Phone cam spying can happen but not as effective. We tend to hold our phones closer to us to view the screen (for long periods of time) and the rear facing camera is mostly pointing downwards. When we put our phones down it’s usually flat on a seat/table pointing to the ceiling or black in our pockets or bags. Webcams on laptops or desktops tend to be left more horizontal and at a desk facing into the room it’s in. So if those are in bedrooms or dorms and that’s where you change, then definitely cover up the lens when not in use!
It’s easier for hackers to try and find compromising pictures or video that already exist, and I’m sure there are plenty of those with the changing behaviour of the smartphone generation. The iCloud hack of celebrities a few years ago springs to mind, you’d think being celebrities they’d take the steps to delete the compromising pictures after whatever reason or whoever they took them for to begin with ( with the inherent weakness of the recipient should have the only copy and how secure is the recipient!)
Scams involving compromising pictures or videos that they don’t have are rare, most people would demand to see evidence first. If they do prove to have the pictures or videos, then it’s blackmail rather than a scam. Trouble is the victim is trusting a blackmailer to play fair and not expose the items. Once they pay the first time the blackmailers always return because they know you were desperate enough to pay and they have that power over you.
How do you cover a camera on a laptop?
For mac laptops, read that it was best not put scotch tape or Post-it on the lens according to them: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211148
But they could take control over the light of the camera?
Like I heard hackers who hacked history of anti-virus to delete the information that a maleware or virus was detected by the anti-virus.
How do you cover mobile phones?
With a protection case + screen protection, it’s no convenient to remove the cover then put it back when using the camera to take photos for an everyday use. Or let’s use a camera just for photos?
Some people bring their phone in the toilets to play games or are on Instagram lol
(Heard that phones and keyboards are in the top of dirtiests things in houses:
Outside the house, it is inside the car!)
Bank apps on phone, what about virtual assistants like Alexa or Google home? Could they be hacked to record our conversations or Amazon and Google hacked? Or autonomous vehicles?
you can just fold a small piece of paper and hang it over the lens as a modesty screen if you don’t close the lid, but they are right to say not to put the sticky bit over the lens otherwise video chats are blurry through the glue!
It’s not practical to cover the lens on a phone though too many selfies but the camera is usually aimed at the face only most of the time, but if a hacker wants to see my face staring crossed eyed into my phone screen for hours, be my guest!
Those assistants are always listening so it’s not hackers you need to be wary of but Amazon,Google or Apple! Try for yourself, don’t call up the assistant and say something close by so you know it’s picking up your conversation and say something random and stupid you would never say like “I need to top up the concrete in the batteries of my tractor” and see if the adverts you get online in the next few days don’t start increasing for farming equipment, building materials and sales on AA batteries!
That’s why I always advise against installing those Echo dots, Google minis etc in the bedroom, just in case it’s that one time the AI at the other end is a human listening in to refine the machine learning being given an audio insight to bedroom intimacies!
one way to cover up that ittybitty camera lense on computer or laptop, is a piece of tape, so not to ,put sticky tape on it huh> just read you8rs ninjas, so that paper sounds good to me! I just wonder about hacking alesia or those otner ones! anyway thanks for the heads up!!
I found another thing, I didn’t look through the list above, so if it is here please excuse.
being us older folk is usually the target, something interesting, Insurance stuff, from life (and we have what, 20 years or so left?) medical, and all in-between,
keeps from your children from paying your bills you pass! wow, I hope I won’t have any bills by then. I had to look again, they really try and grab us, huh?
When it comes to life insurance some life insurance are good to have if we are ill (I am so I have one), and is good if the life insurance don’t request a medical check up to accept you to be insured.
Why? My friend during a procedure went into a coma for one week, and Doctors warned her that her health was really bad since the coma left her with a lot of damage in some of her organs so she wisely started to pay insurance to cover her burial expenses and any debts she had (she didn’t had any big debts)
.
She did had 7 children 2 sons (1 had drowned) and 5 girls (all working /single/married with children).when she died (about 6 months later), all her funeral expenses were covered. and I found out all her credit cards were paid in full. She had medical coverage since she worked until she was 62.
I won’t do any insurance coverage through the phone because those are mainly scams but I did one with (can’t mention name to not advertise the company) a popular company re-known for its honesty (it has a baby name product)
It’s fair not to leave our children with debts so high like funeral cost are. The cremation skyrocket now so even to get cremated will fall into the thousand of dollars. I have my grave for many years now but opening the grave alone will cost thousands and I chose to be cremated. There are many scams with insurance now just be careful don’t do anything by phone. Don’t give personal information either. If the ask; are you (say your name) Don’t say yes. You should answer; No, who are you, and what you want.
If you say yes, they record your YES and use it to say you agreed to change phone/light company or that you apply for credit cards etc… It happened to my mom with the electric company and they stole so much money from her and I struggle to get her out of that company.
PS. On TV and radio they are warning us that they committing car insurance fraud be careful with that too; if you drive. A driver will make his car swerved towards our car, while the other car will make sure to be in a way that we can’t avoid hitting them. I had several miss already (especially on highways). People are desperate to make some money and many bikers are throwing themselves in front of the car to get ‘‘hit’’ I drive at a snail pace now and with fear bc of those scammers we have now.
Truth is we can all die tomorrow for all we know. Don’t just assume you have a whole lot of time left. Try to make the most of it while you still can.
Make sure you have an insurance at a legitimate company. But you hopefully started that years ago already. Btw, if your children would really face a huge debt they could still get out of it by refusing the inheritance.
Scams in the US. Please be aware that the United States’ Internal Revenue Service (the taxing authority) and the Social Security Administration (which takes care of the retirement system for anyone, citizen or not, who has worked in the US, and for the free medical system for the aged and the poor) NEVER phone anyone. So if you receive any phone call claiming that you are going to be arrested for nonpayment of taxes or you are going to lose a Social Security benefit, hang up immediately! Sometimes those calls come very frequently. If you pick up the phone and the robo voice or live voice starts out identifying the caller as coming from the IRS or the SSA, don’t say anything, just hang up.
Also be aware that Microsoft and all other legitimate IT companies do not make calls about problems with your computer. Similarly with respect to any household appliance like a refrigerator or stove, or your car, the manufacturer will not be contacting you by telephone about a warranty ending or any recall because of a dangerous condition – they will contact you by mail if there is any recall or warranty issue and usually the letter will specify the serial number of the product you own.
It is unfortunate in the US that non-profit organizations and politicians are allowed to use robot calling programs. Some of these non-profits give less than 5% of the money donated to the charitable cause – the rest of the money goes to the for-profit fund-raising organization. So if you want to donate to firefighters or wounded veterans or animal shelters, go online and find an organization which spends way less than 10% on fund raising activities. US law requires that these non profits publish their tax returns showing just how they spend donated money.
You can say I have been scammed so many times that I know no matter how careful we may be, we can fall in their trap again. It’s like they hypnotize you during the call. I was donating money for Breast Cancer and P.A.L, and they never send me any info or paperwork on how much they use from the money I sent for the cause. I stopped giving donations, and both callers insulted me when I refused to continue donating money to them unless I received some kind of financial information as to how the money was used. I reported both to a special number we can call when we suspect fraud/scams, and I never got a call from them again.
It turns out they found out that for every dollar I was sending only 15 cents were used for the cause, and the rest was kept by this ‘‘fraudulent company’’ that call people requesting donations.
So far I only donate to ST. JUDE and Veterans Association through my Bank who are very honest, and yearly give me all paperwork needed that gives me information of how much and where my money goes, when I make a donation to those two charitable causes. The times I was scammed, it was by phone so I hang up even before they finish the sentence. I learned the hard way.
This poor senior lady last week lost $2,000 dollars because they told her that her grandson got arrested and needed money for lawyer’s fee, and she went to Western Union as they instructed her (without calling relatives to find out if it was true) and lost all that money.
BTW, with my mom I added a Freeze account/password system that prevents any other Light company from making changes in her account no matter how many times she may make the mistake over and over again of saying YES when they ask her; Are you Mrs. Such and such?
I know it irritates some people, but when I read this, I’m happy that I’m someone who has her phone off more than on. Apart from that I usually don’t respond if I don’t recognize the number and I’m always hesitant at unexpected “offers”.
When I visit a bigger city there’s always (well, last time I went was before corona, but anyway …) people on the street approaching you to subscribe to newspapers or become some kind of charity donor or whatever … I either avoid them, say “no” when they ask me if they can ask me something, or hear them out and then refuse. No matter how good the deal, or how great the charity, I’m the kind of person who prefers to think things through and then, if at all, subscribe at my own moment, from home, not the minute someone throws an offer at me.
Besides, I’m not rich enough to support all the charities in the world …
Several years ago in my city a woman in her early 20s totally disappeared and her body is yet to be discovered. Some people believe they saw her car stopped on a highway with a police car nearby and believe she was either stopped by a real police officer or someone pretending to be one. If you are a woman driving alone at night and what appears to be a police officer tells you to pull over, call the police station and ask for verification of his car’s license number and his name. Don’t open your car window or door until you get that verification!
ok y’all one more, and really need some feedback on this one, I want to go into a senior chat room, caution of not giving out personal info , I do know that, is there anything else I need to know before I do this? would this also be under what we are discussing here? and should I leave well enough alone, that little small voice says leave alone. and why is cause of virus and closed up
thanks a bunch.murjam, I may not do it, the "gut"feeling y know…
now for something funny, Just got on facebook to check messages and all, well do you all recall the two army guys I mentioned some time ago? I did block him/them, well guess what, I got a message from them today! yes I blocked them, too. weird huh, wonder if they don’t recall who they sent messages to or what?
