by Geeks Team | Jun 27, 2018 | Online Safety
Lately there has been a rash of fraudulent phone calls. These fraudsters claim to be representatives of British Telecom. There is no way to apprehend scammers of this type. Usually they live within a distant country. This puts the onus on you, the target of these scammers to arm yourself with the knowledge to know if you are being had. First and foremost, if you are ever contacted by a company that has official business with you and you do not already know the person that you are speaking with, it is not unheard of to hang up and call the company back. Scammers prey on those that are willing to stay on the line with them and reveal more and more personal information. When in doubt just hang up, no company including BT will ever call to ask for personal information out of the blue. It is important to note that the con artists have already taken this into account and will try to give you a call back number. Do not take the call back number, simply call BT or contact them on their official website. Also, BT or your bank, or any other organisation will never call you to take control of your pc. What to watch out for These scammers are after any information that they can use to make money. The easy money comes from those people that loosely handle their personal information. A scammer or con-artist will do as little work possible to get the largest pay off. They will call individuals until they find someone that stays on the line with them...
by Geeks Team | Apr 2, 2016 | Online Safety, Tech Tips
It’s every computer user’s worst fear: your computer’s got a virus. Just as we would agonise over a sick pet, we flounder and turn to an expert for a cure. It might have been from a dodgy website, or an application downloaded from the internet, or malware which hackers have sent you. While any virus should be treated seriously and you should seek out advice from tech support for it, there are some simple measures you can take to try to fix some of the symptoms in the short term, and make the virus easier to remove in the long term. Antivirus Protection It’s very true to say that the best cure is prevention. Antivirus software can detect viruses and remove them before they take hold, even without your needing to know. If you don’t have an antivirus program installed, you can get free antivirus security online from numerous websites. Avast is one of the most reliable sources out there, but obviously only download applications from sites that you have verified for yourself and can trust. You can decide how often the antivirus software scans your computer, and the running of these scans may reduce your computer’s speed but not by very much. Manual Virus Removal If you’re feeling brave, and know your way around a computer, you can try removing a computer virus manually. You can do this by first identifying the virus, using antivirus protection. You can also use an online virus scanner if you can connect to the internet. There are lots of good virus scanners around, find one specific to the kind of computer you...
by Geeks Team | Mar 16, 2016 | Tech Tips
PCs are cheap but that doesn’t mean you can’t take active steps to make them last longer. Nowadays, processors have developed to the point where people are satisfied with a PC which is six or seven years old. There are active steps you can take to maintain your PC, to make sure it lives a long and healthy life, both in terms of software and hardware. Here are a few tips to help you do just that. Clean out dust It may sound pretty obvious, but it’s one of those things that goes to the bottom of your ‘to-do’ list. Dust collects in your PC and particularly the fan over time, meaning that your PC is at risk from overheating, which damages the internal components and could lead to your PC’s premature demise. Cleaning out dust can be easy enough, all you need is a compressed air canister and some newspaper to catch the dust and grime. Power down your PC completely and disconnect from the mains before carefully opening up and dusting the components, particularly the fan where dirt and grime can become clogged. If you are using a laptop then this can be much more difficult so great care needs to be taken to ensure you do not damage the case or any of the internal components such as the motherboard. We would suggest searching the web for comprehensive disassembly instructions. (if you are not completely confident then call us) Avoid Power Surges Voltage spikes, outages and lightning strikes are unpredictable, but they can be very damaging to the delicate electronic circuits of your computer. Even if...
by Geeks Team | Mar 7, 2016 | Our Services
People are often quick to buy a new computer when their old one has gone wrong or has started running slow. However, this decision can be premature. There are many issues that can be fixed with some clever problem solving and a little investigation. Teign Geeks are technical wizards, offering an unrivalled PC MOT that will help you to run again at full speed. Blast those Viruses The first thing Teign Geeks check for is viruses so we can discount this common problem when searching for the reason behind your PC’s slow performance. Our search is thorough and any viruses are swiftly banished. Take out the Trash We work hard to free your PC from junk. You may think that your PC is free from clutter. You might have excellent anti-virus software which you believe clears your computer of unwanted files. However junk can build up from years of general use, including surfing the web and installing apps. Let Teign Geeks do your dirty work for you. Remove pesky programs and secret services Our optimisation process streamlines your installed programs and services. We want to make sure that every megabyte of data is something you need or want. We will rid your PC of redundant programs and fix any others. We like to guarantee peace of mind by ensuring that any risky programs are completely removed. Make sure your registry analysis is in check We search through your system registry and make sure everything is in order. We remove orphaned entries and fix erroneous keys to bring your PC back up to speed. Teign Geeks are tech detectives: you...
by Geeks Team | Mar 1, 2016 | Online Safety
You will all no doubt have heard on the news that the TalkTalk customer database was hacked late last year by cyber criminals. Soon after many people started receiving calls from so-called TalkTalk agents claiming that either their PC had been hacked or that because of TalkTalks’ data breach they were going to receive a compensation payment of around £200. There are a number of other similar stories floating around. TalkTalk have reportedly said that these calls are not linked to the recent cyber attack – you can all make up your own minds on that one. We have had 3 people in our offices within the last seven days receiving the same kind of calls. The fraudsters are using very convincing methods get their victim to log into their bank and make a transfer to ‘TalkTalk’ (in reality the cyber criminals). I believe they are directing you firstly to a fake online bank statement showing that they have overpaid the compensation payment and that the rest needs to be transferred back. This is complete scam and TalkTalk would never make unsolicited calls with these kind of requests. If anyone does receive a call then just hang up, do not engage in any kind of conversation. If you need to speak to TalkTalk then we suggest you contact them via their sites’ contact us page: www.talktalk.co.uk/contactus or by calling 0870 444 1820 If you receive any call from any company or organisation asking to take control of your PC, claiming your PC has been attacked or asking for any kind of payment details simply hang up. We are offering...
Recent Comments