Link to

 

 


Inside This Issue

E-Mail Scam
IRS "Refund Notice" E-mail Is A Fraud

Ask The Help Desk
Why Can't I See Graphics In My Incoming E-mail Messages?

Sites Of The Month
Great Sites To Check Out In March!

Short Tutorial
Printing Web Pages Using The Landscape Option

 

 

Dear Valued Customer

With March comes the return home of "snowbirds" who've been vacationing during the winter months, spring break for the college kids, and "madness" for college basketball fans. To make this month safer and more enjoyable for our Internet customers, this month's newsletter includes help on avoiding tax return e-mail scams, a great site that teaches ballroom dancing, and a tutorial on how to fit and then print web pages to standard size paper.

The goal of each of our monthly eNewsletters is to keep our subscribers informed regarding their Internet connection and to improve their Internet experience. To meet this goal, each monthly newsletter will usually contain information related to:

  1. Warnings on a recent virus or e-mail hoax that may affect you
  2. An update on new services and other local interests
  3. An answer to a frequently asked Internet related question
  4. Some fun, seasonal websites to check out
  5. A short, step-by-step tutorial on an e-mail or browser related task

We think you'll find the information contained in this newsletter to be a valuable tool for enhancing your Internet experience. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.

To see what's inside this issue, take a look at the index to the left and thanks for reading!

- The Xecunet Team

E-Mail Scam - IRS "Refund Notice" E-mail Is A Fraud

Tax season is now in full swing. That means that it is also the time of the year for Internet scammers to attempt to trick wage earners out of their hard earned money using the IRS as their front. A variety of fraudulent IRS-related e-mail messages are currently circulating around the Internet. Here are how a couple of them work:

 

A recipient receives an e-mail message from tax-returns@irs.gov. The subject line says "IRS Tax Refund." The message claims that the recipient is eligible to receive a tax refund of $571.94. A link is provided for the recipient to complete a form in order to receive the refund. Although the link appears to go to an IRS web page, the recipient is redirected to a scammer's website where personal data is then captured. THIS E-MAIL IS A SCAM!

Another tax-related e-mail fraud message also arrives to recipients appearing to come from the IRS. The subject line refers to "Refund Notice" and the message asks the recipient to click on a link to check the status of the recipient's tax refund. The resulting page mirrors an IRS web page but is actually part of a website run by a scammer. The page asks that the user enter personal information onto a form (first and last name, social security number or IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, and credit card information) to verify the recipient's identity and to process the refund check. THIS E-MAIL IS ALSO A FRAUD!



We urge our Internet customers to be cautious of e-mail messages that request private information for the purposes related to income tax processing or tax refunds. These e-mail messages may be phishing scams attempting to gather personal and financial information.

Back to Top

Ask The Help Desk - Why Can't I See Graphics In My Incoming E-mail Messages?

Question: Why can't I see graphics on incoming e-mail messages anymore? I used to be able to see them. I use Microsoft's Windows XP and Outlook Express.

Answer: Microsoft Corp. developed and released software called Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP users in the fall of 2004. Its purpose was to "patch holes" in some of Microsoft's software programs to help reduce the threat of e-mail viruses, e-mail worms, and hacker attacks. SP2 most specifically eliminated many of the vulnerabilities within its Internet Explorer browser and Outlook Express software programs. Most Windows XP users have since downloaded SP2.

One of SP2's protective measures for Outlook Express is to block images from being displayed within incoming e-mail messages as a default setting. Microsoft had discovered that some virus/worm threats arose from malicious code within the graphics of e-mail messages. Microsoft's solution was to prevent users from seeing any graphics within e-mail messages. This is probably the reason you are no longer able to see graphics within your e-mail messages.

Luckily, Microsoft provides an easy option to allow images to appear within messages, either on a per e-mail basis or for all e-mail messages. To see graphics within messages on an e-mail-by-e-mail basis, with your Preview Pane open, follow these steps:

  1. Click your cursor arrow on the gray bar located just below the subject line of the message. It will say, "Some pictures have been blocked to help prevent the sender from identifying your computer. Click here to download pictures." If you click anywhere on this gray bar, the pictures for that particular e-mail will appear for as long as you have that e-mail open.
  2. If you go to a different e-mail and then come back to this message, you will need to click on that bar again to see the images within the message.

Note: If you don't see the gray bar, open the message in its own window and follow steps one and two above. Otherwise, click your cursor arrow on the "View" menu and drop down to "Layout." When the "Window Layout Properties" window appears, make sure "Show preview pane header" is checked.

If you want to be able to see all pictures on all incoming e-mail messages that contain images, you can disable SP2's default blocking feature by following the steps below.

  1. Go to the Outlook Express "Tools" menu and drop down to "Options." When the "Options" window appears, click on the "Security" tab. About half way down the window you'll see an item titled "Download images." You will see a checkbox next to the words "Block images and other external content in HTML e-mail." If you uncheck this box, it will allow images to be viewed again just as it was before your SP2 update.
  2. Click "Apply" and then "OK" to save your new settings and close the window.

Back to Top

Great Sites To Check Out This Month

Learn How To Ballroom Dance At Home
http://ballroomdancers.com -  The popular television show Dancing With The Stars has created a renewed interest in ballroom dancing. If you've never tried it before or are in need of a refresher course, check out this site. It gives you a handy glossary of terms plus tutorials on doing the Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango, Rumba, Cha Cha, East Coast Swing, and more. The site also has great music to listen to while you practice. Have fun!

Pictures Of Men Wearing Socks With Sandals
http://www.sandalandsoxer.co.uk -  If seeing pictures of men wearing socks with their sandals offends you, do not enter this site. It contains over 300 pictures of men (and some women, too) who are wearing socks with their sandals. Dark socks, white socks, watermelon socks -- you name it. Do you have a dad, brother, or friend who wears socks with his sandals? Then why not take his picture and submit it to this site?

Ice Age 2 - The Meltdown Released Later This Month
http://www.iceagemovie.com/ -  The sub-zero heroes from the hit CGI film, Ice Age, are back. Manny the woolly mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the saber-toothed tiger, and Scrat the hapless squirrel return. Voiceovers include Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Dennis Leary, and Queen Latifah. For a sneak preview, head to this site. Ice Age 2 - The Meltdown is rated G for general audiences.

You Share A Birthday With Famous People
http://worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/birthdays.html -  Have you ever wondered what famous people share your birthday? You can find out by heading to this site and selecting the month and date of your birthday. A listing of famous people born on your birthday will appear. For instance, if your birthday is on March 26th, you share birthdays with Tennessee Williams, James Caan, Diana Ross, Marcus Allen, and Martin Short.

Get On The Cover Of A Wheaties Cereal Box
http://wheaties.com -  Over the past 70 years, Wheaties has recognized hundreds of outstanding amateur and professional athletes for their achievements by placing pictures of them on Wheaties boxes. Dozens of interesting pictures of these commemorative packages can be found at this site. Did you know that Lou Gehrig was the first athlete to appear on a Wheaties box? Do you also know that you can get your own picture on the front of a Wheaties box? Check out this site to find out how.

Back to Top

Short Tutorial - Printing Web Pages Using The Landscape Option

If you've ever tried to print an order form or a receipt from a web page, you've probably found that sometimes web pages are not optimized for printing. When you pull your paper out of the printer, you may discover that the right side of the page has been cut off or pages have been split vertically down the middle. By default, some browsers will attempt to scale web pages down to fit when printing onto standard size paper. However, this may leave the type size on the printed page too small to read.

A handy solution is to change the orientation of the page you are printing from "Portrait" (up and down) to "Landscape" (side to side). This allows you to print the text that would normally be cut off the printed page. Follow these steps to print web pages in a landscape format.

Printing Web Pages in Landscape When Using Internet Explorer 6.0 Browser and Windows XP Home Edition:

  1. With Internet Explorer open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to and select "Page Setup." The "Page Setup" window will appear.
  2. Under "Orientation," select "Landscape."
  3. Click "OK" and then proceed to print the desired page.

Alternate Method of Printing Web Pages in Landscape When Using Internet Explorer 6.0 Browser and Windows XP Home Edition:

  1. With Internet Explorer open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to and select "Print." The "Print" window will appear.
  2. Click on the "Preferences" button.
  3. Under "Orientation," click "Landscape," click "OK," and then click "Print."

Printing Web Pages in Landscape When Using Firefox 1.0 Browser and Windows XP Home Edition Or Macintosh OS X:

  1. With Firefox open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to and select "Page Setup." The "Page Setup" window will appear.
  2. Click on the "Format & Options" tab.
  3. Under "Format," select "Landscape" for your Orientation.
  4. Click "OK" and then proceed to print the desired page.

Printing Web Pages in Landscape When Using Safari 2.0 Browser and Mac OS X:

  1. With Safari open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to and select "Page Setup."
  2. When the dialog box appears, look for "Orientation" and select one of the icons that indicates a landscape view.
  3. Click "OK" and then proceed to print the desired page.

Printing Web Pages in Landscape When Using Netscape 7.2 Browser and Windows XP Home Edition Or Macintosh OS X:

  1. With Netscape Navigator open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to and select "Page Setup." The "Page Setup" window will appear.
  2. Click on the "Format & Options" tab.
  3. Under "Format," select "Landscape" for your Orientation.
  4. Click "OK" and then proceed to print the desired page.

Back to Top

We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted on the happenings here. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards,

Dallas Kincaid

Operations Manager




Xecunet LLC
57744-R Industry Ln
Frederick, MD 21704

301-682-9972



(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)

©2005 Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.

Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this eNewsletter are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.