OK, trying figure out if this is real. Didn’t want to click on it, so not even sure what it says.
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Delete?
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Read then delete?
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Burn phone, prepare for assassins?
I have seen that before, it may even have one of your old (or possibly still active, if you recycle and never change passwords from ages ago) in the text.
Likely just an idle threat based on finding your info in a data breach set.
Check your email address(es) here:
Any sites that come up that you are a part of a breach, change that password if you haven’t already and any other sites where you recycle those passwords.
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Depending on your phone and phone eco-system, a full power off restart will clear out a lot of malicous things just in case.
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Nothing to worry about. These come through our company’s email system all day every day. Unfortunately I’m often the one people call to ask about them.
They claim to have gotten ahold of your password (and often will have an old password of yours from one of the various data leaks from numerous companies) and to have hacked your device and captured naughty videos of you browsing embarrassing websites. Complete BS, especially when multiple folks (myself included) get these emails without ever using a device with a functional webcam.
Just delete and roll on. Read if you want an entertaining chuckle. My brother got one once and was very worried, I guess he had a guilty conscience because he came to me and was asking all kinds of questions about whether their claims were possible. I said of course not, because he didn’t go to those kinds of websites, right? -while looking him dead in the eye. 
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Thanks guys! I figured it was probably just a phishing scam but didn’t know if there was some new capability out there and this was somehow actually valid.
I’m not going to lie. I think hackers need to be subtly persuaded to change their less desirable habits…
People with the talent (though this is perhaps more about hackers) could use it - their time - a lot more productively. IMHO.
While we’re on this subject [?]…
About 3 days ago my gmail starts exploding with spam. Like the spam filter has gone on strike.
Gmail has been excellent, for years, for me in this regard (I’ve been there since the start - seemed easier than having to change it all the time).
Anyone else?
I’ve done nothing on my end; I don’t even read it that often anymore.
Nope, I’ve had zero issues with gmail. I’ve just started using Proton as well - so far nothing bad, but I intend it to be for shopping etc so it’s only a matter of time before the usual suspects start appearing.
Our house phone has been getting a ludicrous number of Chinese calls of late - so we are binning the landline entirely.
I get those types Deacon posted all the time in my current shopping email client and they just go straight in the bin. It’s easy to know they are fake because it always mentions porn sites - and I don’t use them. It’s just relying on people’s guilty consciences. Been getting those since the mid noughties - that’s almost 20 years. You’d think they would try something new.
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Is definitely legit. Take it from somebody who knows.
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My work (business) email is a gmail account and i often wonder if it looks a little unprofessional
Would a proton account look different enough to make it look like im not a total tightwad do you think?
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I had a text with the word “Morning” on it this week. I checked the phone number and looks related to one of many fake Amazon scams. I wonder how many replied to that without thinking thus verifying the phone number for further use.
Very simple but seems a lot more effective than the days when King Jaffe Joffer from a small African state needed my bank account details to transfer vast wealth into.
Things are about to get much worse with ChatGPT and other such crap as they can get pass the grammar and language issues of the past. They can also provide these flids with new and different ways to get around things.
Delete anything like this without reply. If it is from someone you know contact them via a totally different method (voice ideally) to verify.
Best things to do is assume this is the norm as I have always done and protect any accounts.
Good password and 2 Factor Authentication are a minimum nowadays on all accounts. Password managers are recommended. Change passwords the slightest something is amiss.
The company that looks after my pension had a hack with a ton of personal details stolen over the past 4 months - no one can be trusted to keep personal info safe is the bottom line.
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Thanks for that. Google, IMO, appears to be veering from what they where when I first joined. Amazon same (I think I actually spoke with Mrs. Amazon on the phone circa 1998, about a book order).
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I’m hip. I ditched mine about '09 for same reason (though the calls seemed to come from a different part of the world). The last one I recall (I was a bit harried and absent-mindedly answered it) I ended up getting the dude to call me back, telling him I was “interested” but needed him to call me back at another number. Gave him the number to the [local] FBI. No clue what transpired.
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We just don’t answer any number we don’t recognise. The Chinese calls (at least I think they are Chinese - could be any oriental language really) have numbers ranging from UK area codes, UK mobile/cellphone numbers to international ones. In other words they can choose any number they like to try and fool people into answering. They leave a message, which is how I know they are all from that source or similar sources.
They did stop for a while so I was going to keep the BT line, but recently restarted. I wanted to bin the house phone years ago but Mrs wouldn’t have it. She’s even now still under the misapprehension that calls to mobiles are more expensive for her parents (only landline for them). I put my foot down this time and she finally agreed. There’s a first time for everything!
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anything sent to [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected] all goes to the same inbox.
Sage advice - especially the use of a password manager and 2FA
I don’t know about other countries but our sigint agency publishes a lot of cyber security advice for everyone from Grandma & Grandpa to Government Departments via ACSC:
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I’m going off topic, but:
infodump about e-mail
There are 2 different things here (actually 3, but let’s skip the difference between service and client for now).
If you want a professional look for your e-mail, you want your own domain. [email protected] or something like that. You can buy a domain, and then you can use an e-mail address on that domain with any e-mail service you like: Gmail, Proton, Outlook.
The main reason to buy Proton e-mail/storage is that they have a great reputation for privacy and security. If you don’t care much about the concentration of power and data in a few big companies, then Gmail probably has a better user experience, while being free.
If you want privacy, buy Proton. If you want professional looking e-mail, buy a domain. They are separate decisions and you can do either or both.
I have never actually set up a domain but have been saying I want to do it for some time now. Let me know if you want to do this and would like my help, then we can figure this out together
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Heh. I have a domain, but use a gmail addy for work mail. I don’t give a F if that looks professional or not. The website is snazzy enough to lure in plenty clientele.
www.tcweernaarbuiten.nl
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The fact that I can read and understand almost everything despite never learning Dutch is pretty cool. Spoken Dutch is much harder to understand though
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Very nice website schurem
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I think it’s very reasonable for a small business to use gmail:
- There’s a level of security and functionality that’s hard to match using any other method - IT people know this
- It’s less of a hassle and less cost, leaving the owner to do what is important
- It’s a lot easier to spell out over the phone because people are familiar with it
Of course there are exceptions: If the business is to sell websites and email accounts, then you should show off your skills and roll your own. With a certain size of the business the whole corporate id thing will force you into it anyway, just don’t forget data security which can be a massive money sinkhole. 
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