Let’s pretend you own a convenience store franchise – perhaps a 7-11 or Cumberland Farms or maybe a Turkey Hill.  Additionally, let’s say that you have a candy rack near the front door as you’re trying to entice customers into purchasing some slightly high-priced candy.  But, when inventory time comes around, you discover that a ton of candy has left the shelves but has never been rung up through the register.  Oh my goodness!  Customers are stealing your candy.  It’s time to sell the franchise!

Naturally, after investing long hours and probably lots of money, you wouldn’t sell your convenience store because customers are stealing your candy.  What would you do?  Why, you’d move the candy away from the front door and near the cash register.  By making this move, you’d still entice customers with candy as they were paying for their other purchases plus you’d have the benefit of keeping an eye on the candy to eliminate pilferage.

And so it is with the Internet.  Sometimes, I’ve had customers who have told me they are ready to give up their computing devices because “it’s just too much work.”  Yes, the Internet has hackers and scammers and spammers who want to “steal your candy.”  While all this is true, you shouldn’t “give up your franchise.”  The positive aspects of the Internet far outweigh the negative.  Instead of turning off your computing devices forever, do the computer equivalent of moving the candy rack.  How do you do that?  Here are a few suggestions:

• Don’t allow any phone call or pop-up screen to panic you. 
• Keep your anti-virus and anti-malware software up-to-date.
• Learn how to use Task Manager (Windows) or Force Quit (Mac) to shut down fake pop-ups.
• Stay educated.  Read this blog and others like it as often as possible. Don’t skip over the Question of the Week emails we send – read them!
• Call or email us when you’re not sure.  If we’re closed, call and leave a message anyway and then wait for our return call.
• If you’re a Remote Technical Support customer, purchase our PLUS service for $30 and get a special phone number you can use to call us even when we’re closed.  (Call us at 772-408-4425 to purchase or use the Buy Now button below.)
• Don’t take as gospel what your neighborhood “computer expert” tells you.
• Always think before you act!