Scam Alert – December 2010
by Gerald Bauer, owner of JB Systems
It was recently brought to our attention that some customers were receiving “mock” emails from Charter Communications politely asking users for their email usernames and passwords. The exact email looks something similar to this:
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From: customercare@charter.net [bcc12@rogers.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 12:35AM
To: customercare@charter.net
Subject: Your Account Update
Dear charter Customer
There are some changes necessary in order to upgrade your e-mail account.Please send us your e-mail
ID and password so that we can upgrade youraccount and avoid any interruption in service.
Thanks,charter Support Team.
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There are several things to note here – such as the improper capitalization of things – but most importantly, review the “To:” address – and note the [bcc12@rogers.com]. This is dangerous – at Outlook will “blind carbon copy” your reply to an address at rogers.com. Do you really think this is Charter Communications? Probably not!
Also – for everyone’s information – Charter would have all the tools necessary (or we hope that they would) to manage their email accounts without soliciting their users for passwords. NO EMAIL PROVIDER SHOULD EVER REQUEST A PASSWORD FROM THEIR CUSTOMER. This is bad practice – and they have the tools to manually reset the passwords if they needed to.
Until next time everyone – have a great holiday and stay safe – both offline and online.
Our Newest Projects Come Alive!
We’ve launched several sites recently and we’d like to give those sites a little bit of our blog attention! Check ‘em out by clicking on the images!
Investment Realty
Investment Realty
As one of the largest real estate companies in Eau Claire, Investment Realty needed a website presence to match their success as a company. The site features ‘micro-sites’ for each of their divisions, putting essentially five websites all under the Investment Realty umbrella. This site also features easy administration tools for their staff to manage their properties without hassle.
Gold Collar Careers
Gold Collar Careers
Gold Collar Careers is an initiative led by the technical colleges and manufacturers in western Wisconsin to promote a positive image of manufacturing careers among young people. The site needed to be fun and entertaining for a younger generation, but also needed to be simple, easy to navigate, and useful for manufacturers, teachers, and school administrators. Lots of video on this site – again, courtesy of The Post House. Almost makes me want to be a welder…
Cadeaux Gifts
Cadeaux Gifts
One of our newest e-commerce stores to hit the web, Cadeaux’s website has all of the bells and whistles of the most popular e-commerce sites out there. Cadeaux has a variety of products ranging from soaps and lotions, to baby gifts, to wines and cheeses, and selling them online was a natural next step to grow their local downtown business. The site displays products beautifully, makes online shopping a breeze, and allows Lorraine to manage her inventory with a couple clicks of her mouse. This is a great site for holiday shopping!
Stay tuned for more to come from JB Systems!
Visit us at the Business Expo!
Are you ready to STAKE YOUR CLAIM on your website??
This year, we’re spreading the word that owning your website is CRITICAL! And when your website is built with JB Systems, it’s yours.
We’ll also be talking about some pretty cool things we’ve been working on at the JB Labs (our “black-ops” division, as we so affectionately refer to it):
* New Custom E-Commerce Platform
* Custom Multi-Lingual Websites
* Easy-to-Use Content Management Tools
Join JB Systems, The Post House, and Highland Fitness at the Business Expo – we’ll even have the massage chair ready and waiting!
PLUS:
We’ll be giving away some awesome prizes! Write us a testimonial on our blog and you’ll be entered to win even more!
Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery, but…
Yes, that’s what they say. However, when it comes at the expense of a client’s branding being copied…it just doesn’t have the same appeal.
One of our website designs was blatantly copied by a web design firm out of Minneapolis… and while we’re flattered that a Minneapolis design firm copied us, our client is not so thrilled. The firm not only copied the site almost to a T, but the site they designed was for a major competitor of our client within a 90 mile range. I don’t know about you, but we think that’s just bad form.
Of course we contacted the firm to see what they had to say about it – they didn’t think they were all that similar. Tell us what you think:
JB Systems version of CV Bean, launched February 2010
And now, the other guys (launched some time around June, we think)
We think that’s pretty unfortunate that Minneapolis designers can’t come up with an original design. We’re happy that they’ve recognized that the designers at JB Systems have some pretty cool ideas. Kudos, Meghan & the design team!
Thanks for tuning in…
Social Media and Your Website
Inspired by Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae (check it out here – the YouTube video is entertaining)
Because consumers (or buyers for business services) have so many choices, and can decide more freely how to receive marketing messages these days, they don’t have to settle for what marketers are telling them anymore. They can now listen to their friends, and their friends’ friends, or seek out other independent third-party credible sources about where to shop, eat, get their car fixed, etc.
That said, your social media strategy is only as good as the website you’re directing your friends, fans, and followers to. If the two aren’t consistent, and aren’t geared at turning those friends, fans, and followers into customers and raving fans, then how can we expect social media to work?
So, take a look at your own website. Is it ready for the social media world? Ask yourself these questions. What changes can you make?
* Is your website social? Does it allow people to share information with you and about you easily?
* Does it focus on things that people are really interested in or does it just focus on you?
* Does it let them interact with you, and with others?
* Are you listening and responding to them?
* Does it allow them to share their own content that’s relevant to your products/services?
I’ll be talking about this and more at a social media conference coming up next Wednesday, September 29th for the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce. To register, go to their website. For website questions, contact me at JB Systems and I’d be happy to help!