"Maga" don pay. My FirstBank Experience.

Scams are a type of fraud, a confidence trick used to deceive people and dispose them of their money or goods in exchange of services or promises which are never delivered. Scam actually dates back as far as the late 19th century. Some of the more commonly seen variants involve employment scams, lottery scams, request for passwords (Mostly banking details) online sales and rentals, and romance scams. The scam has been used with fax and traditional mail, and is now used with the internet. Online scams from the past few years to present have gone from bad to worse because the means used to perpetrate this act has increased incredibly. In Nigeria, scams are also called 419. The number "419" actually refers to the article of the Nigerian Criminal Code (part of Chapter 38: "Obtaining property by false pretences; Cheating") dealing with fraud. Scam is not limited to Nigeria alone, the nation has become associated with this fraud and it has earned a reputation for being a center of email scam crimes. According to Wikipedia, other nations known to have a high incidence of advance fee fraud include Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, South Africa, Russia, India, Pakistan, the Netherlands, and Spain.

Scammers (people who defraud) have devised all possible means which includes but not limited to fake cheques, Western Union/MoneyGram wire transfers, Anonymous communication, Web-based email, Email hijacking/friend scams, Fax transmissions, SMS messages, Telecommunications relay services. They refer to their targets as magas – a slang that developed from a Yoruba word meaning "fool. I personally find it difficult to believe why people would fall cheaply for these scams. 

I recently got an email which was supposedly from “FirstBank” but one look at the content of the mail; I just knew it was not from FirstBank. This was because firstly, it had no FirstBank Logo or contact details. Secondly, the email had as its subject “Stay secure online” Sender’s email was “FirstBank@firstbanknigeria.com” but when I placed the cursor on the sender’s email, I found out that the original email address used to send the e-mail was “onlinebanking@yy.com”. Really smart guys you will say. Any unsuspecting victim will simply assume the email was from FirstBank and send a response.   I have also gotten chains of emails from friends whose accounts have been hacked into supposedly claiming to be stranded somewhere and needing financial assistance, which is annoyingly embarrassing. Even text messages and emails claiming you won a certain amount of money and that you should send some money to claim it.

Do not be so gullible. People can do all sorts to make money.

             

A picture of the supposed mail I got from FirstBank.

How to stay Safe Online:

•   Be cautious when signing up for / installing / agreeing to anything, read the instructions carefully.
•   Use difficult passwords. It is also advisable to check the "Never remember password" box when it pops up on a web page.
• When sending out emails to more than one person, kindly use “Bcc”. If not, people’s email addresses will be picked up this way and sent unwarranted newsletters, marketing documents or scam mails.
• Configuring your browsers to help filter out or block inappropriate content can also help.
• When downloading, make sure they are only files or software from sites that have been rated/verified by trusted sources.
•  Please do not give out your contact details (name, address, or mobile number) unknown persons.
• Be alert and aware of online scams. These guys are very smart techies that can hack heaven if they could.
• Never open e-mail attachments or click links in e-mails from strangers unless you can trust them and have security settings on your computer. 
• Install a very good antivirus program, an anti-spyware program, and a firewall. Also constantly update it.
•  Be careful when using a public wireless network; make sure to turn off file sharing and network discovery. Always check for secure transaction info. 
• Be careful in the use of the different social media platforms. They are a great way to stay connected with others, but you should be wary about how much personal information you post.
• When shopping online, take accurate steps to protect yourself especially your banking details. Only use trusted sites.
• Ensure you are signed out completely from visited sites.

If you get suspected cases of fraudulent activities by anyone, you can visit to report them they help to fight against online scams.

http://wayopedia.org/

http://www.419eater.com/

Thanks for taking out time to read my blog.

I appreciate you.

The "Over Efficiency of Some" Online Ads

“Over the past 60 years, marketing has moved from being product-centric (Marketing 1.0) to being consumer-centric (Marketing 2.0). Today we see marketing as transforming once again in response to the new dynamics in the environment. We see companies expanding their focus from products to consumers to humankind issues. Marketing 3.0 is the stage when companies shift from consumer-centricity to human-centricity and where profitability is balanced with corporate responsibility.” ― Phillip Kotler

Social media marketing which is also called Internet or online marketing/advertising, is a process of driving traffic to various platforms/social media sites for the purpose of publicity/brand awareness, customer service management, sharing information or promoting various goods and services. Also companies join the social channels and consumers can interact with them, this interaction feels personal to users because of their previous experiences with social networking site interactions.  The internet is accessible to anyone via a mobile or smartphone and other various gadgets; it also allow individuals to interact with one another and build relationships via these social media sites.

However, over the past few years, advertising/marketing on social media platforms in Nigeria has a taken a different shape and has become irritable. You cannot visit any site now especially on the Google Platform without being bombarded with various clips from different companies/organizations/online stores advertising their products. For example, for every single YouTube video you click to watch, you find one advert and it reoccurs like that for each view. It is worthy of note that there is a "Skip Ad" icon which enables you to skip the Ad about to be shown but it still wears one out having to always do that. Also, you will notice that irritant adverts that pop-up when you visit any other site. The latest which I noticed, are Ads from different organizations/companies/online stores, StanbicIBTC Bank, MTN, Jumia, Konga, and even Ads telling me how I can make #41,000 daily now pop-up above my blog page and even on my blog dashboard. Urgghhh!  I get the impression that some of these online Ads are Scams following the frequency by which they pop up on my screen.

Why should my privacy be invaded with so much arrogance and disrespect? Is it a crime to be signed on to a free platform or have an existing account with a site? I am not against social media marketing because I also use these social media platforms for adverts/promotions too, but I believe in modesty and caution in exhibiting these Online Ads campaigns. 

“We don't have a choice on whether we do social media; the question is 
how well we do it?       ― Erik Qualman

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I love you always, Hugs!!

Seeing into the future with the Google Glass

Here we go again!! 

You may be wondering why I love to talk about gadgets, well like a colleague of mine said "Oby you are just a gadget freak" yea! not denying that, lol. Its just that I want to be able to experiment and try out new things with the latest technology which makes life easier you know!!

Back to today's gist, seen so much wave about the Google glass and really decided to check it out. Here's what I got and thought to share too. Trust Google to always come up with one innovation or the other but the product reviews I see make them always worth the buy.

About the Google Glass

The prototype Google Glass Explorer Edition which was introduced at the Google I/O conference last June finally had developers get their first taste of what they could do with it in January and February of this year.  The Google Glass Explorer Edition, which has a camera, multiple radios for data communication, a speaker and a mic and a gyroscope is the first product to come out of the company's Project Glass. A Glass device is something that lets you see and interact with the world around you without disconnecting from it, now this is interesting!

Its Design
The Google Glass headset is designed to be out of the way so it doesn't interfere with your activities. According to Google, it weighs less than most pairs of sunglasses. On the side is a touch pad for control, on top is a button for shooting photos and videos with the built in-camera, and there's a small information display positioned above the eye out of the line of sight. Some features includes a Broadcom 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi radio and Bluetooth 4.0 as well as bone-conduction speakers, which would keep your ears open to your surroundings. The Glass can also tell your position and orientation at all times. Check this link to really see what they are talking about: http://www.google.com/glass/start/how-it-feels

What can I do with Glass?
You can use the Google search, Google+Hangouts, live-stream video, read or listen to your mails, snap pictures or shoot some movies and share what you capture with little effort, but you'll have to inititate a voice command by saying "Ok,Glass" followed by whatever it is you want to do, such as "take a picture." The experience seems to be very similar for those who use Google Now on Android device with Jelly Bean.

Downsides

One downside of this is that the glasses have an audio output to the right ear only, and there's no earbud -- the sound just leaks into space, which means you will always have to cup your hand over your ear and the glasses' temple to amplify the sound, this will also let people around you know you are paying attention to your Glass device. 

Also, you may have to take off your prescription lenses to wear the Google Glasses, but Google designer Isabelle Olsson (a former eyewear designer) says they are working with glasses manufacturers to serve glasses-wearing users.  Another downside is there may be absolutely no privacy anymore, you could be sitting in a restaurant and another person wearing a Google Glass can be filming everything you do because the Glass has the potential to make those tasks far less overt and more surreptitious. 

Who may need this?

A major area of need I think this may be useful is in the Education sector which seems to be suffering. This maybe highly recommendable for Lecturers, teachers and students, not to encourage examination malpractices, but will increase intellectually abilities and access to information on the go following the ban of mobile phones in Government owned schools last year. Also Researchers, Journalists, Public relations specialists and Social media managers will find it very useful in carrying out their work effortlessly.

Well, we’ll have to wait to see the reception when the Google glass finally hits the market but trust my humble self to want one, it will just  me the hassle of carrying too many devices around, who knows we may be able to make cellular calls as well Lol.  I only fear the charges that will be accrued by Internet Service Providers (ISP) and Telecom operators. 

Thanks for taking out time to read and please feel free to follow my blog and share too :-) :-) :-)  

Love you plenty!!!

Sited: CNET reviews by Joshua Goldman, cnet.com, Google images