Government Launches Scam Awareness Campaign

A 'scam awareness' campaign is being launched by two government bodies, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Its aim is to increase public awareness of the problem - which is often centred on the Internet - and provide practical advice on tackling the likes of email scams, phishing attacks, lottery scams, pyramid selling and even online dating scams.
There is a PDF download with useful tips and information. Alternatively visit their website for further information. There is even a 'scambuster quiz' to test your own scam-detection capabilities.

Diamin.DU is designed to establish phone connections with premium-rate numbers, with potentially serious financial consequences for the affected user. However, it can only affect computers that use a modem to connect to the Internet, as it modifies the dial-up network access settings.

It's easy to recognize, as when run, it displays several windows in Italian. As with most Trojans, Diamin.DU does not spread automatically using its own means. The means of transmission used include, among others, floppy disks, CD-ROMs, e-mail messages with attached files, Internet downloads, etc. So use your Antivirus software to check (scan) your PC if you use a modem and think you may be affected.

Another Telephone Scam

There is another telephone scam going around whereby people are either ringing up or sending postcards advising that they have a product for you awaiting collection (often a digital camera or the latest mobile phone). You need to ring a number to arrange delivery. You've guessed it, its a premium rate 0906 number costing anything between £7.50 and £20 a minute to call! Beware of this scam and others like it.

Backing up your Outlook Express Messages

We live in fear of that telephone call "I've lost all my messages". There are ways of protecting yourself:-

1. Buy one of the many automated routines from us for as little as £29
2. Backup your messages manually by selecting File, Export (in Outlook Express this only exports in a format that can be used by Outlook) but in full Outlook (which comes with Office) you can Export your messages and Address Book - for sharing with others, you can also export the PST file)
3. In Outlook Express find the DBX files and copy them to somewhere else or to a CD.
4. ALWAYS save attachments to another folder otherwise they will be deleted if you empty your TEMP folder!

Updates

You will be used to seeing Microsoft updates but most software suppliers now offer an update service, including your motherboard manufacturer. We recommend that you always accept and install them when offered. Without Microsoft Critical updates they could seriously affect the security or stability of systems. So be sure to check online for Windows Updates and download all that are necessary.

The Internet Today

A useful source of information - and income to some! A clear example is Jeanson James Ancheta. After creating a network of bots (computers infected with a code that obeys external commands) that infected 40,000 computers, he installed adware on them without users realising.

The network of bots started to generate income for the creator, unaware to users, by showing advertisements for which Ancheta received considerable payments, up to US$60,000 in some cases.

Useful Tips and Shortcuts for Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook

Save ALL your Word Documents at Once
If you know the "secret" key, you can save or close all of your open documents in one step. Hold down the SHIFT key and click the File menu. When you hold down SHIFT , 2 new options appear on the File menu: Close All and Save All. Choose your desired command to speed up closing or saving all your documents. The Close All command also works in Excel.

To Rotate Text in A Word Table
Click the table cell that has the text you want to change. On the Format menu, click Text Direction. Choose the orientation you require.

Forward an Outlook Contact to Someone Else
If you have contacts stored in Outlook that you'd like to send to other people, it couldn't be easier. Just go to your Contacts folder, right mouse button click on the contact you want to send, and then click Forward. A brand new email message will be created with that contact included as an attachment. Just enter the email address of the people you want to send the contact to and click send.

When the recipients receive the contact, all they have to do is drag the attachment onto either the Contacts icon in their Outlook shortcut bar, or onto the Contacts folder in the folder list. The contact will then be added to their contact list.

Using the Work Button in Word
1. On the Tools menu, click Customise and then click the Commands tab.
2. Under Categories, click Built-in menus, and then from under Commands, drag the Work menu to your toolbar and then close the Customise window.

3. To add a file to the Work menu, with the file open, click the Work menu, and then click Add to Work Menu.
4. To access a file you've already added, click the Work menu and then click the file name
5. To delete a file from that menu, press , and when your mouse cursor turns into a minus sign, click the Work menu and then click the file you want to delete.

NB. This will only work for saved documents.

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