Spyware can find it’s way onto your computer system through a variety of means.
Commonly, this occurs when you download and run games, toolbars, screensavers, etc.
Spyware can also find it’s way in through normal web surfing.
The purpose of spyware is to use tracking cookies in order to identify your surfing habits.
This in turn can be used with adware and other malware that has found it’s way onto your system in order to serve adverts to you.
Often this is in the form of annoying pop-ups but sometimes it has been known to even change the words displayed on your screen whilst surfing the web.
In such cases, perfectly innocent sites end up showing you hyperlinked text to some very dark and dubious corners of the net!
After a while, the amount of spyware and malware that can accumulate on a system is immense.
This has the effect of slowing down the surfing experience, sometimes to a crawl.
If you search around the net you will find many solutions being offered.
Here are some of the better Spyware and Virus removal tools -
Some need to be paid for, whilst others are free.
The free ones will generally clear your system to a degree but, as with anything in life, you get what you pay for.
Can you think of any good anti-spyware or anti-virus programs I’ve missed?
Imagine the scenario… Your ordinary, law-abiding life is shattered by a phone call, informing you that a warrant has been issued for your arrest.
WHY?
Because you failed to appear in court to fulfill the jury service to which you had been summoned.
PROTESTED INNOCENCE
Of course you will protest your innocence, and rightly so, for you are adamant and certain that you were never informed of this jury service.
Getting more and more upset, you think nothing of confirming your identity in order to clear this mess up.
The scammer, for that is what he is, on the other end of the phone, will take advantage of the confused and upset state you are now in.
He can “help” you of course.
By soliciting personal information he can verify your identity and clear this mess up for you.
He’ll take your passport details, your driving licence number, your full name and address.
In other words… everything he needs to successfully steal your identity.
If the scammer, masquerading as a court official, is particularly malicious he may even take further advantage of you by claiming that the arrest warrant can only be revoked by paying a fine there and then.
If he tricks you into doing this then he will not only have stolen your identity but will also have gained your credit card details along with the all important 3 digit security code on the back - everything he needs to start spending right away.
REMEMBER:
* Always be on your guard when asked for personal information, especially over the phone or online
* Courts very rarely, if ever, ring prospective jurors
* Court communication is almost exclusively via the postal service
* Your government abuses loves you, and would never put you in the position where your personal details are at risk.
Considering what I write about, can you believe I’ve been scammed for the fourth time?!?
First there was the incident outside Home Depot.
Then there was that naked picture.
Earlier in the month there were the snow shovellers.
Now this -
Last night I stopped my car at a red traffic light.
A beautiful, and naked, young girl came up to my car and started washing my windshield.
Obviously I was just trying to see if the lights were going to go green but I was a little distracted I have to admit.
Whilst my windshield was being washed the naked girl’s accomplice slipped into the back of my car and stole my laptop.
Unfortunately, I didn’t learn from this incident - so far this week these same 2 girls have got me with the same scam 13 times.
When will I ever learn??
Then, to make matters worse, I got arrested.
I explained to the officer that the naked woman bending over by my window taking payment was a professonal accepting her pay.
I think he totally misunderstood the situation!
Have you ever fallen for a scam like this?
For Pink Biz -
WHAT IS XANGO?
Julia F. Morton, a botanist, has suggested that mangosteen which is the main ingredient of Xango originated in the Sunda Isles or Moluccas, though Malaya, Burma and Thailand are other possibilities.
XanGo came about after one of the founding three brothers, Joe Morton, came into contact with the mangosteen fruit in Southeast Asia whilst travelling.
Known to locals as “Queen of Fruits”, mangosteen has long been rumoured to possess health benefits.
MANGOSTEEN
This claim is further made by Joe Morton in one of many videos on the XanGo site - it would appear that he and his brothers found a large volume of scientific research which points to mangosteen being a possible health supplement.
(Incidentally, if you searched for ‘XanGo’ on Google then you would notice that the official site is the first one reported in the search results. Did you notice the four extra links underneath the main one which point to internal pages? That means xango.com is what Google calls an ‘authority site’, something that you don’t see all that often. Whilst certainly not an endorsement of any kind, it does add some credibility to the website if nothing else.)
XANTHONES
XanGo themselves make a point of highlighting certain benefits that the drink may confer.
They certainly like talking about xanthones.
Without getting in over my head and too technical, xanthones, in simple terms, apparently exhibit antioxidant properties, as confirmed by independent research (that’s independent of XanGo by the way).
These antioxidants, from the mangosteen fruit, may possibly aid respiration, intestinal health, support joint and cartilage functions and decrease internal toxins.
After highlighting these possible benefits the XanGo site then inserts a disclaimer which says,
“These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease”
HEALTH BENEFITS?
The question of whether or not Xango offers any health benefits is the source of many of the negative comments, websites, forum posts and blogger’s articles that you may come across on the internet.
In my opinion though the key thing to remember is that Xango are not saying that their product definitely does offer health benefits, they are merely suggesting that it may.
Whether or not someone will feel better, or have pain relieved, or whatever, by XanGo will probably vary from person to person.
If a distributor is stating as fact that there are health benefits to be derived from drinking the product then they are acting on their own, and not upon the company’s direction.
Therefore, I prefer to look at what the company themselves say -
Having visited the site, watched the videos there, searched around the net for comments on XanGo and also looked into the properties of mangosteen, I would have to say that the possibility of health benefits is very real.
The feeling that mangosteen could aid in the areas quoted above is old knowledge, something those in Southeast Asia believed in a long, long time before Joe Morton came along.
Additionally, XanGo are quite open about the fact that none of their hype is medically proven.
My point of view is that they are just doing a good job of marketing.
The information is quite easy to read and they are quite transparent in what they are saying.
OVERPRICED?
The actual product, XanGo juice, currently appears to sell for around $35.00 a bottle.
Without knowing the cost of importing mangosteen, I would have to say that the price seems extremely exorbitant.
This is mainly due to the fact that they pay 50 cents in the dollar for the sales generated by their independent distributors I should imagine.
Yes, you guessed it, Xango operates an MLM program.
As most readers probably already know, I am no fan of mlm for a variety of reasons.
That said, XanGo does seem to focus on product sales at least as much as building tiers of distributors in terms of income generation so there are no major red flags there.
OVER HYPED?
In conclusion, I would say that my opinion of XanGo is that it may be an over-priced and over-hyped fruit drink.
I haven’t tried it myself but at $35 a bottle or thereabouts it does seem rather expensive.
XanGo is distributed via multi level marketing - personally I hate mlm but there are a great many people who apparently do make good money through such a system.
As for health claims, I don’t believe XanGo are misleading potential purchasers as there is published research to support their thoughts on the possible benefits of mangosteen.
Also, they quite clearly state on their website that those health benefits are not substantiated.
There are some on the internet, especially distributors posting in forums, who DO appear to make some pretty bold claims about XanGO, however, they are doing so for their own reasons and without the company’s approval or backing I would imagine.
What do you think of XanGo?
Is it worth $35 a bottle and, if so, why?
Curbstoning refers to auto dealers who try to bypass the law by selling their vehicles on the street, by pretending to be private sellers.
In this auto scam dishonest car dealers use curbstoning as a means of circumventing their state laws which govern the sale of cars.
Most states have limits in place with regards to how many vehicles a person may buy and sell in a particular time frame before being required to be a licensed car dealer.
The big disadvantage of being licensed, to these people, is that licensed car dealers have to meet certain requirements in order to stay in business.
Curbstoners, because they appear to be private sellers, do not have any such restrictions to work within.
INFERIOR CARS
Often, a curbstoning car dealer will utilise this scam in order to offload the type of vehicle they would struggle to sell through their dealership.
Whatever part of the country you live, or wherever in the world for that fact, you have probably seen this scam in operation on a street corner near you.
There will be several cars for sale in the same place, often parked along the curb, hence the name ‘curbstoners’.
Typically, these cars will be ones with problems, that are hard for the dealers to sell through their official businesses.
Additionally, cars bought at the roadside may have had their clocks rolled back (odometer fraud).
‘INTERNETSTONING’
Popular internet sites, such as eBay, have proven to be popular with curbstoners.
This is because they often afford the seller a great deal of anonymity, making it difficult for disgruntled purchasers, and government agencies alike, to track them down.
Internet adverts for lemon autos allows the scammer to utilise a few different techniques in order to increase their chances of selling their vehicles.
Poor resolution photographs are often used as they can hide a multitude of sins, from dents to rust, and many others besides.
Another often used tactic in online sales is affinity fraud.
AVOIDANCE
Whilst there are laws in place that prohibit curbstoning, they are rarely enforced or prosecuted. Likewise, eBay cannot keep up with the problem either - if detected, a scammer will just close an account and start again with a new id.
Therefore, vigilance is the key if you wish to avoid buying a car that -
- may have had it’s odometer rolled back
- could be stolen
- has previously been written off or damaged
- has someone else’s credit outstanding on it
- has been designated as being for export only
If you really must buy a car off the street, or via an online auction then take care.
Verify the seller’s identity, get any guarantees or representations in writing and, if possible arrange a viewing (with a mechanic) in advance.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
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