General

Who Are Your Neighbors?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2012/02/19 16:05 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (5)

Let me begin by saying that I am absolutely HORRIBLE with names. I don’t know why, but I am awful. I try to remember, I try all the mnemonic devices and still, I forget names that I really should know. Most embarrassingly are the names of my neighbors.

I’ve lived in my current house for almost 20 years. I love my neighborhood. I love my neighbors. That lady down the street that I wave to when she picks up her mail. The people at the end of the street with the adorable little boy who is rapidly becoming a young man. The people with the “Harley” mailbox. Over the years I’ve learned to at least recognize most of my neighbors, but I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t know many of their names.

A reader of this blog (and a neighbor!) gave me a HUGE piece of assistance when he pointed out this website to me:

Who are your Neighbors?

Just click on the link (or the image above), enter your address, click the ‘Get Started’ button and your whole neighborhood (courtesy, I’m sure of Google Earth) appears with indicators over each neighbor’s house and their names/phone numbers. Now, I can figure out the missing names!!! YEAH!!!

How handy could this be?!?!

To ‘Unsubscribe’ or ‘Not Unsubscribe’, that is the question…

By Sandra Clitter  |  2012/02/05 15:31 Posted in Business Processes, Email Management, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (2)

(With all due respect to Shakespeare and Hamlet)

We all get Spam. Its probably safe to say that we all get wayyyyyyyyyyy too much Spam. Spam, by definition, is e-mail that you do not choose or want to receive. It is junk.

On the other hand, there are newsletters and such that you really DO want to receive. So, how do you know when you can ‘make it go away’ and when you shouldn’t because it will just get you MORE junk in your inbox? When should you click ‘unsubscribe’? What are the ramifications if you do?

Normally, I don’t say ‘why’ I write particular posts…I just write them. Sometimes I am asked to write on a subject by a reader. Sometimes I get asked a question so many times that I figure it would make a good blog post. Sometimes an event in life causes me to write on a given subject…and so it is with this topic. Many of my ‘life’ blog posts have had their origins with my Uncle. This is another one of those posts!

Here’s the story…

December 31st of last year, I sent out a mail blast (using the free email service, MailChimp) to my entire email list. It wasn’t a newsletter, but rather a note that the name of my company was changing on January 1, 2012. Accordingly, rather than ‘SLC Consulting’, I wanted people to start using ‘Your Tech Tamer’ and to update their email addresses, etc. What better way to communicate important information to a wide-range of people? So far, so good. Off goes my e-mail. The next morning, I get an unsubscribe notice from, you guessed it, MY UNCLE!!!! What on earth?!?! Talk about dejected…if your own flesh-and-blood doesn’t want to read what you have to write, then why bother, right?

Fast-forward about five days. I’m visiting with him and he sheepishly tells me that he accidentally hit ‘unsubscribe’ when he was scrolling down the page and was there a way to ‘resubscribe’ because OBVIOUSLY, he didn’t want to unsubscribe from something that I had sent. Whew!!! He still loves me!!! While we laughed about the incident (and I showed him how to resubscribe), he was surprised to find out that I ALREADY KNEW that he had unsubscribed. How could that be?

So, to get to the ‘meat’ of this post, here are a few things to think about and know BEFORE you hit the ‘Unsubscribe’ button:

1. Only hit the ‘Unsubscribe’ button (or the ‘If you no longer wish to receive these emails…’ type of links) if the e-mail comes from a reputable e-mail blast service. ConstantContact, MailChimp, SendBlaster, iContact, etc. are all ‘reputable’ email services. You’ll know that an e-mail blast came from those services because you’ll see their ‘bug’ (logo) in the footer of the e-mails. The ‘bug’ identifies the e-mails as having been sent through these services. Clicking ‘Unsubscribe’ on an e-mail sent by one of these services will truly ‘unsubscribe’ you, and the owner of the e-mail list will NOT be able to resubscribe you…only you will be able to resubscribe yourself.

2. **BEWARE**: The owners of the email list (me, in the example above) RECEIVE A NOTIFICATION that someone has unsubscribed and their name/e-mail address. In other words, if you unsubscribe from your best friend’s list, he/she WILL KNOW!! If you really don’t want to receive that mail, it might be preferable to mark it as ‘spam’ or ‘junk’ in your email service…your friend won’t know if you do that, so there will be no hard feelings.

3. If the email does not show an email ‘blast’ service in the footer, but appears to come from a company that you know, then double-check the ‘from’ address (the sender’s email address) – not the name that displays, but rather the actual e-mail address from which the e-mail was sent. If you recognize it as being legitimate (e.g. emailmarketing@coke.com), then hitting ‘unsubscribe’ is probably safe to do. Here’s an example of a legitimate e-mail address from which it would be ‘safe’ to hit the ‘unsubscribe’ button:

4. If the email has a sender’s name that your recognize, but the actual ‘from’ e-mail address is ‘odd’, then DO NOT hit ‘unsubscribe’ or otherwise ask to be removed from the e-mail list. If you hit this link, you will likely get EVEN MORE unwanted emails because you have only verified to spammers that your e-mail address is a ‘live’ one!

Bottom line: The rules are pretty simple.

If the e-mail comes from a legitimate e-mail blast service, it’s safe to unsubscribe, but the owner of the list will know that you unsubscribed, so decide if it’s better to send the e-mail to the junk bin, rather than unsubscribing and potentially hurting someone’s feelings.

If the e-mail comes from an apparently legitimate e-mail address, make sure by checking the exact address. Only hit ‘unsubscribe’ from e-mail addresses that are ‘real’. Otherwise, you may be bringing a deluge of further unwanted mail by clicking ‘remove’ or ‘unsubscribe’. Again, block the sender via the Junk Mail or Spam feature in your mail service, rather than unsubscribing.

Friendly word of advice: NEVER EVER unsubscribe from close family or friends e-mails :-)! It is far better to keep the peace!

Do you ever want to delay the delivery of an e-mail?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2012/01/15 23:18 Posted in Email Management, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (0)

There are a fair number of times when I compose an e-mail, but it’s not the correct time to send it. Perhaps I don’t want someone to know that I was working on something over the weekend. Maybe I have a report to e-mail on Monday morning, but I’m not going to be in my office at that time. Whatever the case, there are times when I want an e-mail to be sent LATER…and I don’t want to have to try to remember to send it.

Outlook 2010 has a FABULOUS and easy way to allow you to send mail later – even if you’re not at your desk.

Compose your e-mail as you normally would:

Before hitting the ‘Send’ button, click on the ‘Options’ tab at the top of the screen. Now, select the ‘Delay Delivery’ button on the toolbar:

Set the date/time you want the e-mail sent:

Close this window. Finally, click ‘Send’ (just like you normally would).

Your email will go to your ‘Outbox’, but will not leave the Outbox until the specified date/time:

The email will be sent at the date/time you specified in the delay. Most of you will probably see the current date in the ‘Sent’ field. This is the date/time you pressed the ‘Send’ button and exiled your email to the Outbox. If you want to see what that date/time your e-mail is scheduled to go out, we need to add a field to the columns shown. Simply right-click on the bar with the column titles:

Select ‘Field Chooser’ from the list.

Select ‘All Mail Fields’ from the drop-down, then highlight ‘Defer Until’

Left-click and drag the ‘Defer Until’ field onto the column headings bar:

Voila! You see the date/time your email is scheduled to be sent.

Word of warning: If your email is NOT on an Exchange Server (and if you don’t know what that means, you’re probably not!), then you need to make sure that your Outlook is open and an internet connection exists at the date/time the email is to be sent. If Outlook is closed and/or there is no internet connection at the specified ‘send’ time, then the e-mail will be sent the next time that Outlook is open after that date/time.

Did you get a Gift Card that you have no interest in using?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2012/01/03 21:02 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (4)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Everyone!!!

Sorry things have been quiet on this end, but I got caught up in the holiday crazies (and loved every minute of it!). The days just seemed to fly by. Now that we’re in the January doldrums, it’s time to get back to work!

I am always amazed by the number of Gift Cards are are given/received each year. It seems like the numbers just go up and up and up. While I usually love getting a gift card, there are times when someone purchases a card that isn’t for a store/restaurant that one can actually frequent. Maybe someone bought you a gift card for Applebees, but the nearest Applebees is over 50 miles away. You might like getting the card, but never have a chance to actually USE it – or using it is impractical!

Well, if you’ve found that you have one or two of those ‘less than useful’ gift cards in your possession and you’d like to get some cash for them, you don’t need to beg an exchange with friends anymore. There are actually several sites which allow you to sell your unwanted gift cards for a fair percentage of the face value. WOOHOO!!

I came across two good articles this week that wrote about this phenomenon and decided that I would share what I read. The first is on a favorite site of mine: CNET How To. “How to sell your unwanted gift cards” by Jason Cipriani was the first that I came across. I was fascinated because it never dawned on me that such sites existed (although in retrospect, it makes sense).

The second article I found on a My Money Blog. Entitled “Selling Unwanted Gift Cards for Cash“, this one caught my eye, as well…probably because after reading the first article, I was pondering the pros/cons/risks of, in essence, reselling gift cards.

There appear to be four major services specializing in Gift Card “redemption”:

Cardpool.com
PlasticJungle.com
GiftCards.com
GiftCardRescue.com

For each type of card you want to redeem, compare between the sites – some pay better on one type of card and another may pay better on another type of card. I did a quick ‘what if’ with a card that I got (but which I’m not really going to redeem because I want to use it) and found the following results on the quote:

Regal Entertainment Card worth $25.00 face value would fetch:

Cardpool.com: $18.00
PlasticJungle.com: $18.00
GiftCards.com: $18.25
GiftCardRescue.com: $17.50 for Cash or $18.38 for an Amazon Gift Card

Both these authors cited above have done some good research on the topic and written excellent articles. Please check them out for further details, but I wanted to let everyone know that if you got a gift card for someplace you simply can not or will not patronize, there may be an option to turn that card into cash.

(Disclaimer: I have NOT completed any transaction, so can only go on the comments others have left regarding the subject)

Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, Oh My! What does it all mean?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/12/13 19:01 Posted in General  |  Comments (12)

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a black phone that sat in the hallway. It went ‘ring-ring’ when someone wanted to speak with you. You dialed when you wanted to speak with someone else, and the black phone went ‘ring-ring’ on their end. Alas, that time has come and gone. Today, we have a multitude of ways to connect to or hear from the outside world. Maybe you still have a ‘ring-ring’ phone, but I’d venture to day you don’t ‘dial’ any more…you punch buttons. Fewer and fewer people even have ‘land lines’ (those phones that plug into a phone jack somewhere in the house). Cell phones are becoming the norm.

So far, I’m not confused. So far, I understand that we’ve migrated from ‘ring-ring’ phones to phones which aren’t connected to the wall in one location (cell phones). I’m good with a phone which allows people to reach me, no matter where I am. I didn’t understand how sound traveled down the wires into my ‘ring-ring’ phone…I certainly don’t understand how the sound bounces off of a satellite somewhere and ‘appears’ in my cell phone. Honestly though, I don’t really care. I take how certain things work on faith (you can add to that list electricity and television).

Here’s where things start getting hairy. First, I have my cell phone which works wherever/whenever. Then, my computer decides that it doesn’t want to be tethered to my desk, so it goes wireless. My cell phone becomes ‘more than a phone’ and actually allows me to get e-mail and surf the web from wherever I find myself. Then, I get a Kindle/Nook and it needs to ‘talk’ to the internet as I roam about.

Each time I go to purchase a new device, I have to learn a new lesson in alphabet soup! At the heart of it all is the confusion about whether I need a separate service plan to connect, or if I can connect using what I already have, or if it is a different type of connection than I currently have access to. Whew! Makes me not want to expand my horizons for fear of the ensuing headache (not to mention additional charges).

So, thanks to Rick Broida at PC World, I got a FABULOUS explanation of the difference between 3G and Wi-Fi – both internet access (and, oh yeah, 4G is just like 3G, but faster) in the article aptly titled “What’s the difference between 3G and WiFi“.

Both WiFi and 3G (or 4G) allow you to connect to the internet. These are NOT your traditional cell service (the ability to make calls on your cell).

If you have wireless internet in your house/business, then you have WiFi. You probably have a box somewhere (called a wireless modem or wireless router) which has a little antenna and allows you to access the internet without wires from anywhere in a building.

3G or 4G are, as Rick states, “Internet everywhere”. 3G and 4G use the same cell towers that your phone uses, but access the internet instead of the calling system.

So…if you are buying a new device or gizmo during this holiday season, make sure that you understand the following:

1. Does it access the internet?
2. If it does access the internet, does it do it wirelessly? (most of the time the answer is ‘yes’ these days)
3. If it accesses the internet wirelessly, is it WiFi or 3G/4G connectivity (or both)?
4. If it can access the internet with WiFi, do you need the password for the particular WiFi location(s) where the device is located? (If the answer is ‘no’ to this question, then there are no additional charges even if you’re not around a wireless internet service that you pay for).
5. If it uses 3G/4G, do you need to pay for additional service?

The reason for the last two questions is that SOME devices, like my particular Kindle, do NOT require you to purchase additional wireless services…they just piggyback off of existing WiFi or 3G/4G with NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE. Like my old ‘ring-ring’ phone, I have no idea how/why that works, but it does and I’m thrilled about it because I don’t want to pay any more for additional internet services…I pay too much as it is!

That is NOT the case for iPads, etc. Those actually need you to create an internet connection – either via WiFi (free if its available free at your location, but you need a signon/password to access if the wireless is not available publicly) or additional carrier charges if you choose 3G/4G.

So, before you get all excited about that new ‘toy’ under the tree (iPad, Kindle, Nook, etc.), make sure that you understand which type of connectivity the device needs. Figure out where the device will be used (if you never take it out of your house and your house has WiFi, and the device has WiFi, then all is well, but if you take the device elsewhere, you may be subject to additional internet connection charges/plans). Then, look at the additional costs (if any) of purchasing the internet connectivity. That will help you make the best decision on that ‘perfect gift’!

How can I access my Bookmarks or Favorites from any computer?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/11/26 21:25 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, Business Processes, General, Tech Tips, Web Tips  |  Comments (9)

There are so many times when I’m working on a computer that is NOT my own and I want to get to some website that I have bookmarked (set as a ‘favorite’) on my computer. Worse still if you work primarily on public computers and can’t save your own set of bookmarks at all. Maybe you have a personal computer and a work computer, and somehow, the favorite that you need to reference always seems to be on the other computer. Some URL’s (e.g. Google) are obvious, but others are well-hidden or buried or not entirely ‘findable’ without the help of that precious bookmark.

Is there a solution? Is there a way to make your bookmarks/favorites ‘portable’ or accessible from ANY computer? You betcha!!!

Time to check out www.aboogy.com.

With Aboogy, you can set up all your favorites that can be accessed from any computer – as long as you remember you Aboogy signon. When you first go to www.aboogy.com, you’ll be asked to create a user ID and password, then click on a confirmation e-mail from Aboogy. Once that’s done, you are ready to roll with setting up your own list of favorites/bookmarks/shortcuts that can be accessed from ANY computer.

Your first time signing in to Aboogy, you’ll be asked to read this screen – they’ll only show it once!

Once you’ve closed that screen, you’ll be able to set up your favorites and tracking a variety of ways – buttons, links, images, categories – all under YOUR control!!

Start by importing your existing bookmarks or favorites from your computer:

Next, edit and organize the links as you like using the ‘Editor’ tool:

Head back to your Aboogy page and VOILA! Your bookmarks/favorites are all available to you from ANY computer:

The additional benefit is that if your computer crashes, you haven’t lost your library of bookmarks/favorites – even if backing up isn’t on your regular schedule (though shame on you for ignoring that critical chore :-)!)

Managing Photos and Video – it is soooo not my ‘thing’

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/11/07 23:31 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (2)

Just so you know, managing photos and videos are really NOT my ‘thing’, yet questions on these items tend to generate a bunch of questions by readers of my blog. Honestly, my solution is ‘let someone else do it’, but that’s not really offering useful advice now, is it? I don’t think that ignoring the subject is too useful, either.

Confession: I have NEVER actually shot a video (well technically, that’s not true…one time I accidentally switched my digital camera to ‘video’ and took a time-lapse ‘photo’, but I don’t think that that counts).

I DO take photos from time-to-time, but I’m not the family historian, either. I do NOT enjoy spending a lot of time tweaking photos, either. I AM pretty good at resizing images and cropping them. That’s the level of my ‘expertise’. To the graphic artists and some others, I’m sure, that sounds pretty lame, but its the truth.

Unfortunately, this makes me push the requests for information on video/photo editing into the ‘too hard’ basket :-). Sorry gang, just being honest.

SOOOOOOOO, when I saw an article in PC World, written by Patrick Miller, titled “Shoot, Share, and Edit Your Photos and Video on the Cheap” I gave a whoop! Someone else has the information that my readers have been requesting. YEAH!!!!

Patrick gives you links to video editing (cheaply) in this article. Additionally, he gives you tips on photo editing and sharing by sharing this link. (Both articles are written by Jonathan Wylie, also of PC World).

Let me say a heartfelt – thank you, Patrick (Jonathan, we thank you, as well…Patrick pointed, you actually compiled the information)!!! You ventured where I just haven’t trod!!!

I will add my 2-cents worth here: No program, particularly those which are free, is perfect. Each service is going to be stronger in one area than another. Before putting all your ‘eggs’ in one basket, upload a few images or videos and ‘play around’ with the various alternatives. For some people one feature is more important than another. Find the service that is stronger in those areas that are most important to you and then start loading up that ‘basket’!

Happy editing and sharing!!!!

Thank you, Steve Jobs!

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/10/06 20:45 Posted in General  |  Comments (2)

I never thought that I would feel moved to do this, but I have to write a brief note here to honor the life of Steve Jobs. I know that the media is overkilling his passing (no pun intended), but honestly, our world today looks like it does because of him. Many of us have the occupations and tools to work in our profession because of his vision.

I admit it…I only own one Apple product, and it is an ancient iPod. I only own one Apple device, but my life is surrounded by the “Apple influence”, none the less.

Let’s start with the mouse on my keyboard…Steve Jobs made it a part of everyday life – even on my non-Apple PC. He didn’t invent the device, but he made it a household product.

The Windows user-interface (often called the ‘GUI’ interface for Graphical User Interface) that we know and love/hate was inspired by the first Mac.

The music that I listen to no longer resides on records or CD’s…it’s all digital on my iPod.

The creation of the Android Smartphone that I use was jump-started by the advent of the iPhone.

The tablet revolution that we are currently experiencing was launched with the iPad.

The list goes on and on…

When I heard the report of his death last night, it dawned on me that losing Steve Jobs is sort of like losing Thomas Edison. He was a visionary. He saw things that ‘mere mortals’ can’t even begin to envision. He saw what I ‘needed’ long before I knew there was a void.

I think that the existence of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs at the same point in time also helped to move the technology revolution forward at warp-speed…because they each pushed the other – bigger, faster, farther (can I mix any more metaphors in this post?).

Kids today don’t remember life before the PC or Mac…just the way we assume that electricity always existed.

Thank you, Mr. Jobs. Your contributions will live on for many generations to come.

Want to set up Word with YOUR default Fonts and settings?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/10/04 18:33 Posted in General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (0)

Ah…Microsoft Office…love it or hate it, for many of us, it is a way of life. Part of that life, of course, includes Microsoft Word for all things document or, ahem, ‘word’ related (sorry, I saw the pun coming off of my fingers as I began typing and just had to leave it in there). Unfortunately, the ‘look and feel’ that I like in my documents may be very different than the look that you prefer in yours, but unless we take the time to change the well-hidden defaults in Word (Microsoft Word, that is), we find ourselves having to format and reformat with every document.

Alas, I FINALLY found where one goes to change the default font, line-spacing, paragraphing, etc. thanks to a small blurb in PC World Magazine (I give full credit to Christopher Null, though I’ve added some screenshots to help clarify). For those of you who have been looking to change the defaults (and I know that there are some out there because we’ve talked about it) take heart – this only takes a minute – and that minute will be the LAST TIME you have to format the base Word document to your liking :-)!

By the way, that ‘default’ style in Word is called the ‘Normal Style’…just to add confusion to confusion!

Open up a blank Word document and begin typing some text. Type a chunk of text that will include paragraphing, alignment, carriage returns, etc. The basics of a Word document for you.

Above is the "Normal" font for Microsoft Word


Now, change this default font to the font you want as the ‘default’ (or ‘Normal’ as Microsoft defines it):

Above is the altered text to 'my' style for Word


If you want to adjust the paragraph style, line spacing, etc. (in other words, more than just the font and/or font size), select some text within the document you are creating, and right-click on it. Choose ‘Paragraph’. It will bring up this screen:

Make any adjustments to the paragraphing, line spacing, etc. Note: There are two tabs on this screen…play with all the settings and find the ones that you want. The screens are similar in both Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 – not exactly, but similar.

Now, select some of the text. In 2007 or later, you’ll right-click and select ‘Styles’ (the screens I’ll show are from Office 2010) [In 2003, you’ll right-click and select ‘Font’, then click ‘Default’]. Now, click on ‘Update Normal to Match Selections’:

If you want this set of selections to be PERMANENT when you open up a new document, go to the Word ribbon, and select ‘Change Styles’, then ‘Set as Default’ (at the bottom of the list):

Now, close this document. Open a new document and begin typing. Voila!!!

Your new ‘normal’ is defined as the baseline!

How do I avoid getting bitten by a computer ‘bug’?

By Sandra Clitter  |  2011/09/22 09:00 Posted in (Mostly) Free Tools, General, Tech Tips  |  Comments (4)

It seems like every day brings a new rash of evil-doers on the virtual highway. Steering clear of the bad guys can sometimes feel like a full-time job, but there are a few tricks you can use to protect yourself with little effort.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, make sure that you have anti-virus/anti-spam/anti-malware security software installed on your computer and KEEP IT UP TO DATE!!!! McAfee, Norton and Kapersky are three of the most common names in computer security, but there are plenty of others. AVG offers a free version to personal (non-commercial) users.

Now that that little lecture is out of the way, let’s discuss your e-mail. WHEN IN DOUBT, DELETE.

One of the most insidious ways to attack your computer is by your very own e-mail. Clicking on links that are from seemingly ‘safe’ site, or opening attachments from apparently ‘safe’ sources is an almost guaranteed way to get an evil virus on your computer.

Now that you’re scared to death to read your mail, how do you protect yourself? Really, it’s pretty easy. Here’s what you do – and it only takes a second…it doesn’t have to interfere with your production…VERIFY THE LINKS BEFORE YOU CLICK.

How?

Easy.

See the image above…it APPEARS to have come from Twitter. They’re telling me that I have a message to read. BUT…it’s not from Twitter…its someone phishing for information from me…trying to steal my signon and password.

The first ‘clue’ that this isn’t from Twitter is the fact that they say ‘Hi’, not ‘Dear Sandy’ (or whatever name you’ve used on your account).

The next clue comes if you hover your cursor over the link the phisher wants you to click:

You’ll notice that this link, which is masked to look like it would go to Twitter (and should read something starting with www.twitter.com), has a link to some unknown site. That site is NOT Twitter, and not safe to click. If I really thought Twitter wanted me to check something out on my account, I would open up a browser, type in the URL (www.twitter.com), and go to my account to check it.

Here’s how easy it is to do. I created the link below (this one happens to be safe to click on, but it will NOT take you to Twitter):

http://www.twitter.com

The link above LOOKS like a legitimate link to Twitter when you first see it, but the link actually takes you right back to this blog! It APPEARS to go to Twitter, but no…it comes right back to me…and it COULD just as easily have gone to some nefarious site.

If you hover over the link on the screen (if you’re trying it, hover over the link above…the image below is just that, an image):

Then, look to the lower-left corner of your browser screen, you will see the ‘real’ destination revealed:

It’s that easy to see where someone is trying to send you – via an e-mail (hovering over the link in the email displays the real link) or on a regular web page (hovering over the link will make the real URL appear on your screen, probably in the lower-right corner of your screen).

If you get an e-mail with an attachment from someone you don’t know (they may say they are UPS, FedEx or the USPS) telling you to open the attachment to find out about a delivery you missed, STOP! DO NOT OPEN IT!! [One regular reader of this blog found that out the hard way and had to spend days trying to recover their computer. He happened to be waiting for a UPS delivery, so thought it was legit. Unfortunately, opening the zip file corrupted his hard drive.]

A fake notification will have some tell-tale signs:

First, it says ‘Dear customer’…if they know enough to send ME an e-mail, they KNOW my name!

Next, there is no information about the shipment in the subject or body…only a link. Legit shipments contain some detailed information in the shipping notification which will assure you that the e-mail is real.

A REAL notification will include information in the subject and/or body that you can enter directly into www.ups.com or www.fedex.com or www.usps.com in order to track the shipment (you don’t need to click links).

Your name and/or address will appear in the body of the e-mail.
A tracking number or other package information will appear in the subject line or body of the e-mail.
None of the major shipping companies will attach the information in a zip, word, pdf document.

(Note: I’ve blanked out some of the personal information on this image, so you won’t see the full tracking number or address, but you get the idea).

If I wasn’t sure that this e-mail was legitimate, I could go to www.ups.com and enter the tracking number given in the e-mail. Again, there is no reason to trust the links in the e-mail.

So, to sum it up:

1. Legitimate e-mails will address you by name.
2. Hover over the link they want you to click and see if the URL is legitimate.
3. When in doubt, open up a browser and type in the url manually, then check whatever the e-mail is trying to get you to check by entering through the ‘front door’ instead of taking the shortcut.
4. Do NOT open up attachments from people you don’t know.