.
Databases can correlate location data from smartphones, the growing number of private cameras, license plate readers on police cruisers and toll roads, and facial recognition technology, so if law enforcement wants to track where you are and where you’ve been, they can. They need a warrant to use cellphone search equipment: Connecting your device to a mobile device forensic tool lets them extract and analyze all your data if they have a warrant.
However, private data brokers also track this kind of data and help surveil citizens – without a warrant. There is a large market for personal data, compiled from information people volunteer, information people unwittingly yield – for example, via mobile apps – and information that is stolen in data breaches. Among the customers for this largely unregulated data are federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
How you are tracked
Whether or not you pass under the gaze of a surveillance camera or license plate reader, you are tracked by your mobile phone. GPS tells weather apps or maps your location, Wi-Fi uses your location, and cell-tower triangulation tracks your phone. Bluetooth can identify and track your smartphone…
Don’t Use In-App Browsers for Anything Important
The best way to prevent JavaScript injection attacks is to use a trusted browser.
Both Apple and Google are doing great work to prevent multi-site tracking. Google Chrome is slowly phasing out cookies, and Apple goes the furthest by asking users to block multi-app/multi-site tracking using their app transparency popups.
Custom in-app browsers are out of their reach, though. Such browsers are annoying by default, as they won’t have the history, usernames, passwords, or sharing options from your default browsers. But while they are most commonly found in apps like Facebook and Instagram, they aren’t limited to the big two Meta apps.
Because the app developers themselves code in-app browsers, they have a lot more freedom as to what goes on in there. A recent study by Fastlane developer Felix Krause showed that Facebook and Instagram can basically track anything they want when you’re using their in-app browser, which they use to open all ads and links by default.
How does in-app browser tracking work?
JavaScript injection. The study uses Instagram as an example. Instagram injects Meta’s Meta Pixel JavaScript tracking code into every website that you open. It’s a library designed for website developers to track visitors on their site. Meta is injecting it on every site, without asking the website, and collecting the data for themselves.
When you open a link in Instagram, the app injects JavaScript code…
Scammers are using this sneaky tactic to trick you into handing over bank details and passwords
Cybersecurity researchers warn there’s been a big rise in cyber criminals using ‘vishing’ attacks to manipulate victims into disclosing sensitive information.
There’s been a big rise in cyber criminals combining fraudulent emails and telephone calls to trick victims into disclosing sensitive information like passwords and bank details.
Known as vishing attacks, criminals and scammers telephone victims and attempt to use social engineering to trick them into giving up personal data.
Common scams involve attackers claiming to be from the victim’s bank, the police, or even cybersecurity or software companies. Often, they use scare tactics to encourage victims to give up information like bank information or passwords as a matter of urgency.
The attackers can even engineer the telephone number and caller ID to look legitimate, making their claims more convincing.
Now, in an effort to make vishing attacks look even more legitimate, cyber criminals are using what cybersecurity researchers at Agari describe as ‘hybrid’ vishing attacks. These are different to regular vishing attacks because they use multiple different stages, first contacting the victim with a phishing email lure containing a phone number that they’re asked to call.
The emails will often claim a state of urgency in order to panic the target into calling the number – for example, it could claim that you’re about to be locked out of your bank account, or a transaction has been made without your permission and you should call the number to talk to the bank.
When the victim calls, they’re connected to a scammer claiming who attempts to extract sensitive information from them under the false pretences of helping the victim rectify the false problem they’ve been told they have. Unlike many phishing emails, the messages don’t contain attachments or malicious links…
Psst…Amazon has a secret coupon page — save nearly 50%!
Super-savvy old-school coupon clippers can make an art form out of saving money. And though you may think online shopping doesn’t quite allow for the same form of self-expression, you’d be wrong. At least when it comes to Amazon.
There’s one place at Amazon you can go to access a bounty of coupons. It’s just like thumbing through the newspaper in olden times. You can see what coupons are available, search for coupons from your favorite brands and generally revel in the thrill of saving.
Amazon’s secret page of coupons is available to you anytime. (Get a load of the categories list on the left column!)
How it works
On this special secret page, Amazon offers up various discounts on things like tools, pet supplies, electronics and fashion. You can “clip” (aka “click”) the coupons of your choice, and the items are added to your cart for purchase — the discount is applied when you check out, now or later. Don’t worry if you don’t see the discount in your cart right away — it shows up at checkout.
You can also use the search bar on the coupons page to hunt down coupons for brands you like. Above the list of categories on the left side, click “your coupons” to view all of coupons you’ve clipped; this is a great tool for comparing discounts…
Thanks for reading this week’s Wednesday Newbytes. We hope you found these articles informative, interesting, fun, and/or helpful. Darcy & TC