Futurelawyer

Catfishing - Do You Know Who You're Dealing With On The Internet?

Catfishing - Do You Know Who You're Dealing With?  In the old days, a popular meme was the phrase: "On the Internet, Nobody Knows you're a dog". In our current days of social media, some bad actors pretend to be someone or something else in order to create a relationship with another. We call it "catfishing". Famous celebrities have been tricked into online romantic relationships with persons who aren't the sex they really are. In the legal field, a similar activity is used to steal money. A criminal will pose as the owner of real estate to steal escrow money, or trust funds, or otherwise defraud another in a legal transaction. It is important to thoroughly check out any new client or contact we haven't met in person. Even if we deal with another in person, it behooves us to take steps to verify who the person is. I once asked for driver licenses in a real estate closing, and the Seller and his wife advised that: "She left hers in the truck", and left the closing to get it. After I finished the Buyer portion of the closing (loan documents and such), I realized that the Seller wasn't back. It was later disclosed that he had brought another woman to the closing, posing as his wife. Be careful out there. Somebody really is out to get you.

You Can Prevent Facebook And Other App Hacking Attacks.

More than one Facebook friend has had their account hacked, and dummy accounts set up that message all their friends. This is one of the easiest hacks to prevent, and only requires the use of two factor authentication for entry to your Facebook account. While in Facebook, click the down arrow in the upper right of the screen. Click Settings and Privacy. Click Security Settings. Click Two Factor Authentication. Enter your cell phone number. Then, before a hacker can ever get into your account again, they will have to have your cell phone as well as your password. You have to get a code on your phone before you sign in to Facebook; but, you can leave Facebook connected if you have control over the physical computer you use. Sure, it is annoying to have to check your phone for a text message and code to get back in to Facebook after you log out. But, it is more annoying to find out some jerk has hacked your account because it was only secured with a password. If you aren't using two factor authentication with every site that has it available, you are like a homeowner leaving the front door to your house unlocked, who is surprised when a criminal walks in and steals something. Be safe out there.

Chrome Is New Again.

Chrome: What's New. We live our lives in our web browser. Google Chrome, my browser of choice, is the background of my life every day. I still use native Windows software for some basic tasks, such as WordPerfect for document creation, Kofax Power PDF for document distribution and Court filings, legacy Windows software like ProDoc document assembly and time and billing software. But, for everything else, I am in the cloud, and I manage my way around inside the Chrome browser. Google is always making Chrome better; and, while I have tried other browsers along the way, when Chrome got bloated and slow (or so it seemed at the time), I have always come back, and Chrome has always improved. If, like millions of others, you are a Chrome user, you should check out what's new, and make sure you are rocking the latest version. There are new ways to organize tabs, and tabbed browsing has greatly increased my speed. Too many tabs? You can search them in a search box now. You can now add passwords in Google Password manager even if you aren't at the site. You can perform an online safety check from within the browser. There are many other things you can do in the browser, and, since you live in it all day and all night, it is worth looking around. Be safe and careful and productive out there.

Windows 11 - You Don't Have To Trust It.

Windows 11 Security EBook. If, like the vast majority of computer users, are rocking Windows 11 or later on your computer, you need this free ebook. 70 pages of education, tips and tricks that will help to bullet proof your files and data. No computer system is 100% secure; but, you can make your system the smallest target in a target rich environment. Let the hackers go after the low hanging fruit. Stay above the fray. Read this book.

Do You Know Where Your Email Is Going?

All of us need to refresh our computer security skills from time to time. From mis-directed faxes to failing to vet discovery production carefully, lawyers' errors can be expensive. In the recent Alex Jones trial, his lawyers erroneously sent the entire contents of his phone's email and texts, which resulted in a devastation cross examination by the opponent. Lawyers, in particular, need to be thinking about security all the time. Replying to an email carries its own risks. First rule, set the default to reply only to the sender. Then, in order to reply to everyone in the chain, a specific choice must be made. Second rule, never send an email while angry or emotional. Don't use email as a place to vent your frustrations with clients, opponents, courts or anyone else. Be careful out there.

Facebook Security - It's Not Hard. Just Do It.

Facebook Set Up Two Factor Authentication. This is another security message to all my Facebook peeps who get hacked. It doesn't have to happen. This link will do it for you. After it is set up, if someone tries to hack your Facebook account, a text message will be sent to your smartphone. The hacker, of course, doesn't have your smartphone. If it happens, you will get a message from Facebook like this one, which I received this morning. No harm, no foul. Do it. Do it now. If you don't set up two factor authentication, I will refuse to feel sorry for you when you are hacked next time.

 

You Can Be Secure Over Public WiFi - PureVPN

Pure VPN. When asked, at my recent Florida Bar presentation on Mobile computing about the VPN I use, I blanked, since I have it load automatically every time I boot the computer. I always use my own Internet, with the TMobile 5G Hotspot I carry everywhere. But, after the question, I realized that Pure VPN has become so much a part of my system that I should highlight it for those who are looking for a solution. Public WiFi is just that, and anything you send over a public system can be logged and viewed by anyone with a basic knowledge of computers. So, a private tunnel to the Internet, that is encrypted and secure, is essential. I use, pay for, and recommend Pure VPN. It is self managed, secure, encrypted, and as secure as you are going to get as a non governmental computer user. Be careful out there.

 

Do You Know How To Spot A Phishing Scam?

The first step in fighting phishing scams is to identify the attempts to make an email or text seeking personal information seem genuine. If you receive an unsolicited email from an unknown source, and it requests that you click on a link, be careful. Often, return addresses aren't what they appear to be. Sometimes, there are errors in punctuation, or diction, that identify them as coming from a foreign source. There are many hints, and you need to learn how to spot them. One big one is a text, email or social media post that comes from someone you know to have been dead for 3 years. Be careful out there.

Facebook Users - Do You Know Who Is Sending That Message?

Phishing scams on social media aren't always easy to detect. I wish I had a dollar for every time I get a message on Facebook from a friend who advises me to ignore messages because they have been hacked. It is a common scheme to steal a Facebook user name and password and send messages to unsuspecting friends. If you get a "hello" message from a current friend, be careful. Better yet, avoid the problem by using two factor authentication on your account. Schemers won't always steal user names from your dead friends and relatives, making the scam easy to spot. Unless, of course, you already talk to dead people.

Do You Know Where Your Samsung Android Device Is?

How To Find Your Samsung Phone. We carry our lives on our phones and tablets and smartwatches. The loss of any of our devices can be catastrophic. I remember a frantic couple of hours in Las Vegas some years ago, when I got back to my room and realized I had misplaced my smartphone. Thankfully, I had installed a third party app that located it at a restaurant we had just been at, and I went back for it. Since that time, I have always made sure I knew where my phone was at all times. Other than their superior build quality and functionality, I buy primarily Samsung devices. I have a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra phone, a Galaxy Watch 4, and a Galaxy tablet, along with some older Galaxy devices as backups. Samsung defaults to an app it calls Find My Mobile, which can locate any Samsung device that is turned on, anywhere in the world. Go to the website, and it permits the location of the device to show up. If it has been stolen, it will look for it every 15 minutes, and, as soon as the bad guys turn it on, you can locate it, and wipe it, if you wish. Whatever phone or device you have, take some time to figure out how to find it if it is stolen or lost. You will be glad you did.