Month: April 2012

John Brennan says he did not go to the Portland International Airport intending to go naked.

But after feeling himself harassed by airport screeners Tuesday, the fifty year old Portland, Oregon man stripped off his clothes in protest that brought him more attentions by the airport authorities, and even a short stint in jail.

“I just took off my clothes and said, ‘See I don’t have any explosives,’ Brennan told CNN on Wednesday. “The Individuals at TSA are just doing their job and the whole organization needs to find a balance between safety and privacy. They use fear and intimidation and it’s just got to stop somewhere”.

Brennan is no stranger to naked protest, as he has participated in a nude bike ride in Portland he said.

“I am aware that’s a tool I can use for free speech”, he said. “I know Oregonian and as a citizen, one of my ways of expressing myself is being naked. It gets the people’s attention”.

In Honor of his Protest I post the photo taken during his protest. The uncensored version.

So what is a Fake Anti Virus Scan, essentially what happens is this you are on a web page or checking out an email and you see a link you click on it. You wind up on a page that is saying it is scanning your computer for errors. And later it wants you to install certain programs.

Below are some examples provided by Paul Kweiecien

To what you are really seeing in those thumbnails is a flash file that has taken over you computer. It doesn’t matter if it’s running Windows as long as the OS can run Flash such as Linux you will see the very same images. But unlike Linux, that same program is also loading your computer up with so many adware/spyware and viruses. It could just about kill your PC.

The biggest proof of this is in the below image also provided by Paul Kweiecien.

You notice it says ‘Hard Drive Not Found’, for any modern computer this is impossible. Ask yourself this ‘If the hard drive was missing’ wouldn’t you get blue screen of death.

The only real solution to these fake avs is a good anti virus program. From what Paul Kweiecien told me, that even quickly turning off your PC it still could wind up being infected with something called ‘Hijack Ware’. Which is the worst thing of all, you simply get a message on your screen saying in short. “Unless you send us $$$s you will never be able to use your computer again” Then they give an address where the cash can be sent to. As you can imagine this is highly illegal and both the FBI and law enforcement agencies around the world have repeated stated if you get such a message contact them ASAP.

Even say if you pay them, your computer isn’t free. They still could lock it up again at anytime they want. In fact the only way to get rid of any Hijack Ware, is to wipe your hard drive and re-install your OS.

I honestly hate to say this but phone scams are becoming more common than email scams. Worse yet more and more people are falling for the scammers line. Which falls down to 4 categories Debt Collection, Bail Requests need for a family member, friend or close relative, Credit Card, and lastly ‘You won a prize’.

Debt Collection: You should know their are strict FEDERAL LAWS governing debt collection. They can not threaten you in any way, and did you know by federal law if you want them to stop calling you. All you have to do is mail them a letter.

Since most of these calls are coming from overseas, they honestly have no idea who you are or even where you live. If you get such a call ask them who are you calling and what is their address. According to reports they will hang up before they will give you any answer.

Bail Requests: These type of scammers have gone so far as to use voice clips from family and friends of yours. They get this by hacking your smart phones. I got such a call recently, except without the voice clip. The only problem with this was that my only living family member was sitting not more than 10 feet away, and they said they needed $10,000 to bail them out which I had to send to them via Western Union.

Credit Cards: This actually falls down in to 2 sub categories. The 1st being a lower your interest call. These are fake, in fact no credit card company can make such an offer by phone as it is illegal. The other being, offering you a card with super low interest. Every customer agency there is says all of these are 100% fake, especially these days. Where money is tight, and credit card companies simply don’t make those types of offers these days.

Prizes: This is a variation on the Nigerian email scam that most of us see in our inbox. Where in you have to mail them money to get a larger amount in the mail. No honest company ever does this.