Avoiding Gmail Spoofing and Phishing

The Latest Attempts in Gmail Account Spoofing and Phishing

typical gmail 'phishing' warning

First and foremost - Google will never ask you for any personal information. (As highlighted below in red)
If there is a problem with your gmail account, you will be prompted when you login. You may be required to re-verify your account using your phone number on file, which will result in an automated phone call with a pin number. This phone call will come immediately, and will show as Google in your caller ID.

Any other methods to obtain information about your google account are completely false ad are an attempt to spoof\phish your gmail or google account.

A typical google spoof\phishing attempt is below:

(this is a copy and paste of a typical gmail phishing attempt.) 


Dear User,

We are sorry to inform you that we are currently working on securing our server, during this process account which is not manually

verified by us will be deleted, Please confirm and submit your information for manual verification by one of our customer care.

Information which is to be provided is below:
User Name:
User Id:
Password:
Date Of Birth:
Country (At Sign up):

Upon confirmation of information from you, we will manually verify your Gmail! Account and reserve it not to be deleted, We are

sorry for any inconveniences this might have cause providing  your information over the email.

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account

permanently.
______________________________________________________________________________

Copyright © 2010 Gmail! Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright/IP Policy |Terms of Service | Guide to Online Security

NOTICE: We collect personal information on this site.

To learn more about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy.

Easily Watch TV Shows

The new 2010 TV season is upon us and one of the biggest problems viewers experience is finding a way to watch all their favorite shows. Unless, of course you have PVR, or your cable provider offers on demand service. If no to the above 2 options, then you are out of luck right? Wrong! There are other alternatives and sources to watch all your favorite tv shows - all the time. Not to mention games and movies.

The blog NZB TV Show Downloads has a great article on how to do this. Follow this link to read the full tutorial.

Download Youtube Videos with ease

One of the biggest complaints about youtube is the inability to download videos for viewing offline, or on a portable device. For the average youtube user, it is a difficult task. Even for the the experienced computer user, there are many methods, however no simple 1 click, 1 stop solution to to this.

Fortunately, FLVTube has solved the problem with their 'FLVTube' product. With FLVTube, you can easily downoload, save and watch your favorite youtube videos anytime.

Download Youtube Videos Easily!

Facebook Profile Spy Malware

Facebook Profile Spy is another in a long list of malicious facebook applications that open your profile private information for all to see and use against you.


This facebook application promises to inform you everytime someone views your profile. The application is called Profile Spy.We strongly advise you NOT to join this group, or invite any of your friends to join it either.
What’s worrying about this is the “activation link” that you will receive  to activate the application.


If you receive an email to your Facebook Inbox from 'Profile Spy', Do NOT click it. This will grant access to your profile and everything it contains.

Free Phone Calls Using Google

Google has recently announced phone calls free within Canada and USA. This is done through your gmail account ( as seen below)

 

Google Google Voice inside Gmail

Internet-based phone service is not new. Skype has been around for years. Skype lets Americans talk to each other free of charge, or for a mere few pennies per minute for long distance.

Wednesday, Google started rolling out Internet phone service. The Google Phone interface is built into the Gmail interface. Google promotes it as a fallback feature for Gmail’s video chat system, just in case the other party isn’t sitting in front of a computer. It is not just for your video chat partners though, it is for use anytime!

Google Phone works like this: A new button is added to the Gmail interface, called 'Call Phones'. It launches a small window with a telephone-style keypad, or simply use the digit box to enter a name or a phone number. If they are a gmail contact, their number will come up from you Gmail address book.

To use the google phone feature, you need to install a plug-in for your browser from Google. Fortunately, it works with all the popular web browers - including Apple’s Safari on Macs.

Google Phone usee your computer’s built-in microphone and speakers, (or USB headset)Once you’ve installed the Google Phone plug-in, and configured your computer to use the audio hardware, making a call is easy.

The person you are calling will see the caller ID 760-705-8888, which is Google's network. You may use  Google Voice service and setup a Non-Google Voice number as well. Google Voice gives you a Google-assigned number so Google can handle your incoming calls and voicemail. You will need to sign up with Google Voice if you want to receive calls within Gmail. Like Skype, Google’s prices are hard to beat, best of all, calls within the United States and Canada are free. Calls to other countries average around two cents a minute. Google has posted its rates for each country.  (77 cents a minute for calls to North Korea.)