Welcome
to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, October 18, 2009
October
is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Please have a mammogram or take someone you love to have one.
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Rescue Scams Trap
Homeowners
Tips & Tricks: Internet
Explorer: Full Screen Mode
This Week's Topic: Make Your
Computer Easier to See
Question: Taskbar or Toolbar?
Websites of Interest: Macaroni
& Cheese Recipes; BankFox; WhitePages;
Laundry Stain Treatments; Halloween
To
our readers:
We
have gotten so many emails from people thanking us for our articles on scams
and hoaxes and how we have helped save them from being victimized. We appreciate your thanks and are glad
we can help. We wish we had the
time to answer each email.
Here
at Sharper Training Solutions, one of the things we are very dedicated to is
educating all of our friends as to the identity theft and dangers that can be
out there. We have found that some
of these scams can be pretty clever and can easily fool even the most
suspicious of us! Because of that,
we encourage you to pass on our newsletter articles to your friends and family
to educate them as well.
And
don’t forget, you can always email us with any questions or issues you
may encounter.
Stay
safe out there !
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Special Feature: Rescue Scams
Trap Homeowners
The
following article is from reuters.com
One
American industry is booming amid the slump and job losses: mortgage rescue
scams that prey on homeowners in financial straits.
The
scammers have low start-up costs and expert market knowledge, many of them
having learned their predatory tricks in the boom in providing subprime
mortgages a few years ago.
Experts
say they will thrive as long as the nation remains in the throes of its worst
housing crisis since the Depression with millions of Americans unable to pay
their mortgages.
"Rescue
scams are the real growth industry," said Keith Slotter,
special agent in charge at the San Diego office of the U.S. Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
"All
you need to target people is a computer and know-how to set up a website and
you're in business. These groups can set up quickly, target people across
multiple states, shut down and move on before they're detected."
Mortgage
fraud was easy during the fast and loose years of the real estate boom.
Some
analysts say fraud played a big role in triggering the subprime crisis that
pushed America into recession in 2007 and wiped out trillions of dollars in
property values.
Now,
rescue scams are costing homeowners money and wasting
valuable months when they could be talking to their lenders about saving their
homes -- delays that can cause unnecessary foreclosures and prolong the U.S.
housing crisis.
"There
are a lot more people we could help if it weren't for rescue scams," said
Melinda Opperman of housing counseling agency
Springboard in Riverside, California. "This could end up slowing down any
potential recovery."
Out
of desperation to hold onto their piece of the American dream, couples like
Salvador and Blanca Jimenez in Los Angeles become easy prey.
The
couple bought their first home in 2005 for $430,000 with an adjustable rate
mortgage. When their monthly payment jumped by $800 to $2,691 in early 2008, Salvador's
wages as a driver for a seafood company were stretched
to the limit.
"We
were barely able to make the payments," Salvador said.
He
said that shortly after a late payment, he received a letter from a firm called
Direct Lender, offering help to get a loan modification with a lower monthly
payment, for a $3,995 fee.
The
couple were greeted at Direct Lender's offices by
friendly and smartly dressed staff speaking Spanish.
"When
they explained to us in Spanish how they were going to save our house, we felt
comforted," Salvador, 46, said through an interpreter. "We believed
in them."
The
couple stopped paying their mortgage and paid Direct Lender instead. Soon
afterward, they received notice from their bank demanding payment.
"I
called the bank and told them Direct Lender was taking care of everything and
the bank said they'd never heard from any third party," Salvador said.
"Often operations like this open and shut so fast it's hard to track them
down."
Salvador
and Blanca turned to the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, which provides
free legal services to low-income families.
The
center has filed a complaint against some Direct Lender executives, as has the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which prohibits deceptive business practices.
In
a complaint to a U.S. District Court in California, the FTC said Direct Lender
was a fictitious business name operated by another company that engaged in
"deceptive acts and practices." Along with a second firm, it
"participated in a common scheme to deceive consumers," the civil
complaint said.
"This
is a rare case because we actually have the name of someone we can file suit
against," said Steve Arrodondo, an attorney at
the center who is representing the couple.
Daniel
Nassie, an attorney at Nassie
Law representing Aaron Cuha -- one of the defendants
named in the center's complaint, which seeks damages -- said his client was a
"fine gentleman and upstanding businessman" but could not discuss the
case. Other defendants could not be reached.
As
millions of Americans face losing their homes over the next few years, the U.S.
government and law enforcement agencies are gearing up to tackle what Arrodondo's fellow attorney Michael Chung calls a
"tidal wave" of rescue scams.
"We
were set up to help people deal with various legal issues," he said.
"But almost every single call I get is related to rescue scams."
MORE
FRAUD TO COME
Not
so long ago the real growth area for scams in the U.S. housing market was quite
different.
During
the boom, banks engaged in years of loose, irresponsible lending that allowed
borrowers to obtain mortgages with no money down and with no proof of income,
providing fertile ground for fraudsters.
This
subprime bonanza allowed criminals to team with mortgage brokers and property
appraisers to inflate property prices, then buy and sell or "flip"
homes at huge profits -- often to "straw" or nonexistent buyers.
"Subprime
fraud played a huge role in the housing crisis," said Todd Lackner, a mortgage fraud investigator in San Diego.
"Bank employees must have recognized individual cases of fraud but no one
was looking at the whole market and realizing this was an epidemic."
That
epidemic helped cause the housing crisis that in turn pushed the world's
largest economy into recession in 2007.
There
have been some recent signs of a nascent recovery in housing prices but rising
unemployment and a potential flood of foreclosed homes coming on to the market
could bring further falls and more pain. [nN1185085]
In
April alone, the FBI in San Diego charged 24 people with racketeering involving
220 properties for a total sales price of more than $100 million. Nationwide,
the FBI said in September it has 300 agents working on 2,600 open fraud cases
-- eight agents in the San Diego office alone.
As
the housing crisis mushroomed, targeting vulnerable borrowers has become a gold
mine.
The
amounts per person are relatively small -- anywhere up to $8,000 -- but they
add up quickly. In its 2008 Mortgage Fraud Report the FBI said total losses due
to mortgage fraud are unknown but at least 63 percent of cases in 2008 involved
losses of more than $1 million covering multiple counts.
"We
expect rescue scams to continue rising over the next three to four years as we
work our way through this crisis," Slotter said.
"In
many ways this is the most despicable kind of fraud," he added.
"These criminals target people who are about to lose everything they have
and take thousands of dollars from them."
Counselors
say many behind the scams are the same former mortgage brokers who sold bad
subprime loans during the boom.
"They
know exactly whom to target and when because they know how the market
works," said Antonio Hicks, an attorney at nonprofit group Legal Services
of Los Angeles County. "They look to see who's in default and they go
after them."
The
situation is often worse in minority communities where scammers abuse bonds of
trust.
"We've
even seen cases where people were targeted in church by members of their own
community," Arrodondo said. "There is no
limit to how low they'll go."
Keywords:
USA HOUSING/SCAMS
TREASURY,
CITIES SOUND ALARM
Describing
the proliferation of fraudulent mortgage rescue schemes as an
"epidemic" on September 17, the U.S. Treasury, Department of Justice,
the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the FTC announced they
would work together to target investigations and increase their efficiency.
"A
clear lesson of this financial crisis is that American consumers need better
protection against fraud," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.
The
city of Los Angeles now bans upfront fees for mortgage loan modification
services in a bid to combat rescue scams.
Ultimately,
educating homeowners about scams is more effective than trying to catch smart
and mobile thieves, said John Brady, housing policy coordinator in the office
of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
FTC
spokesman Frank Dorman said the commission is considering a possible nationwide
ban on advance fees for loan modification and foreclosure rescue services.
"Combating
mortgage relief scams is one of the FTC's top priorities," he said.
Lori
Gay, president of nonprofit lender Neighborhood Housing Services of Los
Angeles, welcomed moves to target rescue scams and increased attention from the
FBI.
"More
than half of the people who walk through our door seeking help have given money
to criminals," she said. "Those frauds even advertise on television
and the radio. If you hear five commercials an hour offering help, four will be
fake.
"It's
become a big business. I'm just glad that the authorities are waking up to the
problem and doing something about it. I want more of these people behind
bars."
********************************************
Tips
& Tricks: Internet
Explorer: Full Screen Mode
If
you would like to see more of the webpage, and less of the toolbars, try Full
Screen Mode. Press the F11 key
(that is on the row of F keys on the top row of the keyboard).
Now,
the website fills your entire screen.
If you need a toolbar or the address bar, press the F11 key again to go
back to regular mode.
********************************************
Today's Topic: Make Your
Computer Easier to See
Question: I am proud to say I am a 92 year old
great grandmother still up and about and trying to learn how to use my
computer. It would help if it were
easier to read. Can you help me
make things bigger on the screen?
Thank you for all the great help and advice you send.
Answer:
There
are several things that you can do to make things easier to see. Windows provides several tools and
settings that improve visibility.
You can change the resolution, increase the size of text, icons, start
menu items and mouse pointers, and use the Magnification tool.
Screen
Resolution
With
a high resolution, many things can fit on the screen. However, it reduces the size of
everything and text can be hard to read.
If you reduce the resolution, there will be room for fewer items on the
screen, but the ones that are there will be easier to see and read. Here are the steps to change the
resolution:
Windows
XP:
Right
click on a blank spot on the desktop.
A menu will open; left click Properties. This will open the Display Properties
window.
Click
the Settings tab at the top. In the
Screen Resolution area, you will see Less and More
with a slider in between. Point to
the slider and drag it towards Less.
You
may want to experiment with the settings.
Try dragging the slider halfway and then click Apply. You may get a message asking if you
would like to keep these settings; click OK (or Yes). If you like this setting, click the OK
button. If not, drag the slider all
the way to Less and then click OK.
Windows
Vista:
Right
click on a blank spot on the desktop.
A menu will open; left click Personalize. Click Display Settings. This will open the Display Properties
window.
In
the Resolution area, you will see Less and More with a
slider in between. Point to the
slider and drag it towards Less.
You
may want to experiment with the settings.
Try dragging the slider halfway and then click Apply. You may get a message asking if you
would like to keep these settings; click OK (or Yes). If you like this setting, click the OK
button. If not, drag the slider all
the way to Less and then click OK.
Icon
Size
You
can make the Icons bigger. Here are
the steps:
Windows
XP:
Right
click on a blank spot on the desktop.
A menu will open; left click Properties. Click the Appearance tab at the
top. Click the Advanced button.
Under
Item, click the down arrow and then click Icon. To the right, under Size, click the up
arrow next to the number. This will
increase the number.
Try
increasing the number by about 20.
Click the Apply button to see how you like the changes. If you want the icons even bigger,
increase the number by about 20 again and click the Apply button. If they become too big, decrease the number
and click Apply.
When
you are done, click the OK button.
Windows
Vista:
Right
click on a blank spot on the desktop.
A menu will open; Point to View.
Click Large Icons.
If
you would like to make the icons even bigger, hold down the CTRL key on the
keyboard and roll the mouse wheel away from you. To make them smaller, roll the wheel
towards you while holding down the CTRL key.
Text
Size
Increase
the size of text.
Windows
XP:
Right
click on a blank spot on the desktop.
A menu will open; left click Properties. This will open the Display Properties
window.
Click
the Appearance tab at the top.
Under Font Size, you will probably see Normal. Click the small arrow to the right and
then click Large or Extra Large.
Click the OK button.
Windows
Vista:
Right
click on a blank spot on the desktop.
A menu will open; left click Personalize. On the left side, click Adjust Font
Size. Windows will ask for your
permission to continue; click the Continue button.
The
DPI Scaling window will open. Click
Larger Scale and then click the OK button.
If you are asked for permission, click Continue. You will need to restart the computer
for the changes to go into effect.
Start
Menu
If
the Start Menu items are larger, it will be easier to navigate and open
programs.
Windows
XP:
Right
click on the Taskbar. Left click
Properties in the menu. Click the
Start Menu tab at the top and then click Customize. Click Large
icons. Click the OK button. Close
all remaining open windows by clicking the OK button.
Windows
Vista:
Right
click on the Taskbar. Left click
Properties in the menu. Click the
Start Menu tab at the top and then click Customize. Scroll down to the bottom of the
left. Click Use large icons. Click the OK button. Close all remaining open windows by
clicking the OK button.
Mouse
Pointers
You
can increase the size of the mouse pointers.
Windows
XP:
Click
the Start button and open Control Pane.
Open Mouse. Click the
Pointers tab at the top.
Under
Scheme, click the down arrow to display the choices. Click any of the Large or Extra Large
schemes. Examples will display in
the window. When you find one you
like, click the OK button.
Windows
Vista:
Click
the Start button and open Control Pane.
Click Classic view on the left side of the window. Open Mouse. Click the Pointers tab at the top.
Under
Scheme, click the down arrow to display the choices. Click any of the Large or Extra Large
schemes. Examples will display in
the window. When you find one you
like, click the OK button.
Magnifier
This
is a small accessory that comes with Windows, allowing you to magnify parts of
the screen. It uses part of the
screen, at the top, to magnify the area the mouse is pointing to at the bottom.
While
the magnifier is a good program if you want a real close up of something, it
does take a little practice to get used to using it.
Windows
XP:
Click
the Start button and point to All Programs. Point to Accessories and the
Accessibility. Click
on Magnifier. You can change
the Magnification level. You may want to experiment with the settings to see
what works best for you.
Windows
Vista:
Click
the Start button and then click All Programs. Click Accessories. Click Ease of Access and then click
Magnifier. Change the Scale Factor
for a larger or smaller magnification.
You may want to experiment with the settings to see what works best for
you.
********************************************
Question: Taskbar or Toolbar?
What
is the difference between a Taskbar and a Toolbar?
Answer:
the taskbar is the long gray bar that sits at
the bottom of the screen (it can be moved to the top or either side of the
screen). It has the Start button on the left, the system tray (with the clock)
on the right, and, if any programs are open, the program buttons display there.
Toolbars
are the little strips at the top of a program. They usually display right under the
Menu bar. Toolbars hold icons, or
buttons, that are shortcuts to commonly used commands in that program.
********************************************
Websites of Interest:
Macaroni & Cheese Recipes
If
you are a macaroni and cheese lover, this website can show you so many different
ways of preparing your favorite dish.
http://macaronicheeserecipes.com/
BankFox
This
website makes it easy to compare bank products like savings accounts, checking
accounts, CDs and more.
http://www.bankfox.com/
WhitePages
Free
address and phone number look up.
Search by name, business or phone number.
http://www.whitepages.com/
Laundry
Stain Treatments
Everything
you ever wanted to know about removing stains.
http://tipnut.com/stain-treatments/
Halloween
Is
less than two weeks away. Visit the Halloween page on our website
for help with pumpkin carving, costume design, cooking baking and much more.
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/halloween.html