| Author |
Message |
Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 7:00 am 
Seamonkey - Yes. The scammer said they had activated the camera on my wife’s computer and had pictures. Again we knew from the very beginning it was a scam since my wife’s monitor doesn’t have a camera built in and she never uses our laptop which has a camera.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 11:27 am
Lorna does have a camera on her laptop. I told her she could just block it if she had any concerns.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 1:00 pm
I have a particularly paranoid friend who is actually a computer programmer and he has a piece of black electrical tape over the camera lens on his laptop. 
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-30-2000
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 1:18 pm
I have a slidey thingy that allows me to block or unblock when appropriate.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 2:00 pm
Not to be paranoid but that’s probably a good idea. Where did you get it?
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-30-2000
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 2:06 pm
Where I get too many things. Amazon.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HPC66U4
$9.99 for a 3-pack.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 2:07 pm
My sister put tape over her computer camera after she saw a picture of Mark Zuckinberg with tape on his computer's camera.
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Sadiesmom
Member
03-13-2002
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 2:10 pm
I think that was suggested in print a while ago. but don't forget that TVs that have verbal input also can listen in and distribute your conversations so you need to turn that off or be careful of what you say.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 2:57 pm
Oh yes all of these new helpful devices are listening to your conversation all the time. If you want the use one, you just have to trust that they are ethical. 
ETA: Thanks Kar!
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-30-2000
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 3:19 pm
Oh, and just for grins, I have a google home that I plugged into an extension cord with a toggle on/off switch. So I toggle it on when I need it and right back off when I'm done.
For the most part I'm not very paranoid, but these are easy fixes.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 3:23 pm
Cool slidey thing, Kar!
I don't have a cam looking at me. I think I would use tape or a slidey thing if I did.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 3:24 pm
Good points Sadiesmom and Jimmer. I initially thought voice activated or interaction devices were cool technology. None of our TVs are “smart” models so that’s not an issue. I did give some thought to one of the interactive node thingies but after reading and seeing stuff on TV about them I passed on that idea.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 5:55 pm
I have tape over mine. A friend who has a computer business told me to just use scotch tape and a black sharpie to black out the lens.
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-30-2000
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 5:59 pm
I guess none of you use the camera feature to catch up with distant friends? I find it much more phone than just a simple phone call.
But some of my less-techy friends struggle...LOL.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 9:13 pm
I really don't talk on the phone much. My friend Lorna does love to talk and if I call her I know it will be a long call but I see her at singing and other events. If I had a camera on me I would have to look way more decent and probably couldn't multi task, as in playing Yahtzee or checking email or TVCH, during the call.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Monday, November 26, 2018 - 2:34 am
I'm with Sea about multitasking while on the phone. Plus, I prefer talking on a landline because it is much clearer than a cellphone. I'm not constantly saying, "What?" over and over again.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Monday, November 26, 2018 - 2:58 pm
Hey I had a phone scammer this morning. Turned out okay though.
So at 8:58 this morning my phone rang and I was dead asleep so I rolled over answered the phone and this guy with an Indian accent addressed me by my last name correctly so I figured it was a legitimate call. Then he proceeded to tell me that I might have been scammed and then he was calling to check about it. He asked me if I had made a credit card purchase of $380.00 at 6 a.m. this morning online. I told him no way I was fast asleep at that time, plus I've never bought anything on eBay in my life because I don't generally shop online. And then he started to ask me some questions. I cut him off and said... "Wait a minute how do I know that YOU are not a scammer? I'm not an idiot and I'm going to ask YOU some questions." Strangely enough he hung up. LOL.
I was concerned enough that I called both my credit card companies and they reassured me no purchases have been made recently. And then I called eBay and they said they'd never heard of me which was great. LOL. Then they connected me with PayPal because I thought just in case I should see if that had been hacked since I wasn't sure if I still had a PayPal account or not. And they were great as well with me. So it was a hell of a way to wake up in the morning, hectic and stressful but all is well and that's what counts.
By the way if anyone is wondering why I was sleeping at 9 a.m. I work from home and I'm semi-retired so I can sleep in occasionally.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, November 26, 2018 - 5:13 pm
Grooch, absolutely on a landline!
Mame.. I have gone to bed as late as 6am one day this week. No earlier than 1:30am.
The only time I would be up before 9am is When I have to pick up a patient at 10am. Then I like to be up by 7am.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Monday, November 26, 2018 - 9:16 pm
Sea, I went to sleep the other day at 6:45 a.m. I win. 😉 😄
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Wednesday, November 28, 2018 - 8:26 am
I got a recorded message over the phone yesterday.
A very sincere voice told me that I had paid their company $200.20 for some service they were to provide to my computer.
He apologized and said they want to refund my money. They were going out of business. I was to call a certain phone number.
I wonder what would have happened if I had called. I hate scams like that. It sounded so real. 
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Wednesday, November 28, 2018 - 10:14 am
Bet you if you called he’d want a credit card number to credit your refund.
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Wednesday, November 28, 2018 - 11:24 am
I bet so too Mack. These people are jerks!
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Tuesday, December 04, 2018 - 1:08 pm
OMG, I don't know if this is a scam but I just found out I had been subscribed to 3 magazines, People, Sports Illustrated Kids and Entertainment Weekly without my knowledge. Apparently it is part of a "promotional offering" that is part of various websites by ValueMags.com. And does not cost me anything.
And of course they can't tell me what the promotion was or how I got signed up, but they "keep no lists" and will cancel the subscriptions.
The only good thing is that I have been monitoring my credit cards ever since I mysteriously started receiving People.
Receiving Sports Illustrated Kids, made me start making some calls... it was so annoying, I called SI to start and they said I had to complete the cancellation with Valuemags.com.
So annoying!
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Tuesday, December 04, 2018 - 1:25 pm
Glad u caught it and got it sorted out, Dipo.
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, December 04, 2018 - 1:42 pm
Dipo, I got quite a few mags for years too, things I would never be interested in.
Then when the free subscription is up, they send you a notice to "renew", which you can ignore. And they stop sending them.
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