Wow – you hijacked my friends googletalk account and you want me to send you money?

A scammer hijacked my friends GoogleTalk Account, and tried to get me to send $450.00 to him via western union.

Except the hijacker did not know any personal information about my friend.

so was unable to answer any questions.

and when I called my friends cell phone, he said he was right here in town, not in London as specified in the CHAT.

If you get a strange request via IM – and it does not sound right…. Challenge it.

the number for FRAUD at western union is:

1-800-448-1492

here is the entire chat.

——————–

Jeff: Hi
7:21 PM me: howare u
Jeff: am not too good at the moment
me: sup
7:22 PM Jeff: are you aware that am in London
me: no
whats up
Jeff: came down here for a resort
but unfortunately we got mugged at a gun point.
7:23 PM me: in London
Jeff: all i had was stolen by the muggers
that is why i need your help
me: what do you need
Jeff: my flight leaves in few hours, But having problem sorting hotel bills
7:24 PM me: how much
Jeff: 450 dollar
7:25 PM wondering if you can loan me the cash to get my hotel bill settle and get a cab to the airport
i will def pay you back once am back
me: checking
Jeff: i promise?
ok
me: do you have a # to call to pay bill on my CC?
7:26 PM Jeff: you will be sending it to me through western union to my name and the location i am
did you know any western union outlet that you can send it there to me
7:27 PM me: where is the last place we had lunch?
7:28 PM Jeff: am freaked out right now
are you doubting that i will pay you back once am back
i promise i will pay you
7:29 PM me: either give me your phone number – where I can call your right now – or tell me the last place we had lunch and I will solve your proble.
if you are Jeff – then you will know that.
and I will solve the problem.
Jeff: that mean your are tormenting me
7:30 PM you can only call on me on the hotel manager cell phone
my cell phone as been stolen by the muggers
i only have access to my mail box
7:31 PM i will really appreciate and promise to pay you back once am back
me: you know it is my pleasure to assist you…
Jeff: yes
7:32 PM then why doubting me
me: RML what?
Jeff: I really appreciate you wanting to help,but need you to understand how urgent i need this help.
but i don’t need to go through all these to get help from you
7:33 PM me: sure – where do you need the money wired too?
7:34 PM Jeff: to my name and the location i am
me: great – what is your location right now?
7:35 PM Jeff: London, United Kingdom
me: great.
Where in London, what Hotel?
Jeff: did you know any western union outlet that is near by that you can send it there to me
that is all you need to get it to me
7:36 PM and to my name Jeff Morris
me: Jeff Romney Morris – right?
7:37 PM Jeff: yes
how long will it take you to get it done
i need to get to the airport
quickly before my flight leaves
7:38 PM me: what flight number are you btw?
7:40 PM ?
7:41 PM what is your flight number?
I need to leave for western union.
7:42 PM It is going to take me 45 minutes to get to western union from here.
Jeff: ok
the comp is freezing
7:43 PM me: nothing important
7:44 PM Is Danny Kaye with you?
7:46 PM Jeff: my flight number is Delta 0004
yes Danny is with me
7:47 PM please you need to be fast about it
course our flight will leaves in a few hours
7:49 PM are you there
me: yes.
7:50 PM I am here.
Jeff: are you going now
me: I was putting my coat on to go to western union.
7:51 PM Jeff: ok
am waiting here for you to get back
7:53 PM me: trying to do it on the telephone
7:54 PM Jeff: ok
Delta 0004
me: trying to get western union on the phone – to make a transfer over the phone.
Jeff: ok
7:55 PM how long will that take
7:56 PM ?
7:59 PM ?
8:00 PM are you on it?
8:01 PM me: I am on western union online.
Jeff: ok
8:04 PM how is it now?
8:05 PM me: They are about to give me a MCTN tracking number
Jeff: ok
8:06 PM me: MCTN 18004481492
amount $450.00 + 20 charge
you owe me $470.00
Jeff: ok
8:07 PM me: SENT to Jeff Romney Morris
Jeff: ok
what is the senders name
me: please let me know when you have it
Dick Gozinya
Jeff: ok
thanks alot
8:08 PM me: will I see you for our meeting on Thursday?
Jeff: ok
i will email you once i get it
me: thanks.
8:12 PM Jeff: are you there
me: yes
Im here.
8:13 PM Jeff: the mtcn is not correct
8:14 PM is how many digits
?

making inno setup execute a file IN that installation kit BEFORE running the actual install

I spent a little time trying to get INNO SETUP to execute a file BEFORE the install to determine
if I needed to execute some “one time behavior” {a one time library update from microsoft – in my case}

I did not wish to do the download every time – so I used isxdl.dll to do that on a conditional basis.

but – the real challenges I had were –

a) Do I need to run the external installer to install 3rd party libraries?
b) Can I look up values in the registry that were not just a registry key – but were in fact in a value.
c) How do I RUN an Executable shipped IN my install kit – BEFORE I install it

so now that it all works – but I had to splice all of the pieces together, I figured I would share it
in case someone like me – maybe YOU – have similar issues to solve.

so here you go.

a) to determine if I needed to install a 3rd party library – we created a command line exe that we could
execute – that would store information into the registry (so that it can be checked any time)
b) to check the registry VALUES  I used RegQueryDWordValue – rather than RegQueryStringValue {for some reason – not documented well}
c) and then the BIG MAGIC… How do I run an EXE shipped IN MY INSTALL KIT – before I install files.

so the trick is – extract it yourself. – (sounds obvious right?)

so first tell the installer NOT TO INSTALL IT with the dontcopy flag

then in your code when you need it

ExtractTemporaryFile(‘LibrayCheck.exe’);

and then RUN the file with

Exec(ExpandConstant(‘{tmp}\LibraryCheck.exe’, ”, ”, ewWaitUntilTerminated, ResultCode)

it all seems so logical now – but the pathway was somewhat unclear.

so here are snippets of where all of that information goes in an actual INNO SETUP ISS FILE

[Files]

Source:   Requirements\LibraryCheck.exe DestDir: {tmp} Flags: dontcopy

[CODE]
fuction InitializeSetup() : Boolean;

var

version: cardinal;

begin

ExtractTemporaryFile(‘LibrayCheck.exe’);
If Exec(ExpandConstant(‘{tmp}\LibraryCheck.exe’, ”, ”, ewWaitUntilTerminated, ResultCode) then
begin

// Do whatever you want to do after the run
//  I for example Check for information in the registry

if (not RegQueryDWordValue(HLKM, ‘Software\myco\mapp\myver\’ , ‘myval’, version)) then begin

// if the DWORD value myval is NOT in the registry – I am here to execute whatever code I need

end;

end;

end;

8,800 Penny Tow

tow truck company holding his car refuses to accept payment in pennies. So he calls the police and forces them to accept legal tender and they still refuse… A must see.

I could so see myself doing this, I have wanted too before – Did I ever do this? 😉 [I got stuck re-rolling the pennies though] It never occurred to me to call the police and make them accept the payment.

8,800 Penny Tow

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update on google voice

4 score and 7 years ago i was about what time is on the new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition hello matter critical now we are engaged in a grateful war nothing was happening or any nation so could see it kinda long and or

I got a google voice account today!

I finally got it. – A Google Voice Account.

WOW!

and the entire process was “Google Cool”!

My first 3 calls with it were awesome.

1. It asks users to announce themselves, and then remembers who they are. (so that they do not have to announce themselves each time)

2. It lets you mark callers as spammers so that you never hear from them again.

3. It transcribes your voice mail into text as well as audio.

here is the greeting message I got.

Welcome to Google Voice! Google Voice gives you a single phone number that rings all your phones, saves your voicemail online, and transcribes your voicemail to text. Other cool features include the ability to listen in on messages while they are being left and the ability to make low cost international calls. To start enjoying Google Voice, just give out your Google Voice number. You can record custom greetings for your favorite callers or block annoying callers by marking them as SPAM. Just click on the settings link at the top of your inbox. We hope you enjoy Google Voice.

I had decided that I should have a wordpress account

I tell people every day that they should be blogging. Because – it helps them find and share their voice, but I constantly resist the temptation to setup a public blog. But after a phone call from a former student, asking questions today – I decided to post that and other answers here for people to be able to share.