May is here, bringing with it warmer air and beautiful flowering trees and bushes. Happy Mother's Day to all my mom readers!

Believe it or not, I have been writing Scam of the Month articles for six months. There are more scams to be written about, but this month I am posting a description and link to each existing article for your reference. Next, if you want to set up a new Windows 11 system, you will need to have a Microsoft account. And lastly, my quarterly Facebook Roundup, with links to articles I find particularly interesting or useful.

Enjoy the beautiful weather, and stay well!

Regards,

Julie Marto

508-359-8176
508-333-8176 (cell)

P.S. College student come home complaining about a slow laptop? Drop it off with me for a cleanup and a tune-up!
Scam of the Month Index
I see so many scam and hack attempts that I have added a feature to my newsletter - Scam of the Month. In these articles, I hope to explain common scams, how to avoid them, and what to do if you fall for one.

I have been writing SOTM posts for 6 months now, and they have generated a lot of positive feedback. I hope this information has saved you, or your family, from becoming a victim of these types of scams.
However, I continue to get calls from clients who need their systems cleaned up after falling for a scam. So this month I am publishing an index of the SOTM articles with a short synopsis and a link to the full article. My hope is that, by having this information in one place, you can easily look up and recognize a potential scam.

Email Update Scam - a phishing attack that attempts to steal your email credentials by tricking you to click on a link to "update" your email account. Generally characterized by dire warnings that your email will be shut down if you don't act immediately. If you do act, you have given the scammers your email log in information and access to your email account.

Fake Receipt Scam - an official looking email letting you know that your antivirus or support subscription has been "automatically renewed" (usually for many hundreds of dollars), or that you have an expensive electronic device on order. The key to this scam is a phone number for you to call to "cancel the order" - they want to make it easy for you to call them, so they can start their script and steal your money.

Imposter Facebook Friends - scammers who are impersonating an actual Facebook friend of yours, sending you a new friend request. If you accept it, they plan to initiate a Facebook Messenger conversation to lure you into a fraudulent money making scheme, or initiate some other form of scam, now that they have your trust.

Infected Computer Alert - a pop-up ad that locks up your computer, loudly announcing you have an infection and that you need to call "Microsoft" to fix it. If you call the number, they will charge whatever they can to "fix" a problem you never had.

Facebook Quizzes - innocuous looking posts with cute questions for you to respond to. They are designed to collect personal information which scammers can use to build a profile for identity theft, or to answer account security questions and hack your accounts.

Smishing - scam text messages with links that may install malware, or take you to a fake webpage to enter your financial credentials and hand over access to the scammers.

If you see a suspicious email, text, or pop-up on your computer, phone, or tablet, compare it to the description in the full articles to determine if it's a scam. I also have links to each newsletter posted at my website. And, as always, if you think you have been the victim of a scam, are concerned you might be in the middle of a scam in process, or just want my opinion as to whether or not something is a scam, feel free to give me a call.
Windows 11 and Microsoft Accounts
Almost all new PC's now come with Windows 11, and after a bit of a rocky start, Windows 11 is coming into its own. Unless you have a very good reason (such as legacy software incompatibility), I recommend you purchase your new computer with Windows 11 installed, even if you have the option to order it with Windows 10.
Once you have your new system in hand, there are some major differences in Windows 11 setup versus prior versions of Windows. This article gives a very good step-by-step overview of the Windows 11 setup process on a new computer. One of the biggest differences is that you will need a Microsoft account to set up Windows 11, and you will need to sign in to it very early in the process.

A Microsoft account is an email address and password that Microsoft uses to associate and keep track of your various Microsoft products and services. It's very similar to what Apple does with an Apple ID, and just like an Apple ID, it can be created with any email address you have access to. It's quite possible you set one up years ago for some other purpose, and had no need to use it again until now. So, how do you know if you have a Microsoft account or not? Here are a few tips to make it easier.

  • If you ever used a Microsoft branded email address, that is automatically a Microsoft account. This includes any email addresses from MSN, Hotmail, or Outlook.com. If you still have access to the account, when setup asks you to enter your Microsoft credentials, you can just enter that email address and password.

  • If you ever used Microsoft services such as Skype or Xbox Live, those require a Microsoft account, and you can use those credentials to set up your new system.

  • If you have purchased any version of Microsoft Office starting with Office 2013, it had to be registered to a Microsoft account. You can often find the associated Microsoft account by opening Word and clicking on "Account" in the lower left - under "Product Information" you can see which email address is associated with the Office license

  • If you are not sure if your current email is a Microsoft account, simply go to this link at Microsoft to check. Enter your current email address and click on "next". If it's been set up as a Microsoft account, you will be given the option to send a password reset link, or a one time sign-in code, to that email address.

  • If you access your work email through Office 365, even if it's a custom domain, that is a Microsoft account. However, I don't recommend using that Microsoft account for your own private computer, unless you are a small business and that is your own domain. Adding your personal system to a Work or School Managed Microsoft account could actually limit how you can use your computer. If that is the email address you want to use, I recommend setting it up as a personal Microsoft account.

If, after all this checking, you find you don't already have a Microsoft account, it's very easy to set one up. If you'd like me to do it for you as part of a system migration, I will need access to your existing email address, and your date of birth. And if you really don't want to associate your system with a Microsoft account, I can always remove the account after the system is set up. As always, give me a call if you need help setting up a new system or migrating your data from the old one!
Facebook Roundup
Every month I post several articles of interest on my Facebook page. For those of you who don't follow me on Facebook, here are some of the stories I've featured in the past this few months