CST News

Our new technician has started work for us. We take this opportunity to welcome Kendall Harrington to our staff and trust he will enjoy his time at CST. Kendall is from Mataura and has heaps of experience dealing with PC problems having run his own business for a number of years.

Sue and I are hoping that the busy time we have been having is over and thought we would try and get away for a break before Christmas. This story about owning your own business and being your own boss is a fallacy – the staff get way more holidays than we do and so hopefully, now is our turn. We like heading away at this time as we do not book anything and there are still heaps of motel or hotel rooms available.

What an amazing time of the year. The rhododendrons are just stunning at present. The big one here at CST just has no spare room for another single flower.

Left at CST

I have just found an 8 GB San Disk camera card on our workbench. It has lots of photos of horse events on it. If it is yours, please get in touch or pop in and pick it up.
Avoiding Email Scams

Email scams are becoming more and more frequent. We’ve either experienced it ourselves or we’ve had a friend or family member caught out. Whether it is a “Nigerian Prince”, an Estate Attorney, the Australian Taxation Office, a message from a phoney business social networking site or something requesting money, bank details or personal information, there are so many out there.

To help others from being caught out by email scams, I found this simple guide that can help you spot email scams. Here’s what you need to know and how you can protect yourself.

1. Understand what phishing is
According to ScamWatch, phishing refers to “emails that trick people into giving out their personal and banking information; they can also be sent by SMS. These messages seem to come from legitimate businesses, normally banks or other financial institutions or telecommunications providers. The scammers are generally trying to get information like your bank account numbers, passwords and credit card numbers, which they will then use to steal your money”.

2. Does it request personal information?
No organisations, government or financial will ask for a reply email with personal and private information. They may request that you go to an online portal on their own websites but they will never ask for a reply with information. If you have a request for personal information then this is not a safe email.

3. Check for spelling errors
Phishing emails are often coming from third parties outside of NZ. Check for spelling and grammatical issues throughout the email body.

4. Check the sender
Hover your mouse arrow over the name in the “From” column or right click on it to bring up the information. Make sure the sender’s email address looks legitimate by taking careful notice of the domain. For example, an email from “Computer Solutions and Training” has the name, “Tony Simpson”. If you hover over it, it says “tony@computersolutions.co.nz”. The bolded section is the domain. If it were to say, “Tony Simpson” however the address was “tony@computerfix.com” you could identify that this wasn’t the usual domain name. Similarly most professional organisations will not send an email from a gmail or Hotmail account, so be suspicious of those. They are not professional.

5. Check the URLs
If the email contains links to click through, make sure they are safe and legitimate. Look for https:// as this is a safe encryption. If you are concerned, type or copy and paste it into the internet browser, but do not click on it, see what page it takes you to. If it is a safe page that you are familiar with that is great, but if it isn’t then don’t go any further.

If you are not sure, give us a call here at work or ignore it. Remember that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Stay safe and make sure you aren’t caught out by email scams by using these guides to sort out the good from the bad! If you aren’t sure about something then don’t click on any links.

Amazing NZ Pictures

Some absolutely incredible photos here – many of the places you will recognise. We do live in a fantastic part of the world.

PS Ignore the spelling mistake with the Tekapo picture – the Simpsons are all spelling Police.

Recycling

Some of you will be aware that I get a bit paranoid about recycling stuff rather than filling up the Mt Cooee tip. As a result we take scrap metal to Dunedin on occasion. However this time, the scrap metal man was passing so he called and took away what he estimated was 600 kg of light grade metal. Unfortunately, now that the Chinese have stopped buying, it is worth precisely nothing!

But at least this time we did not put the power out down the main road as happened last time the big truck came it. He put his Hiab boom into the power lines and caused a problem or two – but all good this time.

A timely time to bring all your old IT junk and old toners etc into CT for recycling. Most we will recycle at no cost but there will be a small charge for recycling old printers. But just think how good you will feel by doing your part to save the world.

Burglars Can Use Social Media To Target Victims

I received this article amongst the daily email haul and thought it worth passing on given the approaching holiday season. While our fair town is less likely to be affected than others, it is a timely reminder for all of us.

Social media platforms have become the new target for today’s online burglars. Burglars are increasingly using social media to virtually case potential targets, and people should be wary about posting holiday plans online.
People are not as careful as they should be with their personal information, as social media becomes ever more present in modern life.
By carelessly accepting friend requests or making posts visible to everyone, you can unwittingly provide all the information a would-be-thief could ask for with their social media posts.
Websites like Google Maps allow burglars to see photographs of all the individual houses on a street without ever having to show their faces, letting them gauge security and spot easy access points like side-entrances before arriving on the scene.
A recent UK survey conducted on burglars showed four out of five of them said they had used social media. One of the criminals surveyed, said that we are “living in the age of the digital criminal” and people are taking advantage of social media to access information about would-be victims.
These are the social media behaviours to watch out for:

• Holiday countdowns. Posting that you can’t wait for your trip in a seven days means that the perfect time to rob your house in in eight days.
• Location check-ins. Services like Facebook let you geo-tag yourself, letting would-be thieves know exactly where you when you’re out of the house.
• Photos of the inside of your house: A few photos of your living room and bedrooms can be enough for people to learn the layout of your home, letting them plan a quick in-and-out raid.
• Public RSVPs: Letting the world know that you’re going to a party from 6 – 10pm on July the 29th also lets unscrupulous people know exactly when you’ll be gone from the house.

More Photos

Ten photos apparently take by amateurs but amazing nevertheless.

Local Character Again

Last month we put a small item in the newsletter about local notable character Blair Somerville from Papatowai. Many thanks to Dusty who sent me this link to a movie about Blair – also worth a watch.