Facebook, Zelle, Snapchat

Anyone with a Facebook account who has downloaded other apps, like photo editors, VPNs, flashlight apps, 3D games, fitness trackers, horoscopes, and business or ad management apps should change their password for Facebook. Many of those apps, more than 400 according to Meta (the parent company of Facebook), have sucked up Facebook credentials. Look through the list that Meta published online (see the direct link at fairviewtowncrier. com/links). And, if any app asks you to authenticate using your Facebook credentials, run away from that app.

If you use Zelle to pay friends, be careful of scams that have you “Zelle” them money. Some Zelle users have been reporting that their banks are not refunding such frauds. Zelle, designed by seven major banks in 2017 to simplify sending money from your bank account to that of a friend (sort of like Venmo), has been facing a large increase in fraud. If money is illegally taken from your account without your authorization, the banks have to put it back. But if you are talked into sending money to a fraudster via Zelle, banks are using a loophole—you “authorized” that transaction because you started that transaction—to get out of refunding the charge. Consider contacting your federal representative or senator to ask them to clarify the federal rules on this so that this is truly handled as fraud.

Scratching your head when looking in your fridge, trying to figure out what to make from the oddball assortment of ingredients? My Fridge Food (myfridge- food.com) may be able to help. If you need it on your tablet or smartphone, there are installers for Android or iOS.

The IRS will never text you, so don’t ever respond to such a text. They also won’t call or email you, so no need to reply to those either. When they want your attention, they will contact you by postal mail only.

If you have security cameras around, test them in bad lighting (at night or with bright lights around) to see if you can still make out important identifying marks or license plate numbers. You might find that you need to reposition or add cameras to better cover your property.

Snapchat, which was only a mobile app, has finally come to desktop computers—if you use Chrome or Edge. Go to web.snapchat.com to log in. As this is just a website, there are limitations. For instance, you can’t open snaps on your desktop, only your phone.

Craigslist (craigslist.org) is a reminder that an old design can still be a good design. It has nearly the same look as when it first started out decades ago, proving that a functional site that gets the job done does not have to change just for change’s sake.