Arm Yourself Against Online Fraud: How to Recognize a Scam

Recognizing Online Scams
Chances are you’ve tried to make money online – whether it be from competitions or quick money-making schemes. Everyone is doing it somehow and chances are, you’ve seen the adverts online: “You could earn over $1000 in an hour! All you have to do is […]”. But how do you weed out the scams from the legitimate opportunities? Here are a few easy ways that you can use to determine which websites are just waiting to scam you.

Are you required to pay a fee up front?
Generally speaking, if you’re required to pay an upfront fee to use their services, it’s a scam. The website will claim it’s for the cost of training, but more often than not your money will disappear and so will your supposed training service.

Are you promised immense wealth in just one day?
There is no way, unless perhaps you’re a broker or something on the stock exchange, that you can make thousands of dollars in a single night. Scammers are generally very smart individuals, they prey on your dreams of “making it”. It’s especially hard for those who are just trying to better their circumstances to recognize a scam like this.

Think about what the “company” gets out of this deal
What legitimate company just gives money away, especially if they can keep it for themselves? You aren’t a recognized charity, so there is no publicity on that front. We live in a dog eat dog world and very few people in would willingly help you succeed for no gain on their side. When asking yourself what the company gets out of helping you make money, you need to see the reason behind the lies.

Question how they are actually making money
This is an important question to ask yourself, especially since they’re now helping you “make” obscene amounts of money. There are two ways in which websites can make money. By being independent of the user – this means that, regardless of whether or not you use the site or succeed, the website will succeed without you. The other way is by being dependent on the user – think of sites such as e-bay and the like. They need you to use the site in order for them to make money. Websites that are dependent on you, the user, are less likely to be a scam since they need you.

Don’t fall for “buy now” statements
These statements are there to create a sense that there is only a limited amount of something available. This makes the item seem more valuable than it really is and it’s human nature to want something rare that either very few have or only you have.

Don’t fall for “The rich relative” thing
With this specific scam, you’re told about someone’s really rich uncle, friend, etc. who has some trouble entering the country or wants to leave you all his money in his will. You’ll be told you need to “help” this person with a small contribution towards getting what you need and you’ll be repaid 1000 times over. These claims are never true. Never.

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Hackers reveal tool to bypass privacy settings on Whatsapp

A simple piece of software is being used by hackers to bypass privacy settings on Whatsapp.

The software exploits a ‘design flaw’ in the messaging service’s optional status feature which lets other users know whether someone is online or offline.

It enables a user’s status to be tracked, and also monitors changes to profile pictures, privacy settings or status messages for any user, even if they have the strictest privacy option.

Once downloaded, the software reveals a timeline of the online status of a tracked user and can compare this to another tracked user.

 ‘The privacy options in Whatsapp act like they give you full control over your status in Whatsapp meanwhile they only affect a very limited scope,’ Mr Zweerink writes on his blog.

‘Sure, the last seen, profile picture and status options do work, but probably not as the user intended it to.

 When a Whatsapp user disables settings such as 'last seen', other users still get notified that their online if they are in a WhatsApp conversation with them 

‘The ability for a complete stranger to follow your in-app status is pretty creepy and might be abused already. This is not a "hack" or "exploit" but it's broken by design.’

WhatsSpy Public only works on specific devices, such as a jail broken iPhone or a rooted Android, and requires some technical knowledge.

WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, is one of the most popular mobile messaging app, with 700 million monthly active users sending more than 30 billion messages per day.

This isn’t the first time Whatsapp has come under fire for its privacy policies.

In 2019, the Canadian Privacy Commission found that the app was collecting too many phone numbers of non-users using users’ address books as well as improperly encrypting messages.

The University of Utrecht has also recently found a flaw that would have allowed anyone to decrypt its messages. 

WhatsApp scams you must pay attention to!

The success of WhatsApp has a downfall: while the instant messaging service reached 600 million active users last summer, the numbers of frauds emerging around the app are also growing steadily.
What are the most common scams in WhatsApp? What should we do so we don’t take the bait?

WhatsApp: 6 scams you must pay attention to!

1. A fake invitation to WhatsApp voice calls

With the arrival of WhatsApp voice calls a new fraud has emerged. While millions of users are waiting for an invitation to access this new feature, cybercriminals are distributing the malware via a link, which automatically downloads the malware.

To avoid falling into the new WhatsApp fraud, you should keep in mind that voice calls are only available for Android phones.

2. Frauds via browser

After WhatsApp launched their browser platform, fraudulent websites were created to steal your banking data.
This fake webpages use different types of scams:

• Asking for the phone number of the gullible users and then, subscribing them to downloading premium services which charge special rates.
• Making users download an application in their computers, but actually is a Trojan that will allow cybercriminals to obtain confidential information, such as banking information.

In this case, one thing to remember is that the only browser version of WhatsApp is free, and you don’t need to download anything to your computer to use it.

3. How to disable the blue double check

Scammers also tried to take advantage of WhatsApp’s double check launch. Before the instant messaging service allowed disabling this feature, in social networks we could find advertisements of fraudulent services for getting rid of the darned double check.

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Getting some users to sign up for a premium SMS service without knowing it, which has a special rate. Remember: you can disable the double check feature from the app.

4. WhatsApp Gold

The Spanish National Police and Civil Guard reported a couple of months ago the existence of a scam that can be expensive, actually, 36 euros per month.
The fraud starts with a message via social networks in which WhatsApp users are invited to click on a link to update their app to the inexistent Oro version (Gold version), including supposed new and exclusive features.  The link takes the user to a web page where, if he wants to use these improvements, he has to give his phone number.
In fact, all those who gave their number will subscribe to a premium SMS service: each text message that you receive will cost you 1.45 euros, until a maximum of 36.25 euro per month. If you ever cross paths with this message, remember there is only one official version of WhatsApp. Common sense is, as usual, your best ally.

5. The fake voicemail of WhatsApp

In contrast to the ones before, this scam doesn’t take the advantage of a recently launched service, it just invents one. It starts when a user receives an email, in which they inform him that he has an unread voice message in the WhatsApp nonexistent voicemail.
When he hits “Play”, there is no message, but it downloads malicious software that the scammers introduce to your device. From that moment on, text messages with special rates or the theft of confidential information can cause the user a great deal of trouble. Remember: there is no WhatsApp voicemail.

6. WhatsApp’s Spy

We are aware of the existence of WhatsApp Public, an application that allows you to spy your contacts in WhatsApp, but there is a scam that goes one step ahead and offers( with a similar name) a service which allows anyone to read conversations of others. But it is just another way of infecting with malware the gullible user’s phone.

Obviously, you can’t spy other people’s conversations and the only change it will bring it will come in your phone bill, which will increase considerably.
Remember that it is important to maintain your cellphone’s security. If you want, you can download free of charge the  antivirus for Android.

Jorg Technologies unveils Nairabox

A software development company, Jorg Technologies, has unveiled nairabox, an innovative mobile digital wallet app.

The firm described the app as a convenient payment system which enhances fast, convenient and secure transaction.

The Chief Executive Officer, Jorg Technologies, Mr. Damilola Jegede, said, “Nairabox is pretty safe. We know in the modern day and age, everyone worries about security. Security is at the heart of nairabox, it is at the beginning and end of the product. nairabox is encrypted from end to end.”

On how secure the app is, Jegede said, “We made sure we mitigated every form of security threat by encrypting all transactions from end to end; from when you do it on the mobile app itself to the transportation to the server. It’s all encrypted to ensure that its tamper-proof.”

source: The Punch

How To Access Free Basics MTN Browsing

In collaboration with MTN, Free Basics by Facebook allows MTN subscribers to access Facebook and a set of websites for FREE, on their mobile phones.

The variety of websites accessible via the Free basics MTN free browsing include communication, learning, sports and entertainment, news and weather, jobs, health and safety, and many more. The selected websites can be accessed via free basics mobile app or web browser within a daily Fair Usage Policy (FUP).

With MTN Free Basics, you can:

View/change Facebook profile picture
Update Facebook status
Comment/write on your friend’s Facebook wall
Search Friends on Facebook, Add new friends
Browse through Facebook
Chat on Facebook Messenger
Other websites you can browse for free using Facebook free basics with MTN include :

Nairaland
BBC News
Jobberman
VConnect
Supersport
Nigeria Galleria
Bing
AccuWeather
Ask a Doctor by Kangpe
Pass.ng
Wikipedia


How to Access Free Basics Feature On MTN
You can access the Free Basics by downloading and installing the Free Basics App from your app store to your phone or entering this web address: https://0.freebasics.com on your browser.

Get Paid By Writing Articles For Opera News Hub

If you are in need of Nigerian sites that pay you to write articles, you can check out Opera News Hub; an open platform that helps authors and bloggers create online content and share it with the fast-growing Opera user base of more than 350 million users worldwide and over 120 million users in the African countries.

Opera News Hub connects seamlessly with other Opera mobile applications like the popular Opera Mini browser and the standalone news app Opera News. This means that content creators who choose to distribute original content in Opera News Hub, will have a unique opportunity to reach a new international audience, increase their number of followers on social media channels, and run their own online publication across the various Opera mobile products.

The user interface of Opera News Hub is easy to use and allows content creators to set up their online content in minutes. After you signup, Opera News Hub allows you to create an article where you can edit the text and images according to the goals of your publication.


The platform’s dashboard displays detailed information about the number of impressions, visualizations and shares that your articles have. This information becomes valuable for content creators who are searching for detailed information that they can use to improve the monetization of their online content.

Revenue from articles you write on Opera News Hub will be generated based on the performance of your published content, and relevant statistics can be seen under the ‘Monetization’ tab.


Your pay will include 2 parts:

Traffic/Clicks bonus
Engagement bonus
Traffic bonus is calculated based on how many clicks one article get while

Engagement bonus is calculated based on how many engagement your article harvest in Opera News platform: Share + Comment.

Many factors affect your posts’ revenue on Opera News Hub, including but not limited to the type and quality of your content. If you can create original, high-quality content with an interesting premise that attracts the interest of users, you will be paid.

The better your content, the better your earning potential. You can keep an eye on the performance of your content under the “Content Library” tab on your Opera News Hub dashboard page.

How to Detect Hidden Camera With Mobile Phone and Camera Detectors

As technology advances, privacy is getting vanished. So, it’s no more news that hidden cameras are now been planted in some locations. If you frequently make use of hotel rooms, trial rooms, changing rooms etc, then the chance of getting spotted by a hidden camera is very high. In this blog post, I’ve decided to share with you, how to detect a hidden camera with your cell phone and camera detectors.

How To Detect Hidden Camera With Mobile Phone

1. When you are in a private room, turn off the lights, and close the curtains. Launch your phone camera but do not turn the flash light on. Turn around the room with your cell phone. When tiny red or green LED light is found, that means that a hidden microphone or camera is installed. If no LED light, the room is OK.

2. Place a call on your cell phone, then wave the device around where you think there might be a hidden camera or microphone. If you can hear a clicking noise on the call, it means your phone might be interfering with an electromagnetic field.

If you can’t make a call there is a chance of a hidden camera too. The scientific explanation behind this phenomena is “interference of fiber optic cable during the signal transfer”.

3. Launch the flashlight of your smartphone and carefully examine books, clocks, air purifiers, lamps etc. If you notice any pinhole-sized holes, you might have a hidden camera in the room. 

How to detect hidden camera behind mirror

Launch the flashlight of your smartphone and shine it directly onto a wall mounted mirror. Take the flashlight and move it progressively closer to the mirror until it touches the mirror. If you can see through the mirror, or notice the light shining through it, you have a one-way mirror, and possibly a hidden camera behind it. A mirror should always reflect light, not allow the light to penetrate through it.

Using Hidden Camera Detectors

Alternatively, you can buy hidden camera detectors. That’s much better than searching for minuscule cameras hidden somewhere among the hundred possible places in the room. These portable devices are of different types, small and simple to use.

You can hold one of them up to your eye, and look around the room. When it finds a camera, you’ll see the light reflection from the cameras LED. Another one vibrates when you’re close in close vicinity to a hidden camera. Others give off flashing lights or beeping sounds when you sweep specific objects that contain hidden cameras.

I hope this info  helps.

5 Tips To Solve Hanging Issues On Android Smart Phones

There are millions of Android users around the world and increasing, but do you know every second Android user are facing the problem related to hanging or Freezing in their Android smartphones even those phone which are available at high prices.So, today I’m going to share on 5 Tips to solve the Hanging problem in Android Smartphone.

We all know that Android is one of the best operating System for mobiles and millions of peoples have Android phones, few peoples thinks that there Android smartphone hanging problem occurs due to errors or bugs in Android OS.

Android phone hanging problems occurs due to several reasons so if you’re facing the same problem then follow these tips.

 1.Increase Memory by Deleting Unwanted Data

Do know that almost every website uses cache to increase the page speed of a website?Whenever you visited a website you phone automatically store the which is also known as cookies and caches 

These unwanted data will be stored in your phone memory which leads to decreasing the available memory for apps and other files.

Solution:

This problem can solve easily from setting.

Go to setting>>Storage>>Click on the cache and click on the ok to clear caches.

2.Move Installed Application to the external memory

If you use too much application of your smartphone then you can move few apps to the external memory.Moving applications to the external memory is the best way to empty the storage space of your phone.

You can install applications directly in the external memory cards and you can set the external memory card as default memory.

Go to setting>>storage>>Tap on the SD card Storage

 3.Use external memory to save Songs and other files

Too much use of phone memory is the main reason to got phone hang.To solve the hanging problem in your Android phone save your songs, videos and other data.

You can move your files to the external memory and by selecting external memory as default memory helps to store photos and video which clicked by Camera.

To make the external memory as default memory read second tip.

4.Factory reset options (Not Recommended)

I personally do not recommend this method because it is not familiar with most of the Android users.Factory reset is the last method to delete all unwanted files which comes from browsers, websites, Apps etc.

Factory reset deleted all files, apps, contacts, memos, so most of the android doesn’t use this option.

Secure Process of Factory Reset:

Factory process may delete your personal data like contacts, memos so you users must need to follow the secure process before performing the factory reset option.

Whenever you perform factory reset process never forgot to take Backup of all your files.You can move this backup  files to the external SD card.

5.Use Cloud Storage

Use Clout storage to store your files which you want to save for the future.Store only those files in your memory card which you needed every day and upload those files to the cloud storage which needed in the future.

Create Chatbots Without Coding For Free with ChatFuel

Whether you’re a developer looking to build your own chatbot or a business owner looking to create a chatbot for your business without coding, ChatFuel can help. With Chatfuel chatbot builder, you simply sign up with Facebook, choose between a couple of chatfuel chatbot templates and your chat bot for Facebook messenger will be up and running in just a few minutes.

You will be able to make a chatbot at chatfuel.com without any knowledge of coding using an intuitive interface that lets you build your bot quickly and reliably. The chat bot can help you automate discussions in Facebook messenger and strengthen your connection with your audience—whether they are your customers, blog readers, fans etc. Facebook users that chat with your bot will be able to request info and interact with your bot via buttons, text etc

if you have a blog for example, you can create a chatbot for the blog which will allow Facebook users to view your latest blog posts right inside Facebook messenger. They can also subscribe to updates, so they will automatically be receiving your latest blog updates right inside messenger. In addition to that, you can also make it possible for the Facebook users to search your blog right inside Facebook Messenger. 

If you run an hotel business, for example, you can also create a chatbot that will list the rooms available right inside Messenger. Users will be able to ask for the price of the rooms and get replies instantly! With Chatfuel, you can also create navigation steps that guide customers through the room reservation process in a user-friendly way.

If you have a website, you can also create a chatbot for the website and generate a chat widget from chatfuel.com which will allow people that visit your website to chat with your chatbot right from your website.

At Chatfuel.com, you can build a chatbot just by adding content in the form of text, images, forms and there are even plug-ins which you can use to pull information from various sources according to user input. For example – Google search.

It also supports Facebook messenger webview which lets you load webpages inside Messenger. Also, you can set up broadcasting to send regular digests to your users. To extend your chattuel bot’s capabilities there’s always RSS and JSON plugins you can use.

Chatfuel has an AI engine that allows you to define phrases like “hi”, “good morning”, “where is your office”, “how much is..” and then to respond with a “block”. A block can be a simple text message, an image or a gallery of images with text. The engine is not only smart enough to detect typos but it can also manage variations of longer sentences very well.

In addition, Chatfuel lets you visually see how your bot performs in the wild. It provides you with data like how many people used the bot over the last weeks or what messages users sent the most and a couple more.

You can create a chatbot for free at chatfuel.com but there are some limits and once you exceed the limits, you will be required to upgrade to a chatfuel pro plan according to chatfuel pricing that suits your needs.

PayU Lets You Pay For Facebook Ads In Naira With GTBank MasterCard Etc..

PayU Nigeria payment gateway has been integrated with Facebook ads billing system, thereby making it easy for Nigerians to pay for Facebook ads in Naira.

You no longer have to worry about getting dollar cards to pay for Facebook ads In Nigeria nor do you have to worry about monthly international spend limit which Nigerian banks have imposed on their cards.

If you've set "Naira" as your currency in your Facebook ad account and you've not been able to pay for your Facebook adverts with cards like GTBank Mastercard, you can now do so by making use of "Naira card payment with PayU".




You can even use a card that has previously been flagged by Facebook to add funds to your Facebook Naira ad account via PayU. Cool...huh? Yeah, it makes sense die.....lol. ☻

PayU simply accepts payment on behalf of Facebook and funds your Naira Facebook ad account. Facebook deducts payment for all your Facebook adverts from the prepaid balance and you can add more money at any time. i.e if you pay N5,000 through PayU, N5,000 will be displayed as the balance of your Facebook ad account prepaid balance and it is from the N5,000 that Facebook will deduct payment for your Facebook adverts - and you can add more money to the balance anytime.

Your ad campaigns will be charged in Naira and you can even set a daily budget as low as N500. So, if you've been paying like $0.01 per post engagement before now, Facebook might charge you as low as N3 per post engagement. So, you no longer have to assume you will be charged N315 per click or N490 per click.

PayU accepts both MasterCard and VISA debit cards and if you want to use GTBank Mastercard to fund your Facebook ad account via PayU, you will be required to enter your one time OTP to complete the transaction.

NB: You might have to create new Naira Facebook ad account via a personal Facebook account for you to be able to pay for Facebook ads with PayU. You might not see the option to pay via PayU if you create new Facebook ad account via Facebook Business Manager and if you change your existing Facebook ad account from USD to Naira..