Yup... the Bad Guys are At It Again!

STILL at it, actually. But you know, it is SO very easy to mistake a Bad Guy's email from a legitimate one. Look at this one:



                                     SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT     

Dear Customer,

Your incoming messages were placed on pending due to our recent upgrade. Verify your account immediately to to get your mail working by pressing the Click Here

to get your mail  updated 

Thank you for using Yahoo! Mail.

Yahoo!©2013


First indicator of a Bad Guy.... notice that it's not in standard written English? I saw a phrasing error ("on pending"), a typo ("or or") and an incorrect use of English ("by pressing the Click Here.")

Second indicator? Try this trick. HOVER your cursor over the blue words "Click here" above. 

Toward the bottom of your screen, you will probably see something that looks like "http://Yes.Here." This is a "link" I made up for this article- it does not go anywhere.

BUT, this is what the link said in my original email that I received from "Yahoo"..... 
http://yahso000ddjdppssj.nazuka.net/

Nothing at all to do with Yahoo. It's probably for a website in Poland or Russia where someone is hoping you're gullible enough to click on the link and tell them your personal info.

That's called "phishing" and it's a very excellent way to capture data or information that you should NEVER give out.

Why do we give it out accidentally?  Because we are easily duped into thinking we're answering a legitimate question.

Surf the Internet Safely:

> Never click on links to websites that don't seem to match the sender of the email's purpose. 

> If you DO, never ever ever type in your user name and password. Never.

> If you think it MIGHT be a legitimate request, then go to the REAL website of the company (in this case, Yahoo.com) and click on SUPPORT and ask the person (email or chat) if the request was legitimate. 

I'm willing to bet it was not.

Let's have a meeting...

Did you ever notice that sometimes, it takes more time to set up a meeting than to actually have it?

Have you tried "Doodle" yet? It makes finding a time among a group of many very busy people almost possible!

I only use the free version, but have found it robust enough for my needs. You go to www.doodle.com and you can schedule a meeting by following a relatively clear set of steps on screen.

Then, you can generate a link...and send it out via email to all the people you're trying to invite to find a common time for a meeting.

When they get your email, they click the link, and indicate which of the available times is workable for them.

I particularly like that I can set "yes", "no" or "I can if I have to" options.

The only complaint I have heard when using this with first time recipients of the doodle you send... is that if they forget to click SAVE after they indicate their availability, their entries never get captured.

So, I generally remind them to "Click Save when you are done" in the body of the email when I send them the link.

Be Productive...

I know... it sounds like something someone's grandmother (or fifth grade teacher!) would say. But, in a time when we constantly are asked to do more in less time, or produce more output with fewer hours to do so... it probably pays to consider leveraging our technology to help!

Here are three links to "productivity apps", submitted by a reader of our blog.

Some of the apps ("apps" is short for "applications"- the programs you run on a computer or, in some cases, a smart phone or tablet computer) are for Android phones or tablets. Some are for iPhones or iPads. Some are for your desktop or laptop computers.

If nothing else, browsing these made me feel like I was in the company of millions who also struggle to get everything accomplished on time!

Ten "Must have" productivity apps:
http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/applications-os/240147928/10-must-have-productivity-apps.htm

Eleven Time Management and Productivity Apps for Android
http://www.infoworld.com/slideshow/93338/11-time-management-and-productivity-apps-android-215422

Fifty Apps that can make you more productive
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395938,00.asp

Too many options? Don't worry... over the next couple of months, I will highlight some of my faves from this list...and will try out some new ones and let you know how they worked out.