A portrait of the Facebook logo in Ventura, California December 21, 2013. REUTERS/Eric Thayer (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS LOGO) - RTX17GX9 (REUTERS/Eric Thayer)
Avoid this money-stealing virus
Q. I was listening to your national radio show and did I hear you correctly? Is it really true that there's a virus that can steal money in bank accounts right from your computer?
A. Unfortunately, yes. It's called Zeus, and it can steal your bank account numbers and passwords and send these credentials directly to hackers so they can drain your account. So far, Zeus has stolen more than $100 million! That's why you want up-to-date security software to keep it off your system. To be on the safe side, take a moment and make sure Zeus isn't already installed. Click here for a powerful online virus scan that can tell you.
Quickly fix a Facebook annoyance
Q. My Facebook News Feed is filled with ads and posts I don't care about. Is there an easy way to clean it up?
A. If you look in the upper-right corner of any post on Facebook, you'll see a downward arrow. Click it and you can hide that one post, hide all the posts from that source or unfollow the "friend" who posted it. If it's an ad, you'll have the option to adjust your preferences to see topics that might actually interest you – you can't actually get rid of ads. That's a quick way to start cleaning up your News Feed, but I have a few more tricks, including how to see posts only from people you choose. By the way, you can join me on Facebook by clicking here.
Working from home
Q. I'd love to find a job that lets me work from home. Do those actually exist or are they just scams?
A. While there are a lot of scams out there, work-at-home online jobs really do exist. If you have an eye for detail and a decent Internet connection, for example, you could do search engine evaluations for a company like Leapforce. You'd just be visiting websites and testing how well their search functions work. It isn't that tough, and you can usually make $10 to $14 an hour at it. If you'd rather look into doing at-home writing, graphic design, customer service or transcriptions, click here for details.
Spot a sweetheart scam
Q. My friend is crazy about this guy she met online, but I'm worried because she's started sending him money. Am I overreacting? If not, what can I do?
A. It sounds like your friend is caught in a sweetheart scam. This "guy" is probably scamming a bunch of other online daters out of their money as well. A quick way to tell is to run his profile picture through a reverse image search. Go to google.com/images and in the search bar click the camera icon. Upload the profile image and you can see where else it's used online. I'm betting it will show up on a stock photo site. Show your friend and then send her a link to my 3 online dating success tips and tricks so she can avoid this trap and others in the future.
Going too far with privacy?
Q. I really want to protect my privacy, but I want tougher ways. I don't want anyone tracking my calls, email, purchases and pictures while I am out. Any ideas?
A. Picking up a prepaid burner phone you can use for a little while and then throw away – well, hopefully recycle – isn't unreasonable. Ditching your computer in favor of an electronic typewriter is probably a little extreme. If you're considering transferring your entire life savings to bitcoin virtual currency or buying clothing to protect yourself against drone spying, though, it's time for some serious thinking about your life. And yes, these are all real things people do – click here for more details, including pictures of the drone-proof hoodie.
Kim Komando hosts the nation's largest talk radio show about consumer electronics, computers and the Internet. To get the podcast, watch the show or find the station nearest you, visit: http://www.komando.com/listen. To subscribe to Kim's free email newsletters, sign-up at: http://www.komando.com/newsletters.
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