Driver Scams Are Thriving… Beware!
Windows 10/Windows 11

You know what makes me angry? You know what makes me so angry I could gnaw the bark off a Maple tree? Companies that stoop to fraud and deceit to lure and trick people into downloading, installing, or buying something… most of the time something worthless. And few do this better than companies that make driver updater programs. One company, in particular, appears to thrive on it. It’s no wonder we find so many of those useless driver updater programs installed on so many computers.

Here’s a true story. This happened to my friend and colleague, Darcy. And I’m going to step aside and let her tell you her story.

I was looking up a Canon printer for a customer who was having a problem with her Canon printer. I searched for her printer model. Without giving it a lot of thought, and hurrying, I clicked the link that was at the top of the search results… before realizing it was NOT Canon.

The next thing I know… I am on the page for the driver download. Still not realizing that I was NOT on a real Canon page, I decided to check with support to see if there was an error on the site’s database. I came to a support page for a driver update program, and THEN I realized I am not on a Canon site at all, but am on Slimware’s Slimcleaner/driver updater site.

I have always considered myself careful when browsing the web. I am usually extremely wary when visiting pages with which I am not familiar. But the setup that Slimware devised for the driver updater scam was so real, I didn’t realize I was not on a legitimate site.

If I were Canon, I would demand they take this kind of trickery off the web… and sue them. However, that is probably very unlikely.  I’m sure that if they do this with Canon, they do it with many other common products. They are scamming so many people with their aggressive and fraudulent techniques, and making so much money, that they can afford to pay big bucks to be at the top of the search engines for all relevant driver searches. They do it for one reason: To make money by tricking people into downloading their driver update software. It is so unfair that any good honest companies are struggling financially – or going out of business – while dishonest companies thrive by tricking unwary users into downloading (and buying) useless software.

I digress. After realizing that this company was not above using highly sophisticated trickery to entice users into downloading their software. They even go so far as to use brand names and logos… even the Microsoft logo.

To see how far this company would go to trick people into downloading and using their software, I decided I’d try other printer driver searches to see what happened.

My next search was Canon Printer Drivers. And guess who was at the top? You guessed it. And looking very official with the Canon Trademark logo? The URL? cannon.driverupdate.net. What a hoax! And if you think, well “you spelled Canon” wrong, canon.driverupdate.net takes you right to driverupdate.net/articles/dl/canon-drivers, which is another Slimware scam site. This site imparts some seemingly good advice (NOT!):

About Canon Drivers:
This page discusses Canon Drivers and how to properly identify and download them. It also explains the importance of keeping your drivers up-to-date and some of the challenges with updating Canon Drivers. Note: You can automatically download the correct Canon Drivers by downloading the DriverUpdate™ Utility below.

I was getting very angry that this company has become so successful and is making so much money by using so much fraud and deception.

Here are some more results:

I searched for Dell Printer Drivers. Dell, who, of course, has tons of money, was at the top, but driversupport.com was second and filled the middle of my screen. The Slimware driver update ad was much more prominent than the real Dell site.

I also searched for HP Printer Drivers, and who won the 1st place blue ribbon? You guessed it: driverupdate.net. And, of course, they spent a lot of time and money making their deceptive site look very much like an official HP website.

Intrigued that a company would sink to this level of sophisticated deception to trick people and make a lot of money, I searched for Windows Drivers. We are aware of those ads that pop up on the Web and tell users that they need new or updated drivers. Guess who was in first place when searching for Windows drivers? Yes, you guessed right! Their trickery works again… driverupdate. They were right there at the top, and looking very official too!

I could go on and on, and do dozens and dozens of searches for drivers, and find Slimware’s driverupdate at or near the top. The ones I picked were at random, and this tells me they must be paying millions of dollars to have this many top spots (ads) for such a wide variety of searches.

As I said above, I am usually pretty careful, but I was trying to find something quickly. I was busy, it was early in the morning, and I’ll admit I darned near got fooled.

It’s such a shame a company can make so much money through dishonesty They are making millions and millions of dollars and spending millions of dollars on deceptive ads, and pay enough for those ads to land them at or near the top of most search engine results. And they're not the only company doing this.

Life is not fair, and it’s not fair that so many honest companies go out of business every day because they refuse to take the low road. Yet dishonest companies use deception and trickery to play upon the trusting nature of people, thrive, and prosper.

I hope my experience helps you avoid falling for the deceptive advertising of Slimware and its driverupdate website and other driver trickery injected into search results.

Here are some screenshots to go along with my experiences outlined above:

Above: Using brand names and logos to trick you into thinking this is the real thing.

Using Microsoft logos and registered trademarks, Scamware companies will spare no expense and will stoop to whatever deceptions are needed to lure you into clicking on these ads. 

Controlling Text with the CTRL Key
Windows 10 / Windows 11

This tip will work in any email program like OE Classic, Thunderbird, Outlook,  and with most webmail applications like Gmail and Outlook.com. It also works in word processors such as Microsoft Word and many others.  And they’ll also work in WordPad which comes pre-installed with every version of Windows. (WordPad is being discontinued according to Microsoft, but as of today it’s still with us in Windows 10 and Windows 11. )

If you want to make a sentence or word bolded, highlight the word or sentence and press CTRL + B. See?

If you want to underline a sentence or word highlight the sentence or word you want to underline and press CTRL + U. See?

If you want to italicize a word or sentence, highlight the word or sentence and press CTRL+ i … See?

If you want to make a word or sentence bold and italic and underline, just highlight and press CTRL+B, CTRL+ i, and CTRL+U. SEE?

If you to go to the beginning of a document or email press CTRL+Home.

If you want to go to the end of a document or email press CTRL+End.

If you want to find a word in a document press CTRL+F and type what you’re looking for into the search box that appears.

If you want to make a hyperlink (a link to a website) highlight the word or phrase and press CTRL+K. When you press CTRL+K a dialog will appear, type or paste the website address (URL) into the address field, and voila! You have a link to a website. See?

And if you want to create a new document press CTRL+N.

There are many more tricks like this.

CTRL+C copies the selected text. CNTL+V pastes the copied text. If you accidentally make a change or delete something you didn’t mean to change or delete,  press CTRL+Z right away, it will undo or redo whatever you’ve done. And if you want to undo CTRL+Z, use CTRL+Y. 

There are other tricks that don’t use the CTRL key – like pressing Home to go to the beginning of a line and pressing END to go to the end of a line. But today we’re all about controlling text using the CTRL key.

 Let’s All Leave Something Behind

I don’t want to seem morose, but I’ve been thinking a lot about how the world will be when I’m not here anymore. I am sure the world will go on without even taking notice of my demise – but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about. What will I leave behind? Will I leave something behind that would not have been here if I had not been born?

I see so many people saving money, accumulating wealth, saving for retirement, or leaving money to their children and grandchildren. But is that all our lives are meant to be? Is that all we really want to leave behind?

Money was here before I was born, and it will certainly be long after I am gone. So leaving money behind is not leaving something of myself behind. Not that I have any money to leave behind.

I want to leave something behind that wasn’t here on the day I was born; something that wouldn’t have been here if I had not been born.

I certainly have not lived a perfect life and I’m sure some will be glad to see me dead. That is how it is with many of us, I’m afraid. But one thing I know for sure...

Catch up on the latest internet slang so you won't have FOMO

Sheesh: Expressing surprise, disbelief, or frustration. (e.g., "Sheesh, that test was hard!")

Shook: Deeply surprised or disturbed. (e.g., "I'm shook by that plot twist!")

IYKYK: An acronym for "if you know, you know." Used for inside jokes or references. (e.g., "That song brings back memories, IYKYK.")

No cap/Cap: "Cap" is a lie, and "no cap" means "I'm telling the truth." (e.g., "No cap, that pizza was delicious.")

Lowkey/Highkey: "Lowkey" means slightly or moderately, while "highkey" means very or extremely. (e.g., "I'm lowkey tired." or "I'm highkey obsessed with that new show.")

Fire: Amazing, cool, or impressive. (e.g., "That dance routine was fire!")

W/L: Stands for "win" or "loss." Used to describe a situation or outcome. (e.g., "Did you get tickets to the concert? W or L?")

Mood: Expressing your current emotional state. (e.g., "This rainy day is such a mood.")

Salty: Bitter, upset, or annoyed. (e.g., "I'm salty I missed the party.")

FOMO: Fear of missing out. (e.g., "I have major FOMO about not going to the beach with everyone.")

Tea: Gossip or secrets. (e.g., "Spill the tea about what happened last night!")

GOATED: An acronym for "greatest of all time." (e.g., "LeBron James is the GOATED basketball player.")

Rinsed: Exhausted or drained. (e.g., "That workout left me rinsed.")

Bussin': Extremely flavorful or delicious. (e.g., "These tacos are bussin'!")

Now you don't have major FOMO cuz you don't know the latest slang. Darcy is in a mood, and that is no cap. I'm rinsed from writing this newsletter!