Penalty Charge Notification and Cyber Crime Agency!

I always look in my Spam folder because there is always something interesting and amusing.

This week I received a Penalty Charge notification dated on my birthday in a place I was at least 400 miles away from!  None of the vehicles are connected to an email account at the DVLA so how did they get my email and which vehicle did it relate to and and and..

The other one was from some kind of Cyber Crime agency that was going to reward me compensation because I had recently been scammed!  The compensation was some astronomical amount which I would receive once they had my processing fee of 450, I cant remember whether it was US$, GPB or Euros.  It matters not!  It was a scam!  The upfront charges are a dead give away.

I did not get the other email, the one that had video of me and proved it by supplying an out of date password.  (My webcam on the laptop is covered when I'm not actively using it and my desktop does not have one!!) Still, I felt a bit left out!

Ask the simple questions when you receive these kind of emails: is what they are suggesting really a possibility.  

No!  

Just laugh at them, delete them and move on!

Housekeeping!

Look at your computer in the same way you look at your home. 

You like your home to be clean and tidy and everything is where it should be, household running smoothly, everyone has a clean shirt etc.

Keep your home this way takes a bit of regular housework, dusting, vacuuming or sweeping, washing, cleaning and so on.

If you want your PC to run well you will need to do similar tasks.  

• Regular Antivirus scans with up to date software.
• Malware and spyware removal with up to date software
• Disk defragmentation
• Disk cleanup
• Driver updates. 
• Make sure system restore is running

Most of these things can be automated.  Most of these things can be done with free software.  Sometimes you can find software that is both!

One of the most important things is (Here it comes, you've been expecting this one) is a back up!

And yes - I heard the collective groan.  

The times I've heard Will I loose all my pictures? or some version of that. 

Back up of data is imperative.  Disks are not infallible, but unlikely to all go down at the same time.  But you know all of this, you have been told this time and again.

What is also as important is a system image.  Windows can do this without additional software.

You spend ages installing all your software, putting all the serial numbers away in that safe place (I always think of the room of requirement when he hides the Potions book, because "Safe Place" I can never remember exactly where it is!!)

And then Microsoft gets involved and gives you updates, some minor, some major, and that is when it starts becoming a problem.  Minimise the problem by performing the housekeeping.

If you have a system image there is a very good chance that your system can be restored to its former glory with little fuss if a system has a backup.  

I hate it when I have to return a system to a client with just a bare copy of Windows 10 and their data.  Obviously I put AVs and stuff on as well, but it does not look the same as it did and nothing is where they left it.

If you would like some help or recommendations please contact me.  My advice costs nothing, a system rebuild is so much more expensive in many ways.

Have a good weekend all.