Raoul’s 2 Cents
Email Blackmail:
A Public Service Article to Defend Against the Cyber Criminal Minds
I was shocked by an email that was blackmailing me to pay up in Bitcoin; otherwise sensitive information would be released to the world. I receive spam just like everyone else, but what made this especially disconcerting was having my name and an old password in the subject line. Whoever this person was, had the sophistication to access real data.
Here’s my serious email tech advice. If this ever happens to you, immediately change and fortify all of your passwords and report the spam to the authorities. Who to email it to? Do a search for “report spam” and choose the organization that best fits you. This might also help:
Abuse and Spam Reporting
To report unlawful, abusive, unwanted or malicious email that you find originating from an Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live, or MSN account , please forward a complete copy of the abusive message (including the full message header) to
ab***@ou*****.com
. Sending these types of communications is a violation of Microsoft policy and appropriate action will be taken on confirmed reports.
After some research I discovered that there had been similar complaints from other people who were hit by the same scam. Even if the threat is real (most of them really aren’t), the FBI website advises anyone who has been blackmailed to never pay the ransom … they discourage even a reply to the message because doing so would only confirm that your email address is legit and that could lead to more extortion. Think about it, what will prevent the crooks from asking more? They lack compassion.
Other steps
If you know how to blacklist emails, do so with that specific email. If you know how to blacklist an IP address, block that as well. You want to make sure that the crook(s) have no way of communicating with you. Think about it. How can they threaten you if they can’t get hold of you?
There’s a lot of cyber crime going on. We hear about it often but somehow it really only hits home when it gets personal.
Of course if you do Facebook, have a Gmail account, or search using Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. then you’re already screwed. They already know everything about you.
Please be careful.
TGIF people!
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity”
— attributed to Albert Einstein in my email but “Sam” pointed out that it probably came from the movie “Powder” … see comments below
Joke of the Week
Witty Sayings By Phyllis Diller
Shared by Don of Kelowna, B.C.
Videos of the Week
Carbonaro Effect: Survival Backpack
Sent by Tom of Pasadena, CA
This is the ultimate backpack. It’s like the Swiss Army Knife of survival backpacks and the customer is totally amazed!
Creepy Google
Sent by Art of Sierra Madre, CA
I include this video because I want you to be aware of the present tech power. Just to be clear, this video comes from a conservative media but regardless of your political persuasion, I think it is accurate, complex and interesting. It discusses just how far Google has dominated the tech world and our private data. Kinda sad and bothersome. This is the reason I hardly use Social Media. You should avoid it too.
Don’t be too depressed. Here’s a related discussion that assures us that these tech giants will be overtaken by a new technology in the near future. CLICK HERE.
Don’s Puns
From Don’s collection of puns
Parting Shot
Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C. who shared this photo
People from all over the world send him jokes and Raoul sends those jokes back with his original sketches. 
Sam
October 19, 2018 at 7:34 am
Hey there Raoul…
I often read catchy sayings and quotes and like you will repeat them and try to give proper credit as to who said it…the quote below is a good one but there is no way …in my thinking that A. Einstein could say something so ingenious…even though he was a genius…but I wasn’t sure so I ran the quote through a search engine and this is what I found…
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
Can you please tell me if it was said or written by him?
Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Einstein made this statement. It does not appear in the comprehensive collection of quotations “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein” from Princeton University Press. 1
My thinking was…as brilliant as A. Einstein was, he wasn’t a technology kind of guy…does that make sense?
The article goes on to say…
The earliest evidence of a closely matching quotation known to QI was in a 1995 movie called “Powder” which was written and directed by Victor Salva and starred Sean Patrick Flanery as the main character whose strong paranormal powers drove the plot. Flanery played Jeremy Reed who had an albino-like appearance and was given the nickname Powder. Near the end of the film there was a dialog between Reed and a character named Donald Ripley, a physics teacher played by Jeff Goldblum. The quotation was delivered by Ripley and then Reed immediately ascribed it to Einstein: 2
Donald Ripley: It’s become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity.
Jeremy Reed: Albert Einstein.
Donald Ripley: I look at you, and I, I think that someday our humanity might actually surpass our technology.
The statement in this dialog is not identical to the one given by the questioner. For example, Ripley’s remark used the words “clear” and “surpassed” while the questioner’s instance used the words “obvious” and “exceeded”. But semantically they are quite close.
Anyway, keep up the great work Raoul. You are a blessing to so many people.
A quote I use often in my presentations and I use at the end of my business emails…
The greatest burden in life is to know of a better opportunity.
Credit is unknown, I saw this as a high school football player in the visiting locker room way back in the day… I have never forgotten it…it’s one of two of my all time favorite quotes…the other one I’ll tell you later. lol
Cheers
Sam
Sam
October 19, 2018 at 7:35 am
Actually it is..
The greatest burden in life is to know of another opportunity.
This quote is so good on so many levels…Spiritually and in the business world.
It’s the last thing in my business emails but before the legal jargon of…if this email doesn’t belong to you….
Anyway… I think this quote, gets my readers thinking…which helps, especially since I market and sell paving strategies.
Feel free to use it as well.
Sam
Choy
October 19, 2018 at 7:47 am
Hi Raoul,
Thanks for the latest release. I enjoyed The Carbonaro Effect. Hilarious!
Choy