Thursday, February 2, 2012

Shed Pounds Without Adding Unwanted Spam

Notes taken by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC. Material also featured in WBTV's segment Protecting Your Cyberturf, featuring Kristen Miranda and Theresa Payton.

Most Americans want to be fit and healthy and some of you are watching your weight.  So, when  your friend posts a note about a diet that is working for them on Facebook, of course you are going to cheer them on and you might even want to know what’s their secret.  But there’s a catch, it is possible that your friend did not post that note at all.   

Be careful out there, lots of scams floating around.  Some offer free airline tickets.  Some are pretty obvious.  This one might not be as obvious. Theresa Payton explains what to look for in this tricky adds that might help you shed pounds but you’ll pack on the spam.

Tips:
1.  Antivirus:  Keep your antivirus up to date.  
2.  Browser:  Check your browser settings to see if you can turn on an alert function for websites that might be considered questionable or dangerous to visit.
4.  Don’t click!:  Resist the temptation to click on links in Facebook -  message your friend first to ask more or do research on your own without clicking that link
5.  Alert:  If you see something that looks like a scam, do everyone a favor, and post a message on that person’s wall so they can remove it and others can be spared the hassle of getting infected
6.  Be Aware:  There are some great Facebook pages that keep up with the latest scams.  Two favorites are Facecrooks and Sophos.  Scan these regularly or when you see a tempting link.

WORD OF THE WEEK:
Digerati:  Chances are you might be one of these or want to be.  The term is a mashup of literati and digital.   It refers to the hip, cool, in the know people in the digital world.


WEB RESOURCES:
To keep up on the latest Facebook scams, check out Facecrooks at https://www.facebook.com/Facecrooks or Sophos at  https://www.facebook.com/SophosSecurity .

Facebook also has a safety page at: https://www.facebook.com/help/safety and a security page at:  https://www.facebook.com/security that also offers tips to spot and avoid scams.

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