Tag Archives: smartphone

Life After Release -10

Prisoners reentering society, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

After Prison Experience

On one of my adventures in downtown Atlanta, after my release from serving a 420-month federal prison sentence, I captured the photo of this beautiful bus while walking around the city snapping photos using a smart phone. Only Dumb Phones existed before my 1988 arrest and conviction. But at least you could find a phone booth to pay with coins or by calling collect on such a device, instead of having to pay a lot of money for a smartphone and phone plan.

Ad: Speaking of Phone Plans, here is my promotion for Tello.com where I earn 10 Tello Credits for referrals who use my referral code (P3RHP9H9) to purchase a low-cost plan.

https://tello.com/account/register?_referral=P3RHP9H9

Since these posts are read world-wide, I am certain that those in different countries without all of the available technology used in America may wonder how a phone booth looked. Though this photo is of a much older phone booth seen in 1988, this photo does show what would now be a dumb phone, if one could be found somewhere, when compared to a smart phone that I can use the camera of to walk around town taking photos.

Moving on to a different theme, when I first began writing this blog my intent was to post this brief message to refer readers to my page on Quora.com, where I may also earn a commission for those who use my link to sign up for Quora+

Anyways, for a quick blog post with a punch, I am re-sharing a popular answer on Quora that continues to receive a lot of attention because it relates to the technological challenge many returning citizens face upon release. Please be sure to follow the comments in the thread. In particular, what I wrote in response to a comment to help the returning citizen protect himself from scammers:

“Along the lines of security, adding two-factor authentication to an important account is best; especially, if you can use an Authenticator App, such as the one offered by Google or Microsoft. SMS messaging is better than not using any additional measure of security, but that may also be compromised. A lot of SPAM calls may leed to that becoming a security threat.

“Using a credit card versus a debit card is also best, since using the credit card does not require adding your pin number.

“For additional security, in the Manage Account settings on credit or debit cards, add a notification for any transactions done for the lowest amount available so that you will be notified of any transactions posted, and if not you, you can turn off the card immediately and change all associated passwords.” WTD

Thank you!

https://www.quora.com/profile/Wayne-T-Dowdy/The-success-of-this-answer-continues-to-amaze-me-Not-surprisingly-though-in-regard-to-the-fact-that-millions-of-men-a?ch=18&oid=98147589&share=5b51b5c4&srid=x5UbO&target_type=post

Life After Release-3

My Life as a Free Man, Uncategorized, , , , , ,
Great Blue Heron in Flight

Though this post begins different than some of my others, it does relate to life after release by showing my adaption to the technological advances made since I walked out the prison doors on August 28, 2018.

A walk in the Park on a cool and cloudy, Southern day. What a pleasure it was to see a great blue heron spread its majestic wings and soar across the water. Had I not been trigger-happy on my smartphone, I would have left the park with a nice video of it flapping its wings to lift itself above the water to fly off into the trees after I disturbed its peace by walking too close for its comfort.

When I pressed the spot on my phone to start the video, I didn’t think it worked so I pressed again. The second press stopped the video that had slowly started, so I got a one-second video and another slightly longer one that tracked it as it neared the trees, too far away for a good image.

SMARTWATCH WITH PHISHING LINK INCLUDED

Two weeks ago, I ordered a smartwatch online that has the capability of connecting to the camera in my smartphone. My plan was to use the smartwatch to take a selfie or group photo with me in the picture without having to hold the phone in my hand.

When my smartwatch arrived from China, I scanned the QR Code on the miniature user’s guide to connect my smartphone. Not just any smartphone, a real smartphone with the latest technology. The Android 10 update removed bugs and improved security.

No Connection: I aborted the download when Google Chrome and my security system warned that a phishing link was detected in the app: “IhzI666.com/fundo/download.html Phishing Website” (actual URL).

I contacted the company that I bought the watch from and told them that the watch, simply labeled as SMARTWATCH, came with the phishing link in the QR code and should be removed from inventory and that the company should contact and warn all customers who purchased that brand.

Fortunate for me, a couple of days before my devilish smartwatch arrived, fully loaded to catch a phish, I checked my phone for updates and saw Android 10 was available. Had I not have taken the time to update my phone, my finances may have dwindled, even though I do use two-factor authentication to protect access to anything I use with important information contained therein.

ALWAYS BE ON ALERT FOR SCAMS

Within a month of my release from prison, I ran into a scammer who posed as a hiring manager for a company offering a work-from-home opportunity. A little too late (after giving personal information), I figured out what was going on, but kept the person on the wire for over a week playing games with him, her, or IT, because I had already done what I could to protect myself and didn’t have anything of value to be taken, other than my fine name associated with a long history of criminal convictions.

ALERTED: The email address ended with @gmail.com. The company he, she or IT claimed to represent, came before the @gmail.com. Any official business will use their company email account, not gmail.com, hotmail.com or anything other than something like @amazon.com or @straightfromthepen.com.

I immediately contacted the credit reporting agency, Esperian, and froze my credit reports and alerted the FCC about the Scam-in-Process. After letting the idiot think for a week that a phish was online, I sent a text and revealed what I had done and said, “You need to find you a real job. I’ve been in federal prison for thirty-years and don’t have anything for you to steal. I’m out here starting my life over. Find something else to do that is more constructive before you end up going to where I just left.”

He, she, or IT was one of many scammers that I have dealt with since my release. Because of my popularity as an author, blogger, photographer (Google Guide-almost 4,000,000 views of my photos in Google Maps), etc., my social presence makes me a target.

Before my release, and afterwards, if I had not taken the time to learn about security, and the advancements in technology, my life would be different than what it is today.

To repay my debt to society, I use those negative experiences to help others avoid being caught in the same traps by forewarning them and posting blogs like this to enlighten others because life out here isn’t always a Walk in the Park.

But life is good, especially when I am blessed with seeing the beauty of God’s creation as it spreads its wings to fly into the sunset or across a body of water.