The “tech support” scam has been around for well over 10 years. Although the look and media have changed, the scam has fundamentally stayed the same. If you remember five to six years ago, fraudsters masked themselves as Apple® support. Technology progression (i.e., Voice over IP) makes thieves’ job easier as they can now spoof …Read more
“The devil is in the details,” or so they say. Today I want to explain a technique that serves absolutely no legitimate purpose other than a malicious one: double extension. In the Microsoft® Windows® world the file extension is critical as it indicates which program will open the file. For example, document.doc will be opened …Read more
The primary goal of social engineers is to make us curious or fearful because that is when we are most vulnerable. They use many tactics: Spoofing a sender in emails and utilizing familiar content are two of their favorites. One of the most common attributes of phishing attacks is a sense of urgency. By nature, …Read more
Are you familiar with macro-enabled attachments? It’s a form of phishing and has some interesting attributes of which you should be aware of. If you ever receive an email with the introduction “Greeting, dearest customer,” you should delete the email immediately. The punctuation, poor grammar and lack of proper spacing instantly reveal it’s a crudely …Read more
The big brokers are making big news on a number of fronts ranging from expansion plans to technology plays. Here’s what you need to know about the big plans being formulated by the big guys: Compass Real Estate will be coming to the upscale Park Place office tower in Houston’s posh River Oaks District in …Read more
There’s not a day that goes by without hearing news about a security breach or incident involving large companies like Equifax and Marriot; but what about incidents that are rarely publicized but just as damaging? Wouldn’t you like to know if an incompetent vendor lost your email or other personal information? I would, and I …Read more
Interest rates are dropping while temperatures are rising and that likely means a strong homebuying season coming our way. Along with the recent increase in real estate sales activity, we’re also seeing more activity on the business and technology fronts. Here’s the latest: Keller Williams becomes an iBuyer starting in the Dallas/Fort Worth markets. The …Read more
If you’ve ever received an extortion email attack, it may have left you wondering: How do criminals get my email address? Let me explain how it works. There are some services, both legal and illegal, that collect valid business email addresses to use for their own purposes. Those that are collected legally are usually …Read more
Most phishing attacks are designed to do two things, (A.) steal user credentials or (B.) get malicious code downloaded to a user’s computer. But just how do you recognize an attack? In this post, I’m going to show you examples of “phishy” emails that should raise a flag in your mind. I’ll show you what …Read more
Advertising and marketing your title, closing and settlement financial services over social media is a great way to take reach a larger audience. Remember to take a closer look at what RESPA and your state laws require to ensure your compliance on social media platforms.