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Aurand’s PRINTERS-n-PCs, LLC Earns Esteemed 2017 Angie’s List Super Service Award for the 5th year in a row

May 2, 2018 · Rick Aurand

Award reflects company’s consistently high level of customer service

Aurand’s PRINTERS-n-PCs, LLC has earned the home service industry’s coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award, reflecting an exemplary year of customer service to members of the local services marketplace and consumer review site in 2017.

This achievement is particularly significant as Angie’s List experienced unprecedented member growth in 2017. More than 1.6 million consumers, many of whom were eager to quickly hire highly qualified service pros, joined Angie’s List after the company added a new, free membership tier.

“Companies that can meet higher demands without missing a beat in their exemplary performance standards truly do stand apart from their peers,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks. “Only a fraction of the Computer and Printer Service and Repair companies in Harrisburg, PA were able to do it.”

Angie’s List Super Service Award 2017 winners have met strict eligibility requirements, which include an “A” rating in overall grade, recent grade, and review period grade. The SSA winners must also be in good standing with Angie’s List, pass a background check and abide by Angie’s List operational guidelines.

Service company ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List as new, verified consumer reviews are submitted. Companies are graded on an A through F scale in areas ranging from price to professionalism to punctuality.

For more than 22 years, Angie’s List restricted access to its verified reviews to consumers who paid membership fees. When the company removed that barrier, some companies worried that the new, non-paying members would not be as engaged as members of the past. Experience has shown, however, that these newly added members are just as engaged – across all age groups – as prior members. Also, because the company continues to adhere to its review verification process, there has been no degradation of review quality.

“The biggest change at Angie’s List is that we are connecting even more consumers to high quality service professionals,” Hicks said. “And that’s good for everyone.”

Angie’s List helps facilitate happy transactions between more than 4.5 million consumers nationwide and its collection of highly rated service providers in more than 720 categories of service, ranging from home improvement to health care. Built on a foundation of more than 10 million verified reviews of local service, Angie’s List connects consumers directly to its online marketplace of services from member-reviewed providers, and offers unique tools and support designed to improve the local service experience for both consumers and service professionals.

April 1, 2018

More than 460 HP Laptops have a Keystroke logger in its software

December 12, 2017 · Rick Aurand

Keyloggers are nasty programs that keep track of everything you type on a computer. It’s one way someone could spy on everything you do, and how hackers could steal your login credentials for various online services. In short, nobody wants keyloggers on their computers.

That’s why you have to act fast and remove the dormant keylogger that’s currently sleeping peacefully inside your HP laptop.

A security researcher found while poking around the internals of a driver for a touchpad commonly used on HP notebook computers—a keystroke logger that could be turned on with a simple change to its configuration in the Windows registry.

The logger, which could potentially be leveraged by an attacker or malware to harvest login credentials and other data, was discovered lurking within driver software for the Synaptics touchpads—used by hundreds of HP and Compaq business and consumer notebook computer models, as well as many other Windows notebook computers from other manufacturers. Once turned on, it captures keystrokes and generates a trace log file.

The program is not spying on you presently unless someone activated it. It comes preinstalled on more than 460 HP machines, and it’s deactivated by default. And yes, it looks very much like a built-in way of spying on people.

While it seems that the code’s inclusion was accidental, it’s still not a good look for HP, given that the manufacturer was found earlier this year to be using Conexant audio drivers that also contained a keystroke logger.

HP computer owners out there will probably want to check out HP’s support document at the link below, and apply the patch that removes the keylogger.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05827409

Beware new “can you hear me” scam

January 27, 2017 · Rick Aurand

If you receive a phone call from someone asking “can you hear me,” hang up. You’re a potential victim in the latest scam circulating around the U.S.

Virginia police are now warning about the scheme, which also sparked warnings by Pennsylvania authorities late last year. The “can you hear me” con is actually a variation on earlier scams aimed at getting the victim to say the word “yes” in a phone conversation. That affirmative response is recorded by the fraudster and used to authorize unwanted charges on a phone or utility bill or on a purloined credit card. “You say ‘yes,’ it gets recorded and they say that you have agreed to something,” said Susan Grant, director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America. “I know that people think it’s impolite to hang up, but it’s a good strategy.”

‘Can you hear me?’ scam has police urging people to hang up immediately Fox News

Police nationwide are urging people to avoid answering a simple question from a phone number they do not know. Read the full story

Aurand’s PRINTERS-n-PCs, LLC Earns Esteemed 2016 Angie’s List Super Service Award for the 4th year in a row

January 25, 2017 · Rick Aurand

Aurand’s PRINTERS-n-PCs, LLC Earns Esteemed 2016 Angie’s List Super Service Award

Award reflects company’s consistently high level of customer service

Aurand’s PRINTERS-n-PCs, LLC has earned the home service industry’s coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award, reflecting an exemplary year of customer service to members of the local services marketplace and consumer review site in 2016.

This achievement is particularly significant as Angie’s List experienced unprecedented member growth in 2016. More than 1.6 million consumers, many of whom were eager to quickly hire highly qualified service pros, joined Angie’s List after the company added a new, free membership tier.

“Companies that can meet higher demands without missing a beat in their exemplary performance standards truly do stand apart from their peers,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks. “Only a fraction of the Computer and Printer Service and Repair companies in Harrisburg, PA were able to do it.”

Angie’s List Super Service Award 2016 winners have met strict eligibility requirements, which include an “A” rating in overall grade, recent grade, and review period grade. The SSA winners must also be in good standing with Angie’s List, pass a background check and abide by Angie’s List operational guidelines.

Service company ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List as new, verified consumer reviews are submitted. Companies are graded on an A through F scale in areas ranging from price to professionalism to punctuality.

For more than 21 years, Angie’s List restricted access to its verified reviews to consumers who paid membership fees. When the company removed that barrier, some companies worried that the new, non-paying members would not be as engaged as members of the past. Experience has shown, however, that these newly added members are just as engaged – across all age groups – as prior members. Also, because the company continues to adhere to its review verification process, there has been no degradation of review quality.

“The biggest change at Angie’s List is that we are connecting even more consumers to high quality service professionals,” Hicks said. “And that’s good for everyone.”

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Angie’s List helps facilitate happy transactions between more than 4.5 million consumers nationwide and its collection of highly rated service providers in more than 720 categories of service, ranging from home improvement to health care. Built on a foundation of more than 10 million verified reviews of local service, Angie’s List connects consumers directly to its online marketplace of services from member-reviewed providers, and offers unique tools and support designed to improve the local service experience for both consumers and service professionals.

* 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.

Remote Support

February 14, 2015 · Rick Aurand

We now have the capabilities to offer secure REMOTE SUPPORT

Click on the icon below:

You get a call from a company saying your computer is telling them there are problems and they can fix them.

January 27, 2015 · Rick Aurand

We are continuing to hear from customers about this and they ask, “Is this a legitimate call”?

These phone calls are coming in various forms; HOWEVER, There is no way for a company to know that there are issues with your computer unless you tell them.

They will look around in your computer, Install some FREE SOFTWARE, (I have even had a couple of customers that had a keystroke logger installed)

(This will log all your keystrokes and send it to that company or to who ever put the keystroke logger into your computer. This gives them access to bank accounts, credit cards you used online, user names and passwords.)

Then want a credit card from you.

WARNING:

NEVER…..EVER, Let someone you do not know have remote access to your computer for any reason!