tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post113380727356802541..comments2024-02-26T11:07:08.028-05:00Comments on Leesa's Stories: Send Money to ZimbabweLeesahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09552562808209927463noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134163033906593312005-12-09T16:17:00.000-05:002005-12-09T16:17:00.000-05:00Yes yes you are correct. This shows you how disco...Yes yes you are correct. This shows you how disconnected the government is though. Sorry to be late on this, but I was out fighting "the blizzard" you can read that on my blog if you want to know about it lol<BR/><BR/>The government actually uses in the data center a mix of Unix and MS. Unix came before MS and so it mostly uses Curses applications and MS for the desktop with Unix pushing apps from the mainframe style of computing to the desktop. CEFMS is one application that comes to mine from the Corps of Engineers. This runs on DOS but is pushed from a Unix box.<BR/><BR/>One of the main reasons that the government uses MS so much currently is because of ease of use (government employees are not always [this depends on your branch of service, I'm excluding the armed units] the most widely computer literate users), and also the government also has several standards that must be met (which Microsoft was for a long time one of the few that could maintain this status) for government computer usage. Unix did not have a beautiful front end and this widened the gap between the two; however, opensource such as linux has managed to bridge that gap and as it is a unix like OS the government is seeing the good in that.<BR/><BR/>Thinking I might crack your machine....well I don't play with end user's PC's. That's what virus writers and script kiddies do. There is nothing permanent about end user's PC's. The real fun is in servers and more useful machines. Although zombie networks have a use (DOS attacks on high profile networks and platform usage for attacks upon networks which provide widespread communications).Pratahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04114220019018827843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134138507043694702005-12-09T09:28:00.000-05:002005-12-09T09:28:00.000-05:00So...I guess I should stop waiting for my check in...So...I guess I should stop waiting for my check in the mail? Dang, my hubby is going to be so mad that I fell for this...again. LOL, just joshin. I do get these nearly daily. <BR/><BR/>And deb ~ hon, tell her (even if it's for real) that it's called money laundering and it's illegal. Should she care. Me, personally, I don't think I'd be a good canidate for jail...people would get tired of my crying all the time, lol, especially me.kathihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13998865477080265039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134132862691193432005-12-09T07:54:00.000-05:002005-12-09T07:54:00.000-05:00Okay, prata, I just want to say that now I am offi...Okay, prata, I just want to say that now I am officially scared of you. I have the sneaking suspicion you have the knowledge to send some electrons my way and have my computer turn into a zombie, emailing threatening messages to the Defence Department.<BR/><BR/>Here is what I don't understand - the government tried to sue Microsoft for "being a monopoly" (lots of technical terms, but bottom-line, that is what it was; unfairly packaging their products, etc). And the government is the biggest customer of Microsoft products in the US. Most government agencies use the MS suite of products (though some agencies are trying open source).Leesahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09552562808209927463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134102143592228142005-12-08T23:22:00.000-05:002005-12-08T23:22:00.000-05:00Oh...and don't use outlook express or Outlook....t...Oh...and don't use outlook express or Outlook....the worst and most poorly written applications EVER. I can't stress that enough. POORLY written...in fact..they are such security risks to a company's operations that any company which values security...does not use them. Healthcare organizations come to mine (I've worked for two very large organizations of those types) ISPs (I've worked for three) and government facilities. Well, admittedly the two entities within the government I worked with some users did use Outlook, but the functionality was severely hampered and login scripts prevented certain areas of the machines from being accesses by normal users and this prevents to some extent the damage Outlook could do to machines and subsequently the network.Pratahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04114220019018827843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134101732917294642005-12-08T23:15:00.000-05:002005-12-08T23:15:00.000-05:00Well...most of these scams don't actually come out...Well...most of these scams don't actually come out of the country they claim to be from. It takes like 2 seconds to figure out from e-mail headers it's likely for a very developed country. There are quite a few asian countries running unpatched mail servers (sendmail in particular) which will allow you to forge headers with relative ease. I can tell you exactly how to do this. It's not hard.<BR/><BR/>There are a couple universities in Zimbabwe and other developing African countries with poorly administered servers (thank you Microsoft for integrating everything into the kernel) which allow you to do a great number of neato keen things with their machines (thank you again Microsoft for using poor hashing techniques). I actually spoke to an admin in one of those developing African countries (through e-mail after a free and unsolicited security audit of said admin's machine) and they had relatively few resourced to prevent such breaches of security.<BR/><BR/>At anyrate, there area few techniques in which you can limit the number of e-mails you receive of this type..one of which involves using a real mail client (such as thunderbird) which actually follows standards and has built in spam filtering. Or you could be sure to never use an e-mail address in which you plan to use for any length of time on a website..._any_ website.<BR/><BR/>The second option will not keep your ISP's or whatever mail provider you happen to use from being subverted or implementing something stupid which allows a VRFY on the system or allows wildcard sending.<BR/><BR/>And there's that.Pratahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04114220019018827843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134097261154967622005-12-08T22:01:00.000-05:002005-12-08T22:01:00.000-05:00See? It's awful--they tug at your heart strings......See? It's awful--they tug at your heart strings... *sigh*Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14986475569600734742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134075794632218982005-12-08T16:03:00.000-05:002005-12-08T16:03:00.000-05:00I gave money to an organization who helps overseas...I gave money to an organization who helps overseas. I told the organization not to keep my donor info, but about 4 months after donating, I received a handwritten note from a "mother" asking for money to feed her children.<BR/><BR/>Local law enforcement told me that there are "sweatshops" in certain countries where they copy down certain letters and mail them (the stamp was from a third world country).<BR/><BR/>I kept the stamp.Leesahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09552562808209927463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134073736155441082005-12-08T15:28:00.000-05:002005-12-08T15:28:00.000-05:00before these morons started spamming via e-mail......before these morons started spamming via e-mail...I recieved a letter with the same modus operandi. I took it to the local FBI office, and they told me that they had a huge file of these things (this was like 10 years ago).mfophotoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15229417718013779882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134058093492859192005-12-08T11:08:00.000-05:002005-12-08T11:08:00.000-05:00Leesa,Will you send me some money?I need about $75...Leesa,<BR/>Will you send me some money?<BR/>I need about $756.75<BR/>I promise not to spend it on machinery or chemicals or Swazilands. I just need it for whiskey & whores, so you see, it will not be wasted. I'll send photos confirming my purchases.<BR/>Hugs & kisses!<BR/>-bertBert Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12420394121314188278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134057714153291242005-12-08T11:01:00.000-05:002005-12-08T11:01:00.000-05:00Watch out for forged checks as well.. (Deb especia...Watch out for forged checks as well.. (Deb especially...tell your boss) We were paid with a watermarked micro-printed chashiers check for a motorcycle my husband sold in the paper last summer. The bank deposited the check to our account and we thought everything was hunky-dory until 3 weeks later the bank called to tell us that the check was fradulent. The had no idea, and so then we had no motorcycle, no check and a $5,000 loan with no colateral. We had to get a home equity loan to pay it off. The police made nearly no effoer to recover the motorcycle, and so we pretty much gave the guy my husband's bike. Bastard.MOABhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01615718068438571545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134055061705844592005-12-08T10:17:00.000-05:002005-12-08T10:17:00.000-05:00I get these too, but never from anyone who seems a...I get these too, but never from anyone who seems as trustworthy as Rose William (Mrs.) I just can't believe this is some kind of scam!Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07224897497456150769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134054343665284462005-12-08T10:05:00.000-05:002005-12-08T10:05:00.000-05:00Guess what I do. I actually respond. We communicat...Guess what I do. I actually respond. We communicate back and forth for weeks...lol. OMGosh it is the most hillarious thing to do. They actually start getting mad when you don't transfer the $400 dollars "immediately"..lol. What makes everything so fake. It that the emails are ridiculously informal.MZPEACHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05829920267865962347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134054204396316002005-12-08T10:03:00.000-05:002005-12-08T10:03:00.000-05:00Gosh, I get those all day on all of my email accou...Gosh, I get those all day on all of my email accounts. Does that ever actually work??Nunziahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07201789717250578040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134052720842677782005-12-08T09:38:00.000-05:002005-12-08T09:38:00.000-05:00Leesa I get like 3 of those letters a day! The sad...Leesa I get like 3 of those letters a day! The sad...well sorta funny part is that a lot of people fall for it!Ddot the Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14873700586536448298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134051865229650752005-12-08T09:24:00.000-05:002005-12-08T09:24:00.000-05:00I've received these emails many times myself. Now,...I've received these emails many times myself. <BR/><BR/>Now, when I am at the gallery that I work at, my boss says to me, "Deb, come look at this, do you think I should do this?"<BR/><BR/>Now they have a scam, where they ask a company, (or a gallery) "Hey, I would love to buy one of your paintings--the one for $1,000." I will give you $2,000.00 for it, however, would you please send the extra $1,000 back to me." <BR/><BR/>Now here's the deal. Our money is like a trillion more than theirs. (Not sure how much--but if we went there with $20 bucks, we could buy a fancy dinner for 5 people) My friend told me when she visited her girlfriend in S. Africa. <BR/><BR/>So he is trying to exchange his money for 'more'. I don't know how this works and also, if she sends him a 'check', he will have her account info. So I told her, if she does decide to help this guy out, to make it a money order. No check. No personal info. <BR/><BR/>Be careful with these scams. My gallery director never did go through with it.Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14986475569600734742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163858.post-1134050717864486102005-12-08T09:05:00.000-05:002005-12-08T09:05:00.000-05:00Paul Williams was murdered in Zimbabwe? I wondered...Paul Williams was murdered in Zimbabwe? I wondered what happened to the little guy. I expected him to show up on "The Surreal Life" any time.<BR/><BR/>I am going to be on easy street too! Mr Mugwumpie in Nigeria needs my help on a similar matter. It must be because I am not blonde?malhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12182913972445521943noreply@blogger.com