Author Archives Rick Aurand

Happy Customer

March 11, 2016 · Rick Aurand

When Rick helped me with a network printer in January, I knew I had found my go-to for future needs including custom builds. What I did not know is I would need one so soon. The hard disc in my father’s older PC crashed at the most inopportune time when he needed it to coordinate home healthcare services and update friends and relatives when my mother returned home from surgery. I contacted Rick to build a new PC as soon as possible. We discussed hardware and software options and he delivered it a few days later in a snowstorm. And he came out on the subsequent Saturday to assist with importing Outlook files. The computer is exceeding expectations and my father likes to show off how fast it is with the solid state drive. If you need anything related to computers, printers, networks, software, and so forth – call Rick.

R.C.W

* Warning Garmin Customers: Cyber-Fraud Alert *

March 1, 2016 · Rick Aurand

We received the below from Garmin and thought it important enough to pass on:

*** Warning Garmin Customers: Cyber-Fraud Alert ***

Garmin has been made aware that there are attempts being made to mislead Garmin customers into making payments to cyber-criminals pretending to be Garmin via realistic looking emails. We would like to provide the following tips to help prevent you and Garmin from falling victim to this type of cyber-fraud.

Garmin’s Standard Accounts Receivable Processes

 Garmin will only send wire transfer/ACH information via ENCRYPTED email

 Garmin would NEVER change our banking information without significant communication, both before and after

In addition, we recommend that:

 You ALWAYS reach out to your vendor, via known communication channels, before changing any payment information

 You are careful transacting via email; email addresses can be spoofed, misleading, or compromised (see below)

How can you tell if an email is fraudulent?

Look closely at the sender’s email address (“From”). The email may appear to come from Garmin but the actual address is not garmin.com although it may closely resemble a valid address. Fraudulent examples: Garmin Accounts Receivable <jane.smith@garm1n.com>; Garmin Finance <james.jones@collections.co.uk>, Garmin Order Management <marco.polo@gmail.de>.

If there are any links, hover or place your computer mouse pointer over the link to reveal its true associated Web URL. If the true destination is different than what is shown in the email, this is an indication of fraud.

DO NOT open any attachments if you suspect fraud.

What to do if you’ve responded to a fraudulent email?

Sent payment? – Contact your financial institution immediately to stop payment. Report to your local authorities. Inform your Garmin representative.

Clicked on a link or opened an attachment? – Follow your internal security incident procedures.

What to do if you suspect an email is fraudulent?

Contact your Garmin representative. If determined to be fraud, report to your local authorities and follow your internal security incident procedures.

Calls from scammers claiming to be from Microsoft Windows

September 1, 2015 · Rick Aurand

We are receiving calls from customers stating that they are receiving calls from people claiming to be from MICROSOFT WINDOWS. They claim the customer’s PC has notified them that there are problems and they want to fix it before your computer crashes. THIS IS A SCAM.

They call you on the telephone and claim to be from Microsoft, Microsoft tech Support, Microsoft Windows, (and any other variant). They will offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license. Once they have access to your computer, they can do the following:

*Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software.

*Convince you to visit legitimate websites (like www.ammyy.com) to download software that will allow them to take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.

*Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.

*Direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.

Neither Microsoft nor our partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes.

These people often use publicly available phone directories, so they might know your name and other personal information when they call you. They might even guess what operating system you’re using.

Once they’ve gained your trust, they might ask for your user name and password or ask you to go to a legitimate website (such as www.ammyy.com) to install software that will let them access your computer to fix it. Once you do this, your computer and your personal information are vulnerable.

Do not trust unsolicited calls. Do not provide any personal information.

How to protect yourself from telephone tech support scams

If someone claiming to be from Microsoft tech support calls you:

Do not purchase any software or services.
Ask if there is a fee or subscription associated with the “service.” If there is, hang up.
Never give control of your computer to a third party unless you can confirm that it is a legitimate representative of a computer support team with whom you are already a customer.
Take the caller’s information down and immediately report it to your local authorities.
Never provide your credit card or financial information to someone claiming to be from Microsoft tech support.

Report phone scams
- In the United States, use the FTC Complaint Assistant form.

WINDOWS 10 ISSUES

August 10, 2015 · Rick Aurand

A lot of people are having various problems with WINDOWS 10. We highly recommend you wait awhile before upgrading so Microsoft can get bugs worked out.

You have ONE MONTH from the date of installation to downgrade back to Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 if Windows 10 isn’t right for you or causes problems.

We also recommend making an image of your hard drive BEFORE upgrading that way, it is much easier to put your computer back to the way it was before upgrading to Windows 10. We can do this for you as long as you have a portable hard drive to put the image on.

IRS Scams

July 17, 2015 · Rick Aurand

Please note that the IRS does not contact individuals by email or telephone

Therefore, if you received an email claiming to be from the IRS it is a phishing attempt and should be reported to us.

Additional information on IRS phishing can be viewed here:

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Report-Phishing

Additional information on avoiding phishing scams can be viewed here:

http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html

Additionally, please be aware of Telephone Scams. The IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any tax due via the U.S. Mail. The IRS never asks for credit, debit or prepaid card information over the telephone.

Please see:

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Reiterates-Warning-of-Pervasive-Telephone-Scam

The IRS values your report, and encourages individuals to report future IRS phishing/fraud to phishing@irs.gov so that we can handle these incidents and limit the number of possible victims.

C. Watkins

April 12, 2015 · Rick Aurand

My computer monitor was flashing on and off. I called Rick, and he told me that it could be one of two problems….a video card or a bad monitor. Instead of “guessing” what the problem might be and ordering expensive parts that were not needed, Rick brought a monitor with him and plugged it in, and quickly determined that my monitor had “bit the dust.” He let me use his monitor so that there was no down time for me, and ordered a new one, which he guarantees for three years.

Additionally, he set me up for remote contact, which I greatly appreciate, as I tend to panic when I have computer problems that I can’t fix.

Rick is a Christian man and doesn’t try to cheat anyone just to make more money, and I do admire and respect that in a day and time when so many businesses are “all about the buck and not the customer.” As long as Rick is in business, no one else will touch my computer.

4-12-2015

M. Dyer

April 5, 2015 · Rick Aurand

Rick cleaned our Brother MFC color printer and traced the random spots during printing to a leaky cartridge that we could fix during the visit. If the problem persists, he advised that the problem would be with the drum.

Rick’s work was very professional and informative. He kept me updated on what was going on and shared some basics on how the printer worked to explain what could (or could not) be causing the problems. He was persistent until we got repeated clean prints. He arrived on-time, and completed the work within the time-frame that he had reserved for us.

Testimony from G. Inch

April 5, 2015 · Rick Aurand

He helped me trouble shoot a possible virus that came with an e-mail I opened on a Saturday afternoon. He spent almost an hour “cleaning house” to make sure I didn’t loose any data.

Member Comments:

He was very thorough and patient. I couldn’t even close out the e-mail, so he helped me know how to clear the screen and get to the desk top so he could fix it remotely for me. He cleaned out areas I didn’t know existed. When he was finished everything was fine. I was concerned I really messed up, but he saved the day. Thank you, Rick.

Testimony from Sheri Anderson

April 5, 2015 · Rick Aurand

Rick worked with me to troubleshoot a whole list of problems. We had been having issues accessing our email accounts and downloading incoming messages, as well as accessing My Contacts in Outlook; he had also recently upgraded our operating system, and helped clarify how that affected some of our existing programs and files. He also gave us an evaluation of an old laptop computer that we had as to whether it was worth keeping.

Member Comments:

We have known Rick for more than 20 years, and he has always been extremely helpful and knowledgeable concerning our computer needs. He has been very flexible and worked to get to us as quickly as possible when we’ve had those occasional “meltdowns” that take our computer out of service and hinder our ability to communicate with customers for our business. We could not recommend him more highly!

Remote Support

February 14, 2015 · Rick Aurand

We now have the capabilities to offer secure REMOTE SUPPORT

Click on the icon below:

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