My Former Web Host, LIQUIDWEB.com, Is Trying To Scam Me...

LIQUIDWEB.com is trying to scam me.  It has been more than two (2) years since I stopped hosting my websites with them.

And now they are trying to convince me that I owe them $169.60!  Here's the content of the email they sent me:

"...Re: Liquid Web LLC - Collections Notification - Total Amount Due as of 17 Jun 2024: $169.60

Dear [REDACTED],

Despite our previous reminders, the above amount due remains unpaid and will be turned over for collections activity. As such, we would appreciate you making this payment as soon as possible.

As of this date, your charges for your Liquid Web account  [REDACTED] is $169.60. Liquid Web provided those services in good faith and has notified you through several methods that your payment was past due.

Under Section 3 of Liquid Web's Terms of Service, you agreed to make payment when due. Further, Liquid Web is entitled to recover all of its expenses, including attorneys' fees, in connection with collection of your obligations. In addition, interest continues to accrue on the unpaid balance at the rate of 1.5% per month.

To avoid additional cost and interest, please remit payment within ten (10) days of receipt of this letter in the amount of $169.60, by logging into your account with your username [REDACTED] at https://www.liquidweb.com/, or by forwarding a check to my attention at the address below, made payable to Liquid Web.

If you believe these charges are inaccurate or would like to work with us to make payment arrangements, please contact us by email at collections@liquidweb.com.

Very truly yours,

Kristie Bakkal
General Counsel

2703 Ena Drive,
Lansing, MI 48917
LiquidWeb.com..."

And I see that they've been at it for a long time.  Check out the many horror stories on YELP.com.

How on Earth do they stay in business??? Their customer service is 100% atrocious, and they charge way too much for web hosting.

They attempted to raise my monthly rate, at which point I decided to look around and see what other hosts were offering.

Hosting is a very easy business, so there are unnumbered hosts out there...So my search took me a while.

And where did I find the best deal I've ever seen?

It was right under my nose the entire time! Best pricing in the universe, according to my findings, turned out to be NameCheap.com*...And NameCheap is where I already had a few domain names registered!

Did I feel kinda' silly?  You betcha'!

Hosting companies rely on their customers not bothering to shop around for a better deal once they've setup an account.  It's a classic case of business inertia.  And I was 100% guilty of this.

So, in conclusion: Shame on you LIQUIDWEB! Shame, shame, SHAME!!!

NameCheap hosting is, by a long shot, MASSIVELY cheaper than LIQUIDWEB...So shame, Shame SHAME on me too, for falling asleep at the web-hosting wheel!

AND NameCheap customer service is both first class AND available online 24/7/365, via live webchat.  Very recently, I had issues installing a new SSL certificate, and I was able to get live help and a quick solution in the middle of the night (EST USA.)

* = This is not a sponsored post.  I received neither discounts nor remuneration of any kind, for mentioning NameCheap.com in this blog entry.

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SCAM ALERT: How to Avoid Banking And Other Trending Scams; Know The Red Flags

From the good folks at Bank of America:

Be Aware Of A Trending Zelle® Payment Scam

Beware of scammers impersonating banks and fraud departments. By spoofing legitimate phone numbers to call or text you, the requests can be very convincing. While Bank of America may send you a text to validate unusual activity, we will never contact you to request that you send money using Zelle® to anyone, including yourself or to share a code to resolve fraud.

Here's What Happens:

• You receive a text that looks like a Bank of America suspicious activity alert.
  
  
• If you respond to the text, you've engaged the scammer and will receive a call from a number that appears to be from a bank.
  
  
• The “representative” or scammer will offer to help stop the alleged fraud by asking you to send money to yourself with Zelle®.
  
  
• Then, they ask you for a one time code you just received from a bank. If you give them that code, they will use it to enroll their bank account with Zelle® using your email or phone number.
  
  
• The scammer now has the ability to receive your money in their account.

Being vigilant is your first line of defense; here's how to help stay protected:

• Don't be pressured to act immediately — this is what scammers want you to do.
  
  
• Don't trust caller ID — it's not always who it says it is.
  
  
• Don't share codes based on a call you receive.

To learn more, watch this educational video layer from Zelle®

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Know The Scams That May Follow A Natural Disaster

Watch out for fake contractors. Following a disaster, unlicensed contractors will canvas the impacted areas promising to get clean up or repairs done quickly. They may ask for payment up front and not show up to do the work, or have you sign a contract that redirects insurance payouts to them and not you.

• Do your research; get multiple quotes for comparison, and make sure the contractors are licensed.
  
  
• Use caution if you're pressured to pay up front for the job or sign over the insurance claim. Contractors may try to offer special deals that seem too good to be true.
  

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CLICK HERE for much more from this
highly informative Bank of America article.

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#SCAMS #SCAMMERS #FRAUD #ZELLE #BofA #SCAMALERT #NEWSCAMALERT #REDFLAGS #SCAMAVOIDANCE #AVOIDSCAMS #FedPrimeRate #PHONESCAMS #EMAILSCAMS #TEXTSCAMS #BANKOFAMERICA #PHISHING #PHISHINGSCAMS #BANKSCAMS #BANKS #BANKINGSCAMS

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Latest Norton Antivirus Protection Renewal Scam In My Inbox

Email Scam Alert

OK, so here's another stupid and very lame attempt to scam the world, received in my main Gmail account today:

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Subject Line: Invoice Id : NJ7834H78EH39

Email Body: Dear ******* ,

Invoice Id : NJ7834H78EH39

Thank you  for connected with our norton anti-virus protection. This email is to notify you that your membership for your computer security & protection has been renewed

User Id : ********@gmail.com

Congratulations, you have successfully renewed your Norton Anti-Virus Protection membership.

You have been charged the payment of  $107.93 for 01 year Norton Anti-Virus Protection service from your bank account, via Debit/credit card.  If you didn’t authorize the charges or if you want to continue this service.

Kindly reach us immediately at      

1     8   0   6     4   5   4     5   7   3   7

Product                                       Unit Price                             Qty.                                            Total Amt.
Norton Anti-Virus Protection         $107.93                              

This Deduction will be reflected in 2-3 business days in your bank statement.

Note- This is a system generated mail.  Please do not reply to this mail ID. (1)  Call our 24-hr customer care.

Thank You

===============

How lame is this scam attempt?

1)  Well, the email address of the sender is: <alinasmith6254@gmail.com>

Hmmmm.....Not sent from Norton, me thinks: DERP!

2) You see how the phone number is spaced out?  That's a giveaway too.  The scammer has formatted it like this in the hope that it will trick the email spam filter.  If the scam email goes to the spam folder, it's done.

For this particular scam email, it worked!  Gmail didn't send it directly to my spam folder.  I found it in my inbox.

3) I don't use Norton Antivirus.  I used to, a long time ago, with Windows XP, but I gave up on it as it consumed too much cpu time -- my computers got a lot slower -- and it was too expensive.  I find that Microsoft's built-in Windows Defender antivirus / anti-malware / anti-spyware works great.  Of course, because I'm a total Nazi about these things, I run Windows Update every time I rest and massage my hands (to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome), which is about every 10-15 minutes.

I also run a Windows Defender Offline Scan often, because most experienced malicious coder / hacker deviants know how to hide their BS in places that are hard to clean.

 

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My Uncle Got Sucked Into A "Home Depot" Phishing Scam

So, I am on WhatsApp, checking out some family conversations, when I receive a message from my uncle.  Message reads:

"The Home Depot 40th Anniversary.  Click to enter to participate in the survey.  Have a chance to win $ 8,000! BeneficialYear.TOP"

Right away, red flags go up.  Looks extremely suspicious, but I click the link anyway, because I want to see what the scam looks like, so that I can warn others.

Here's a capture of the URL, and the page it took me to:

www.FedPrimeRate.com: Phishing Scam Image 1

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When I reloaded the page, I was taken to a totally different URL:

www.FedPrimeRate.com: Phishing Scam Image 2

First of all, if this is a survey from The Home Depot, then why on Earth would I be redirected to 2 different URLs? And why would one of the domain names use a .CN top level name, meaning it's registered in China?

Moreover: all the navigation links don't work, and the same if you try to "up" or "down" vote in the comments section.

As I investigated further, I found that Firefox is aware, and warning folks:

www.FedPrimeRate.com:
Mozilla FireFox Warning
- Deceptive Site Ahead

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Please people: don't forward suspicious messages to friends and family without checking them out.  You could end up doing serious harm to people you care about.

>>>   CLICK HERE FOR MORE SAFETY WARNINGS   <<<

>>>   CLICK HERE for SCAM ALERT: HOW TO AVOID BANKING AND OTHER TRENDING SCAMS; KNOW THE RED FLAGS   <<<

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