Scammers also need money at this time of year... :)

We all know about fake banking emailers that regularly get sent out, giving the impression that the mail is being sent from a legitimate financial institution.
We also know all about what to watch out for - I have written several posts on the topic in the past which you can search for if you need to find out more.

Anyway, I just received the latest FNB scam in my Inbox, and thought I would put some points out there about it:

- The mail supposedly comes from nolan.steven@fnb.cc.za - alarm bells should be ringing there already, since the sender domain specified is @fnb.cc.za (not @fnb.co.za);

- The mail did not go to Junk Mail, so somehow it got past my ISP filters and Outlook's Junk Mail filter;

- The body of the email is a bit dodgy (it's the first giveaway - oddly worded, no branding, plain text email...), and it goes like this:

         Debt. order ending 41405 from Old Mutual has deducted your monthly payment. 
         Click here to stop the order if you are not satisfied. 
         Regards

- If you click the link, you get to the page below, which actually looks pretty good if you aren't keeping up to date with the current FNB page. If you enter anything into the User ID and Password fields, it actually goes on to a One-Time PIN page, keeping up a pretty good illusion of legitimacy.:

The fake FNB site...

The fake OTP page...

- Rule of thumb: ALWAYS check the URL (web address at the top of the page) to see where you really ended up after clicking the link. Check this one out - it's the "smoking gun"...:

The fake URL...

Somehow I just don't buy "gledo.com"...
Once again, ALWAYS check the URL above the site. 

Sure, there are ways to mask URL's, but so far in all the scam mails I have received I have never come across a masked URL, so hopefully things remain this way...!

Be safe out there - even scammers need to eat, and they will send out anything remotely believable to try and prey on unsuspecting victims.

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A simple, old school way to keep track of your life...

One of my biggest personal challenges each day, is to remember stuff.
Remembering stuff is the first step towards getting everything done in your day, be it personal tasks, business tasks or anything else for that matter.

So often I get asked to do something, and while I am going into my Tasks / To-do's on my phone to make a note, the damn thing rings, I take the call and then my train of thought is trashed.

Another source of daily stress is something which is designed to make our lives easier... or is it?
Call waiting, they call it... you know that little tone that beeps incessantly in the background while you are on a call?
Too many times now have I put a call on hold, so as to take the 2nd call, try to attend to it, and then return to the 1st call, try take care of that as well etc. etc. and so the cycle of disorganization spirals out of control.

I have tried using task lists on my phone, linking all my tasks up to my GMail Calendar, tried to use Outlook Notes and Tasks to help me get through all my to-do's, and yet none of these could quite achieve any kind of success.
The problem here is that I have been trying to use technology to make my days less stressful - ironically it is PC's, Smartphones, Push Email, Synced Calendars and the like, that can actually contribute the most stress to our lives.
Then about 2 weeks ago, someone told me to get myself a notebook. Nope - not the 21st Century, Core2Duo kind of notebook...

Remember back in school - those tiny A5 notebooks with the words "Where is it?" embossed into the cover... yup you know which ones I am talking about!
Wonder of wonders - I seriously doubted this at the time, but as I look back and page through my little notebook, each item triumphantly ticked off, I can honestly say that this little hardcover gem has improved my productivity tenfold or more!
What could be simpler than jotting down a quick one-liner in your notebook, as a task comes your way... and then as you get through each one it just gets ticked off on the list.

If you struggle to get to all that you need to, and you find that you often "drop the ball" (to borrow a common corporate phrase), why not head off to Pick 'n Pay and pick up a notebook to help you take control of your time and your days.
Hey - maybe this doesn't work for everybody, but it is certainly a cheap and simple solution if it does work!

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My Outlook won't display embedded images - I just get a red X. What to do?

This is an old problem that has haunted me and many others for a long time.

What happens is that in Outlook 2003 / 2007, emails you receive do not display any embedded images. Instead you see a red X at top left.
Also, emails that you send may show embedded images before you send them, but once in your Sent Items
the images disappear.

I have adjusted security settings until I am magenta, cyan, mauve, and occasionally a combination of puce and eggplant in the face (ya, those are real colours...:)), both in Internet Explorer and in Outlook, but to no avail.

Finally yesterday I came across a SERIOUSLY useful piece of information in the fight against non-displaying images in Outlook... and here it is:

http://www.howto-outlook.com/products/outlooktools.htm

I won't reproduce everything at the link above, except to say that this tool allows you to clear the Outlook Cache folder - a folder that most people don't even know exists, and which is a bit of a mission to access normally.
The Outlook Cache folder is used to store temporary items such as attachments and embedded images, and over time if it fills up, this can cause problems displaying embedded images in your mail.
Hence the need for something like this:

It's pretty straight forward - open up OutlookTools and hit the "Clear Folder" button - this cleans out the Outlook Cache folder and your images should now show up as they once did :)

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