WhatsApp E-mail Scam on the Prowl, Secure Yourself

A bunch of users have reported that they have received some e-mails that have the WhatsApp logo on it and which claim that they have to click on a big green button to read the message.

E-mail spam and scams are nothing new to the PC user community because a lot of scammers have used the name of big brands throughout the years. But, the problem is that when it comes to a frequently used messenger like WhatsApp, users mostly forget the fact that it is a smartphone app and is not supposed to notify you through an e-mail. Even though, there is a web version of the same, the original application was never designed to alert users through any other means.

Official Support Page Confirmed

The official WhatsApp support page has answered a user who questioned whether they send any messages, alerts or notifications through e-mail messages. The developer team confirmed that they have never had such a policy in place.

In their statement, the team said, “We never have a policy that allows the team to notify a user through e-mail messages. We will never e-mail you to notify, or update your app, and will never send a message, request payment, make voice calls, or request videos and pictures. As we don’t have any such policies, we request users to be on alert and never click on any such links. The best way is to simply ignore them.”

They also added that e-mail will be used as a means of communication only when you contact their technical support team and open a ticket. They will use the medium to notify you of the status of a user’s complaint and other things related to a ticket. Apart from that, everything else is handled through Android or iOS, among other operating system platforms.

Hacked E-mails

Reports suggest that the e-mail messages sent in the name of WhatsApp are actually hacked accounts of friends or other people. The accounts are sometimes hijacked for short periods of time, to make you instantly believe that it comes from a reliable source. It is a phishing scam and can be used to perform a wide range of actions including dropping a code on your computer which could send anonymous data.

Whenever you receive any similar e-mail messages from WhatsApp or something similar, just don’t click on anything and close it. You can choose to report it as a spam but it is purely an individual choice and is not mandatory, just in case you were still doubtful.

-   PAU

Is your eMail, Facebook password really strong enough?

Are you sure the password you created for your Gmail or Facebook account strong enough?

Well, if you went by the green bar that indicated your password to be strong enough, then it may not be as fool-proof as you thought, warns new research slated to be published in the journal ACM Transactions on Information and System Security.

The new research from the Concordia University exposes the weakness of password strength meters, and shows consumers should remain sceptical when the bar turns green in order to create strong passwords.

"We found the outcomes to be highly inconsistent. What was strong on one site would be weak on another," said lead researcher professor Mohammad Mannan.

"These weaknesses and inconsistencies may confuse users in choosing a stronger password, and thus may weaken the purpose of these meters," he added.

Researchers sent millions of not-so-good passwords through meters used by several high-traffic web service providers, including Google, Yahoo!, Dropbox, Twitter and Skype.

They also tested some of the meters found in password managers, allegedly designed with the relevant expertise.

But on the other hand, our findings may help design better meters, and possibly make them an effective tool in the long run," said co-researcher Xavier de Carne de Carnavalet.

So what can companies do? Start by emulating Dropbox, the researchers recommend.

The popular file-sharing site had the most robust password strength meter, and the software is open-source.

"Dropbox's rather simple checker is quite effective in analysing passwords, and is possibly a step towards the right direction.

"Any word commonly found in the dictionary will be automatically be caught by the Dropbox meter and highlighted as weak," Mannan explained.

"That automatically prompts users to think beyond familiar phrases when creating passwords," he said.

- ZEE

5 Interesting Gmail Features That Maybe you Don’t Know

Just about everyone owns a Gmail (read Google) account these days. While the use of Gmail to regularly send and receive emails varies widely from one user to the next, it pays to know how best you can customize your experience nonetheless. The following features serve to illustrate just how amazing your experience on Gmail can be if you explore what lies beneath the surface…

1. The Dots do Not Matter

If your Gmail address is my.name@gmail.com, that sounds great and all that but did you know the dots do not matter? I mean, it does no matter where you place the dots. In fact, someone could send you an email using m.yn.am.e@gmail.com or some other variation with the dots placed anywhere liberally in the text string and you will still receive your email as usual. On a side note, it also does not matter if you use @gmail.com or @googlemail.com.

2. Undo Emails Sent by Accident

Have you ever replied to an email and then realized a few seconds later that you used the “Reply to All” option while your reply was meant for just a single recipient instead of the whole company? Gmail now allows you to undo a sent email but you have to manually enable the option. Click the “Tools” icon on the right hand side of your Gmail window (the tools icon looks like a gear wheel).

From the drop-down menu select “Settings” and look out for the “Labs”. In the Labs tab, scroll down till you get to “Undo Send”. Click the “Enable” option and then save changes. Still in the “Settings” dialog, click the “General” tab and scroll down and you will find another “Undo Send” option. Enable it there as well and then save the changes. This done, you are now set to undo the damage when you hit the “Send” button too soon. Every time you send an email from your Gmail account a notification bar will appear for a few seconds prompting you to either cancel the send command or dismiss the prompt.

3. Insert an Image Directly into your Email

Again, this feature is found in the “Labs” tab under “Settings”. Scroll down until you get to “Inserting Images” and enable the option. Now inserting images into the body of your email is as easy as in Word. You can drag the image directly from your computer onto the email while in “Compose” mode. Alternatively, you can click the “Insert Image” icon and then use a URL to locate the image you want in the email.

4. Create a Custom “From” 

If you use Gmail as your default email account alongside using Gmail’s functionality to manage several other emails, you may extend this functionality further. Gmail does not just enable you to read emails from different accounts from one place, you can also reply or forward these emails while maintaining your separate online identities. Creating a custom “From” field to ensure you reply and forward your emails without mixing up your different online identities is easy. Just use the Labs feature and follow the prompts.

5. Send Canned Responses to Repetitive Emails

If you regularly receive emails which require a standard reply, you do not need to keep typing the reply every time you have to make a response. From the “Labs” feature, you can set up a canned response to help you get rid of such replying tasks with speed. Enable the “Canned Responses” from the “Labs” tab of the “Settings” dialog box. To create a canned response, use the compose option as usual and type the message. Just below the “To” textbox, click “Canned Responses”, go to “Save” and click “New Canned Response”. Give the canned reply a title and give it a title. Next time you have to give a canned response, all you need is to click “Canned Responses”, choose the appropriate message and then send you reply.

As will be apparent from above, there are many ways to make Gmail work the way you like it to. The five tips above represent just a sample of the amazing tricks you can customize your Gmail experience. Master them and dealing with email does not have to be the dreary repertoire it has been over the years.

-   TFJ

Gmail Chats Now Available Directly From your Inbox

If you are that kind of a Gmail user, who likes chatting and talking to other people, even in the most restricted conditions, like in an office, then this article is just what you need.

If this is your type, then think of this scenario: you are presented with a platform you can use to keep talking to your friends, even if the environment is very strict; just like an office is. Wouldn’t this be some form of newly discovered heaven for you? Of course it would and this is because you won’t have any needs of frequently checking your phone and typing messages to respond to your friends and risk being noticed by your boss or those not so friendly workmates, who might pass on such information to higher ranking officials of the company.

Chatting with Convenience

Thanks to Gmail, you can now chat without necessarily having to look away from your desktop. Google Talk is an instant messenger from Google that was recently replaced by Google Hangouts. However, the application is still available for use and while it is, you have to ensure to make the most of it. As much as you may want to update to the latest version of Google Hangouts that offers users with an array of new features that include voice and video calling, if you are looking to keep your chats at a hush-hush level while working, it is better to skip the update and instead stick with using Gmail Chat.

Gmail Chat Requires no Software

One good thing about using Gmail Chats is that it requires no software to be installed, before using. However, you can choose to install the Google Talk Messenger which is an independent application that can also be used for chatting purposes once installed on your PC. This would however be completely unnecessary, since you can get this same service right from your inbox.

The advantage of using this feature from your inbox is that no suspicions would be raised as you won’t have to type or look away from your PC. You’ll appear to be typing an email, yet you are chatting with your friend. In addition, all conversations made in chats are free of any charge.

Gmail Chat Prerequisites

In order to use this feature, the first thing you need to have is a Gmail account. This is of course if you are new to Gmail. Once your account is active, on the left hand side of your screen, you should be able to see that you are automatically signed in to Gmail chat. In addition, you can see a list of persons in your contacts and when you select on any of them, a window will pop up from where you can start chatting one on one with your friend.

Setting Status Messages in Gmail Chats

Just like with WhatsApp, you can set a status message for your friends to see as well as see your friends’ status too. It is possible to set a custom status and to do this, look on the left of your window and from there; you can access a drop down menu that has various options for status messages, including “Available”, “Busy”, “Invisible”, as well as “Custom messages”. You can choose any of the default options and set as your status message or choose to create a custom message to fit your direct needs. Choosing the invisible option will make you appear as if you are not logged in while using the “Busy” option will ensure that you receive minimal disturbances when online. The “Available” status will let your friends know that you are available for chat.

All of these status messages have a representation. A green dot means that one is online and available for chat while a red dot means one is busy. When an orange dot appears, it means a user is not at their desk or away from the screen. When you choose to hide your status and go invisible, the dot that comes out is colored in grey. In this way, your friends will know that you are offline.

You can also make voice and video calls using Gmail.

-   thefusejoplin

How to set up email on Nokia Lumia 530 with Windows Phone 8.1

The Nokia Lumia 530 is the entry-level budget smartphone in the Windows Phone 8.1 family. With its low price for many people it is their first smartphone offering everything from social media access to email and messaging. Setting up your email account is incredibly easy but if you’re new to Windows Phone 8.1 there are a few things you’ll need to know. Find out how to set up email on your Nokia Lumia 530 – it’s easier than you think.

The death of email has been greatly exaggerated in the UK press of late, with students in particular stating they’d rather use social media networks for being contacted and kept informed. However, for most of us email and its private nature remains one of those features we’ve come to take as a natural part of our daily lives.

Find out more about Nokia Lumia at Microsoft Mobile UK

Setting it up on your Nokia Lumia 530 is one of the first tasks you’ll want to do and it’s incredibly easy. It doesn’t matter if you have an Outlook, Google, Yahoo, or some other email account, it all follows a similar pattern.

How to set up email on Nokia Lumia 530

Swipe down on the screen and the Action Centre will open. Tap on the All settings icon and choose Email+Accounts from the list. You will then see a full list of the default accounts that you can add to your Nokia Lumia 530 – everything from Outlook and Hotmail, through to third-party clients such as Yahoo and Google Mail.

All you need do is tap the option you’d like to add and follow the onscreen instructions. Windows Phone 8.1 takes the stress and hassle out of having to set up an account as all you’ll need to do with most email accounts is add your email name and the password, the software will do the rest.

Once you’ve entered your details all you need do is tap the ‘Sign In’ button at the bottom of the screen and Windows Phone will complete your email setup.

You’ll find your email account is added as a Live Tile to the Start screen of your Nokia Lumia 530. However, it will use the generic account name, such as Google. If you want to make it a little more personal, open the app, choose Settings>Sync Settings and change the Account Name.

Once done tap the tick on the bottom of the screen and you’ll see the Live Tile now has a new name on the Start screen.

How to improve battery life on your Nokia Lumia 530

The great thing about Windows Phone 8.1 is, once you’ve set up email is that you’ll be able to see all your messages at a glance using the Notifications options in the new Action Centre. To do this just swipe down from the top of the screen and the centre will open and you’ll see all your messages, regardless of how many email accounts you have set up.

source:- noknok

Setting up Multiple Free Gmail Accounts in the iOS App

Many people cannot live without checking their emails.

Whether the first thing you do as soon as you open your eyes in the morning is to check your email, or you’re on the bus on your way somewhere, being able to read your new messages is just as important. This is even more applicable if you have multiple email accounts. You can’t just receive a new notification for one account. It is essential that you’re using an email app that would fetch new messages for all your email accounts even when you have not opened the app.

Download Gmail for iOS

If you’re using an Apple device, Gmail for iOS is the perfect mobile email app to download. The app is able to fetch incoming messages in the background. This feature is perfect if you’re busy and don’t have enough time to open the app just to see if you have any new emails. As long as you turn on the notification for the Gmail app, you will be able to receive notifications even if your iPhone is sitting inactively on the table. This feature was not available in past versions, however, if you’re only going to download the app now, it is already available in the latest version you’re about to install.

Supports Multiple Gmail Accounts

Not only does it fetch new email messages in the background, the Gmail iOS app also supports multiple Gmail accounts. You can now save more than one Gmail account in a single app and you will receive notifications for all saved accounts. This is a very useful feature especially if you consider all your email accounts a priority, you don’t have to log out of one account just to log in on a new one.

Setting Up Multiple Gmail Accounts in the iOS App

On your Gmail app, open the menu icon (the 3 horizontal lines) at the upper left corner. Click the arrow beside your email username, followed by “Manage accounts.” From there, you will see an option to add another account. Click it and put your other Gmail information to sign in. You can save up to five different Gmail accounts in the iOS app. You can also choose to turn on or off each account. If you don’t want to receivenotifications from a certain Gmail account, just turn it off. You can easily switch it back on if you changed your mind.

Having Multiple Email Accounts is Very Useful

For some people, creating multiple email accounts is a big waste of time since you can just use one account for several purposes. However, having different emails for different purposes also has its advantages. You can have an email account for personal use and one for work purpose. If you’re a student, you can create an email solely for school stuff such as homework, projects and researches. You can also create a different email for all your social media accounts because sometimes our emails are cluttered with notifications from different social networks.

source:- http://thefusejoplin.com/2014/11/setting-multiple-free-gmail-accounts-ios-app/

How to send large files through email

A lot of internet users send files via emails. However there is one problem and that is that you can only send files with limited sizes. Let’s take example of Gmail. Gmail allows its users to send maximum data attachments of 25 MB.

This is definitely not enough if you are sending your birthday pictures or a video to your friends or family members. So, what to do? No worries, Yes you can send large files through email Easily.

You can use websites like dropbox, where you can upload files and share the link of those uploaded files to your friends but unfortunately websites like dropbox comes with some restrictions with first being not free, advertisements and less security.

Google Drive by Google is the best option to upload your files and send them to your family members, friends. It acts as a Cloud drive. Most of us are having a Gmail account, you can use the same Gmail account if you are willing to use Google Drive and with that Gmail account you will get 5GB of free space.

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How to send large files through email

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Follow this step by step tutorial for sending large files via email.

Step 1: First of all you need to visit Google Drive and sign in with your Google account Credentials.

Step 2: Once you are logged in you can start uploading your data. Click in the upload button which is present right next to create.

While uploading any file you can view the status of the upload by looking at the status window which is present at the bottom right corner of your computer screen. You can even place more than one file for uploading at a time.

Step 3: Once the upload has been completed you can easily share them with your friends, family members or even office colleagues. Click on the Share link to set the sharing settings of the file which you want to share. You can decide if you want to make that file private or public. Click on Who Can Access under Change menu to change the file status.

Step 4: You can send the files directly by emailing them from Google Drive. In the Sharing settings menu of a particular file you will see options which will include sending file via email and via social networking websites like Twitter, Facebook.

Google Drive also comes with one great feature and using this feature you can also limit the people to only view the files and not comment or you can give them permissions to comment or edit the files.

If you want to share files of your project with your team, upload the files and grab the link and share them with your entire team. You can even use Google Drive on smartphones as it is available both for Apple and Android operating systems.

There are other websites which are similar to Google Drive but provide a little less features:-

• Dropbox :- Click here to access Dropbox
• Sky Drive Live :- Click here to access Sky Drive Live 

So now you know how to send large files through email Easily and quickly, then take advantage of it.

via:- http://www.smarttricks.net/

How to Schedule emails to send in future

You never know if you will have time in nearby future. There are two instances, once when you are having enough time and no work to do and the other when you are not having time and you are having huge workload. During the times of heavy workload, there can be instances when you forget to do important things which you should have done.

Let’s say you didn’t mailed your friend for his birthday. So, what to do then? To keep yourself on a safer side you can schedule your mails when you are free.

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 How to Schedule emails for sending them in future.

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Boomerang for Gmail

There is a plugin, names Boomerang for Gmail which is available both for Firefox and Chrome which will help you to Schedule emails. This plugin is compatible with Gmail and using this you can take control of sending and receiving emails at desired time in your Gmail account.

 How to Install Boomerang

• Open your Google chrome or Firefox Browser and visit the Boomerang website by clicking Here.
• Once you have visited the website, click on the Install Boomerang button which is present on the website and the installation will be started.
• You will come across a couple of steps, follow those steps and your installation will be done.
• Once the installation has been completed, the next time you will open Gmail, Boomerang will be automatically enabled.

How to use Boomerang

• Using Boomerang is very easy as the interface of this plugin is very user friendly. Read the guide below on how you can use Boomerang on your Gmail account to Schedule emails.
• Compose email like you normally do.
• On the Compose page right next to the Send button you will see a new button named Send Later. This is the button which will help you to send email later.
• Choose the date and time as per your schedule, whenever you want to send the email.

Additional Features

Schedule Recurring Message :There is one great feature which comes with Boomerang and that feature is that you can schedule recurring messages to anyone on periodic basis. Let’s say you are working in a project and you are the project leader and each week you need to ask your team member about the progress report of the project. Using Boomerang you can schedule that message using the Schedule Recurring Message feature. You will see the option to schedule recurring messages once you click on the Send later Button.

Deal with emails later: Sometimes we don’t want to read the emails we received at that time. Boomerang will remind you to read the received mail at the time you have set. If you have sent an email to your entire team and you want that the person who is max qualified in your team should reply to It but he fails to reply it then you will be get notified.

via:- http://www.smarttricks.net/

How to Schedule SMS and Social Messages With Schemes

Social media has become an integral part of everyone’s life and so has changed the way of expressing our thoughts. The generation believes in everything that is readily available and in our case, it is the technology that you need right on your fingertips. It is not just the friend circle conversely the business world too revolves around the social media.

One needs to be productive all the time and on the web; productivity is all about right scheduling and time management. This is where Schemes aims to address.

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What is Schemes ?

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Schemes is a simple android application that allows you to schedule your messages via Facebook, Twitter, Email (for Gmail only) and SMS. Whether you need to send that birthday text to your Facebook friend exactly at twelve midnight, Tweet about something exciting that you came across, make Facebook status updates, or send that important business mail during the odd hours, Schemes is right there for you.

The Size of this Usefull app is 4.7mb and you require to have android 2.3 and up to Run this app on your Device Smoothly. Talking about the User Interface then nothing Complicated there, User interface is very user Friendly.

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How to Schedule SMS and Social Messages

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• Scheme is Created by Flozzo, an XDA senior member, Schemes features clear Holo card-based UI. The UI is sleek to support numerous forms of communication and offers settings that other similar apps never bothered to include. The app is Specially created to Schedule SMS and Social Messages.

• One can easily schedule SMS, emails, tweets and FB status from any device.What that means is You can Write your message any time and schedule it for the time to send to any person you want. For eg: you need to send a Happy birthday message to your friend at 12, but you know you wont have access to internet at that time or you are busy because of  xyz reason, you Can Schedule your message , the rest will be done.

•  All you do is Create a message by tapping on Message icon, This takes you to the Compose Screen where you can type your Message to be Sent, Select Recipient and date & time.

• Setting date and time is quite easy and the messages can be scheduled on up to four networks simultaneously. You receive a notification when the message is sent where you can easily edit or cancel the messages and there is lot more to it.To Schedule posts on Social media, you need to Connect your account with Scheme.

The application offers you unlimited possibilities for the social media freaks. Your future messages stay secure in a thread like manner and Schemes will never post. So go Schedule SMS and Social Messages with this automated communication system and let the world know of what you are up to.

via:- http://www.smarttricks.net/