Greg's Corner

Updates from August, 2019 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 16, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: job search ( 8 ), jobs ( 9 ), Resume ( 6 )   

  Want your resume to stand out? Don’t. 

  

  The resume has long been a tradition in the business world to try to put your best foot forward when applying for a new position. An almost equally long tradition is trying to use ‘tricks’ to get your resume to stand out to your prospective employer. One such trick used in recent times is to copy and paste keywords into your resume using white font so the scanners that some employers use will pick up these keywords without them being contained in your actual resume. This trick has long since been debunked and could actually lead to your resume being discarded. So, what’s an eager job seeker to do?

  The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about how younger job seekers have been crafting their resumes to look a lot like social media profiles. Some applicants have taken to including their picture, using unusual color choices, are including artwork such as bitmojis or other colorful icons to depict work experience or outside interests. While these stylistic choices could make your resume stand out they could make it stand out in the wrong way. Stylized resumes like this can be compared to visible tattoos in the workplace. While society, in general, maybe more accepting of such practices, the corporate world is much more different than the social world.

  In practice, you don’t want your resume to have anything on it that could prejudice a recruiter or employer against you. Not only that, but you should look to make your resume look as clean and accurate as possible to best make a potential employer interested in your resume. Corporations and companies are generally not bastions of creativity and a stylized resume could make you look like you’re more of a potential liability than an asset. In many cases, the stylized version of your resume will probably not even be seen by recruiters or human resources departments because many of these places use scanners that strip things like visual media from the resume in order to provide the most amount of information that an employer may require.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u75hUSShvnc%5D

   

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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 15, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: check scam ( 76 ), Scams ( 1,224 ), secret shopper ( 15 ), social security ( 27 ), violence scam ( 4 )   

  New scam threatens your family with violence! 

  

  This scam we just recently heard of is so disturbing we don’t even have a clever name for it yet. In it, some scammers called a man from Brooklyn, New York, threatening to kill the man and his family if he didn’t pay them money. The scammers claimed to be from a criminal cartel and then sent the man explicitly violent pictures with claims of this is what would happen to his family if he didn’t pay. The man was hesitant to go to the police, however, he did contact a local community leader who was able to contact authorities. Police say that they have received other reports of this scam and that the scammers are casting wide nets trying to find victims. If you receive one of these calls you should hang up and contact police.

  Social security scams are still on the rise due to the fact that a number of senior citizens aren’t aware of the many scams that specifically target them. The Washington Post is reporting on a scam where the scammers posed as the Social Security Administration (SSA) and threatened to cut off the benefits of a woman in the early stage of Alzheimer’s. She was instructed to buy over $3,000 in gift cards from various merchants to have her benefits restored. One store even tried to warn her that this sounded like a scam. The Post article has a great checklist of things you can do to help senior relatives avoid this scam including sharing these stories every time they come up in the news. They also provide a link to the Federal Trade Commission’s website that has information about all types of impostor scams.

  The last scam for today is a reminder that most scams just don’t go away. We’ve talked about the secret shopper scam many times now. In this scam, ads will be posted hiring for secret shoppers which is a legitimate position with many retail companies. However, the con artists placing these ads online are trying to swindle you by sending you phony checks to use in your new position. They’ll tell you to deposit the checks to use in your secret shopping and send a portion of the check back. Once the bank finds out that the check is a fraud the victim who deposited the check into their bank account is responsible for the entire amount. This recently happened to a college student in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. If you’re considering a secret shopping position always consult with the Mystery Shopping Providers Association’s website before giving out your personal information.

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  Geebo 8:05 am on August 14, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Apple ( 28 ), defcon, FAA, hacking ( 31 ), lightning cables, MacBook ( 2 ), O.MG Cables, trade war   

  FAA bans Apple product from flights 

  

  Apple has carefully cultivated a reputation for itself of producing a number of reliable products. This week, the company that Steve Jobs made famous has taken some hits to that reputation.

  First, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has banned certain Apple laptops from being carried on US flights due to battery issues. The laptops in question are 15-inch MacBook Pros sold between September 2015 and February 2017 as they have been the target of a recall. The recall was issued due to the fact that in some MacBooks the battery has overheated and caused a fire hazard.

  This isn’t the first time that the FAA has banned a device from being carried aborad planes. Back in 2016, the Samsung Note 7 smartphone was banned from all flights for a similar reason. This was a huge blow to Samsung’s reputation and it has taken the phone manufacturer a while to regain consumer confidence. Will Apple see a similar backlash from frustrated travelers being told they can’t bring their MacBooks on board? It’s unlikely as Apple has such a dedicated userbase that they’ll probably just purchase updated MacBooks from Apple if need be.

  However, that’s not the only technical issue that Apple has had this week. At the cybersecurity conference known as DefCon, a security researcher unveiled an Apple charging cable that could potentially hijack an Apple device. The cables, called O.MG Cables, look like a normal Apple lightning cable that are used to charge Apple devices. However, these cables have malicious devices installed in them that could be used to hijack Apple devices from your iPhone to your MacBook. So, the moral here is to make sure that you use your own charging cable and don’t use just any charging cable you see lying around, especially if you’re at DefCon.

  [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jki0J9kzIa8]

  Lastly, Apple has been hit with an import tariff starting September 1st. In the ongoing trade war China, the Trump Administration will put a 10 percent import tax on smartwatches, fitness trackers, smart speakers, and Bluetooth headphones. Since Apple relies heavily on Chinese manufacturing, this will have a significant effect on their bottom line. Even though Apple could probably absorb the tariff it’s more than likely that they’ll pass these expenses on to the consumer.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 13, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: back to school, check scam ( 76 ), college ( 14 ), credit card ( 7 ), job scam ( 71 ), locksmith scam ( 2 ), Scams ( 1,224 ), scholarship scam, school ( 3 )   

  It’s the season for Back to School scams 

  

  With September approaching and some schools having already started their school year it should come as no surprise that scammers will even use the back to school season to try to target potential victims. The largest targets among these victims will more than likely be college students. Considering that many of these students will be away from home for the first time, they may not have the real-world experience to recognize a scam. Hopefully, with this blog post they can be better educated on which scams to look out for that could potentially harm their college experience.

  The Better Business Bureau of Florida recently put out a list of the most common scams for students to look out for and we can’t help but recognize a few of them. For example, the BBB warns of phony job scams. In these scams, the perpetrator will use a phony email address that spoofs that of the university. The student will be promised a phony job where they will be sent a check that will be more than they were promised. Of course, the check is phony but by the time the student sends back the money their bank will charge them the full amount of the bogus check. Another common scam that targets college students is the phony scholarship scam. Phony companies will guarantee students grants or scholarships in exchange for a fee. Most scholarships and grants can only come from the government or the school so avoid these promises at all costs.

  While the above scams are largely illegal there are some legal scams to look out for as well. Many credit card companies will offer their cards to incoming students, however, many of them have either high annual fees or interest rates. It’s very easy to obtain one of these cards then find yourself in a world of debt that you weren’t prepared for. Then there’s the locksmith scam where a student may lock themselves out of their housing or car and they’ll call the first locksmith that comes up in a web search. Those locksmiths may not be local and may charge you an exorbitant fee. It’s better to research for a local locksmith before you lose your keys so you can have a reputable one readily available should the need arise.

  For a more comprehensive list from the BBB about these scams and others you can click this link.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 12, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: child trafficking ( 7 ), Human trafficking ( 96 ), Jeffrey Epstein ( 6 )   

  Jeffrey Epstein: What Happens Next? 

  

  Jeffrey Epstein

  We’ve been following the story of billionaire financier and accused child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein since the news first broke of the generously lenient plea deal he received in Florida. If you’ll recall, Epstein was given his plea deal back in 2005 by Alexander Acosta who was a Miami U.S. Attorney at the time. More recently, Acosta was President Trump’s Secretary of Labor before resigning after Epstein’s New York arrest. By now you’ve probably heard the news that Epstein took his own life over the weekend. So, how does Epstein’s death affect the overall investigation into the crimes he was accused of committing?

  Many of Epstein’s victims feel like Epstein has escaped justice as they would have preferred to have had their day in court against him. However, Epstein’s death does make it easier for prosecutors and investigators to use evidence against any of Epstein’s potential co-conspirators. Any evidence seized should be admissible against any other defendant without a possibility of a motion to suppress. Ghislaine Maxwell has been accused in civil lawsuits of procuring Epstein’s victims. While she has not been charged with any criminal charges, it is possible that she could be assisting in the current investigation of Epstein.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_uTLwxJ5xc%5D

  Of course, the elephant in the room has to be addressed as many people believe the conspiracy theory Epstein did not take his own life but that instead, his death was a politically motivated murder. Many of these people feel that his death was either ordered by the Clintons or President Trump since Epstein had connections to both parties. However, the truth is more likely less fantastical. While Epstein had been on suicide watch prior to his death he had been removed from it. Also, suicide watch may not be what you think it is. It doesn’t mean that a prison inmate is being watched at all times around the clock with cameras in their cells for years upon end. According to a former correctional treatment specialist for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, suicide watch rarely lasts longer than a week. Not only that, but the unfortunate reality of prisons is that inmates take their own lives on a fairly consistent basis.

  Look at it this way, Epstein was a man who lived a life of decadent luxury and probably didn’t care how many underage girls he had to hurt to get what he wanted. Looking at the rest of his life being spent in prison for one of the most heinous crimes that is even looked down upon by the other inmates, Epstein probably felt that death was the better option for him.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 9, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: check scam ( 76 ), Dog The Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman, Scams ( 1,224 )   

  You can’t scam The Dog 

  

  We’ve talked about the phony check scam many times in the past. The gist of the scam is that the scammer will send you a forged or phony check for whatever reason and will try to get you to deposit the check into your bank account. The scammers will then try to get you to wire them the difference while telling you to keep a portion of the check. Inevitably, the check turns out to be phony and you get stuck with any money that is owed the bank. Meanwhile, the scammers make off with the bulk of their ill-gotten gains. It seems that no one is immune to this type of scam as scammers tried pulling this ploy on one of the last people you would want to.

  Duane Chapman is more famously known as Dog The Bounty Hunter. Not only did Chapman have a successful reality series but he rose to prominence when he apprehended wanted fugitive Andrew Luster in 2003. More recently, scammers sent a check to Chapman in the amount of $430,000 for an alleged speaking engagement in Dubai. Immediately, Chapman’s agent felt that there was something suspect about the check. The first thing was that the check had an address that went to an empty building in Sacramento, California while supposedly being from a company in Oregon. The other part that seemed odd was that Chapman and his agent were instructed to ‘donate’ half of the check back to the organization running the event. As you can guess, there was no event and the check was a bogus one.

  Sadly, this isn’t the first scam that Duane Chapman has had to endure recently. After the recent passing of his wife Beth, Chapman took to social media to warn people not to accept any friend requests that claim to be him. In some cases, fans of his had accepted the requests and later found themselves out of thousands of dollars.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeqTwKmA-08%5D

  The fake accounts were asking for contributions while trying to capitalize on Chapman’s loss.

  Getting back to the phony check scam, Chapman’s team did everything right in uncovering this deception. First off, if someone sands you a check then asks you to send part of that sum back to them or a third party it’s likely a scam. If you’re still not sure, check the address from where the check was supposedly issued. Also, look for mismatched names from the people who have allegedly issued the check. Often the name on the check will not be from the person you would be talking to.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 8, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Ask.fm, Badoo, Bumble, Calculator%, child safety ( 7 ), Grindr, Holla, Hot or Not, Kik, LiveMe, MeetMe, Skout, Snapchat ( 13 ), social media ( 73 ), TikTok ( 9 ), Whatsapp ( 3 ), Whisper   

  The truth behind dangerous apps for kids 

  

  In Sarasota County, Florida, the local Sheriff’s Office arrested 25 men accused of approaching children through various social media apps. These arrests have spurred a number of media outlets to list the 15 most dangerous social media apps and platforms for children. These apps include Ask.fm, Badoo, Bumble, Calculator%, Grindr, Holla, Hot or Not, Kik, LiveMe, MeetMe, Skout, SnapChat, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Whisper. Is the media exaggerating the danger or are these apps really dangerous for kids? We’re about to give you the lowdown on these apps and tell you what you can do to protect your kids.

  The majority of the apps listed are dating apps. Any child under 18 has no business being in Badoo, Bumble, Grindr, Hot or Not, MeetMe, or Skout. Other apps on this list are livestreaming or video apps like Holla, TikTok, Snapchat, and LiveMe. While these apps allow users as young as 13 to register for their service, these apps should not be used unsupervised by children as predators have used them to either approach or groom children. Apps like Kik, Whisper, and WhatsApp are messaging apps which can be used like text messages. The problem with these apps is that predators like to move kids to these apps after approaching them on other apps so they can continue to communicate with them.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgTM0ymYZGI%5D

  While all of these apps are potentially dangerous there are, in our opinion, two apps which are extremely dangerous to children and they are Snapchat and Kik. Snapchat is the photo-sharing app where the photos are supposed to disappear after a set amount of time, however, it’s fairly easy for someone to take a screenshot of the photo being shared. Meanwhile, Kik is the messaging app that is a tool of choice among predators with one registered sex offender calling it “well known within their industry”.

  If you would prefer that your kids not use these apps there is something you can do about it. If your kids are using iPhones or iPads, iOS has parental controls that you can learn to use here. If your kids are on Android phones and tablets parental control instructions can be found here. Also, keep in mind that not all devices need a cellular data connection for predators to approach your kids. Many of these apps can be used on a wifi connection alone so keep that in mind when deciding how best to protect your children.

   
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  Geebo 8:12 am on August 7, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: FBI ( 18 ), romance scam ( 67 )   

  Even the FBI is warning of romance scams 

  

  The FBI just recently issued an alert concerning romance scams. They warn that dating sites are the most used platform for committing these scams and can often lead to the victim unwittingly laundering money for the scammer. The FBI also states that in 2018, more than 18,000 people claimed to be a victim of romance scams that ended up costing the victims in upwards of $362 million. Both of those statistics are an increase of 70% over 2017. That’s not even taking into account the number of scams that went unreported due to the victims being too embarrassed to come forward.

  As is usually the case in romance scams, the scammers will pretend to be an American working or living overseas. The scammer will then ask the victim for money either for a purported trip to the states or for some fictitious trouble that the scammer claims to be in. Often the victim is asked to wire the money overseas which as we know by now is almost a guarantee than the money and the scammer will never be seen again. Some scammers will even take the money claiming it’s for plane tickets then ask for more money claiming that they’ve been arrested during their trip.

  The worst-case scenario according to the FBI is when victims become what they call money mules. This is when the scammers convince the victims to open several bank accounts or in some cases even establish an LLC in order to send and receive funds on behalf of the scammer. This is all part of a money laundering scam which in some instances can see the victim getting in trouble with the law.

  If you were to become a victim of one of these scams, the FBI recommends either filing a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center or your local FBI field office.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 6, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: diabetes ( 2 ), healthcare ( 35 ), insulin ( 2 ), pharmaceutical companies ( 4 )   

  Insulin prices have killed again 

  

  Previously we’ve discussed how insulin is being priced out of the reach of many people who require the drug to keep their diabetes under control. Without proper medication, diabetes can become very dangerous very quickly. When insulin was first discovered the people who first discovered it refused to commercialize the drug claiming that it was unethical to profit from such a life-saving innovation. In the decades since that kind of altruism seems to have ceased to exist. Sadly, that loss of philanthropy has cost at least one man his life.

  A 27-year-old man from Northern Virginia suffered from Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 the type of diabetes that you’re born with as opposed to Type 2 which develops through obesity. The man in question aged out of his parents’ health insurance and the insurance from his job was limited at best. He could no longer afford the $1,200 a month inulin cost. Instead, he purchased a $25 per vial from insulin that can be bought over the counter. Unfortunately, the over the counter insulin wasn’t effective enough for the man’s Type 1 diabetes and he died from a stroke after falling into a diabetic coma.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoMTMXbpeVE%5D

  In a country that’s supposed to be a world leader in medicine, we’re punishing people for having illnesses that they have no control of. If they’re not having the price of their medications raised beyond reason, they’re being crippled with debt over the cost of repeated treatments. Then the public is told by politicians that while this kind of treatment is regrettable that’s just the way it is. Until the medical infrastructure in this country is overhauled, we’ll continue to suffer scores of preventable fatalities.

   
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  Geebo 8:05 am on August 5, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Adam Kinzinger, military romance scam ( 9 ), romance scam ( 67 )   

  Romance scam even hits Congress 

  

  Previously, we’ve posted about how online romance scams have affected people from all walks of life. From an older gentleman who refused to believe the warnings of his family to a woman who stole millions of dollars from her employer in order to pay someone she thought she was in a relationship with. With many of these scams, the scammers tend to pose as military personnel in order to give the illusion that they’re serving overseas. Now news has come out that the scam has even reached the halls of Congress.

  Representative Adam Kinzinger from Illinois has been the victim of many romance scams but not in the way you might think. Representative Kinzinger is also a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard. This means that his likeness has been used multiple times in a number of romance scams. Rep. Kinzinger has said that he has had victims of the scams that have used his pictures visit him in the US Capitol looking for some form of justice. This has caused Rep. Kinzinger to call on social media outlets to do a better job in weeding out these scammers. Seeing the number of victims affected by military romance scams has even prompted Rep. Kinzinger to start to draft legislation that would compel social media platforms to do more to try to prevent these scams.

  Rep. Kinzinger has had his likeness used in these scams since 2008 after he was stationed in Iraq as an Air Force pilot. Reportedly, victims of the scams have lost thousands of dollars to scammers using Kinzinger’s images. Kinzinger’s staff even pour through social media looking for phony accounts that bear Kinzinger’s likeness showing just how far these scammers are willing to go to fleece their victims out of their money. Sadly, even when Kinzinger’s office reports these scammers to the various social media platforms, the scammers just open new accounts and continue the cycle.