No Nigerian Prince – New Phishing Scam!

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OK, so as heavy users of online resources (being online students and overall Internet junkies), we’ve grown pretty savvy regarding the scams used by scammers to scam us out of our hard earned money.  For a while, we were susceptible to these “too good to be true” appeals to our greed.  “Nigerian banker fleeing oppressive regime needs compassionate foreigners to help him move his family business and significant cash holdings out of the country.  Let me deposit $4,000,000 into your account and when I transfer out the balance upon arriving in the US, I will leave $50,000 in your account as payment.”  I’m sure you’ve seen that one.  What about, “You’ve been selected to receive a $500 gift card from Walmart”? OK, so we have grown to recognize these as scams.  But scammers in Nigeria and elsewhere never sleep it would seem.  Latching on to the fact that we’ve grown hip to their schemes, they have gone the other way in an attempt to confuse us.  The new scams prey on the “too BAD to be true” response. For example, you receive a very official looking email from your bank.  It has all the colors and logos from your bank.  It may even come from an email address with your bank’s name somehow included.  It says something like, “Your account has been overdrawn by a debit in the amount of $7500.00.  The large dollar amount has alerted our fraud detection department.  Please log in immediately to verify the debit or to log a fraud claim.”  Provided is a link to a mocked up website that again “borrows” your bank’s website appearance.  In a panic, and wishing to quickly straighten out your account, you enter in your username and password and voila!  The scammer has access to your accounts.  Pizza and beer for all the scammer’s friends is on him tonight. There are lots of new Phishing scams popping up every day.  Click here for more information on the latest scams and how to detect them before you get taken for a ride.  Share any scams you have uncovered in the comments below.

Sample Resumé

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Writing a resumé can be a task that is quite difficult to begin.  Especially if you don’t have a point of reference from which to begin .  Do you ever wish you could take a peek at what other people have done with their resumés so that you could at least get an idea of how to structure/format your own? There’s no shame in cribbing from the work of others when it comes to writing resumés.  In fact, there are lots of resumé sample sites out there (here, here and here) where you can review the CV’s of people in the exact same field as you. Or, click “read more” to see a particularly good example of a medical billing CV I found online. Continue reading…

Perseverance

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We all have days when we feel like life’s challenges are just more than we can overcome.  If you’re feeling stretched thin, perhaps as you’re trying to train for a job in a new career field.  Or maybe you simply struggle to keep studies, work and family responsibilities from falling by the wayside.  Whatever your personal struggles, remember that the secret to success is to never give up.  Never give in.  PERSEVERE! Consider the story of Brandon Mulnix of Michigan.  Mulnix’s jaw was wired shut after injuries he sustained in a car wreck.  Yet he was scheduled to run a marathon.  A person with less perseverance might have opted to skip the 26 mile run.  But not Brandon.  He stuck to the task, no matter how large the obstacle in his path and completed the run in spite of his inability to consume solid foods for nutrition and energy. Kind of puts your struggles into perspective no?  Excelsior!

Job Hunting Blogs – A Link to Real World Experiences

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Getting your certification is a wonderful thing, but now it is time to turn your attention and efforts to finding a new position with your newly minted qualifications.  With the economy in turmoil and the effects of this volatility on the labor market, the rules of job hunting are changing day to day.  What may have been conventional wisdom about how to write a resume, how to handle interviews or how to negotiate compensation is potentially no longer relevant.  In many cases, what used to be a strategy for success has become a recipe for failure. The best way to know what is working (and what is not) in real time is to read the shared experiences of other job seekers who are also currently out there dealing with resumes, human resources, hiring managers, etc.  The best job hunting blogs have shared experiences posted daily and that fresh input can be of immense value to the job hunter.  I recommend Jobhuntingblogs.org which is a wonderful compilation of the best job hunting blogs out there. I also like guerrillajobhunting Get a fresh look at what is working for others and you can get ahead in the hunt! Also, share your experiences in the comments below to help fellow Allen School Online students in their search.

Sluggish Browser Slowing You Down?

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Browser Slower Than a Traffic Jam?

When you get a new computer the best part of the experience is that everything moves and responds so quickly.  Same goes for installing a new browser.  In the beginning, the web surfing experience is easy, breezy and satisfying.  However, after a while, it seems inevitably that the browser slows down.  Pages take longer to load.  Crashes seem to happen with greater regularity along with “Program Not Responding” messages that make you want to pull your hair out.  Yet, none of this needs to happen.  There are pretty simple reasons why this browser slowdown happens.  Whether you use Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari or something else, there are some steps you can take as part of regular system maintenance to keep you browser running swiftly. You can uninstall unnecessary extensions, change DNS servers, clear your browser cache and reinstall Java/Flash.  Any or all of these things will help to speed you back up.  But if this sounds like Greek to you and you’re not sure what this means or how to do it, visit this article from LifeHacker.com which explains what each of these things is, what each does and how to make each happen.

Starving Students Shouldn’t Suffer

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Hey, it’s hard to be a full time online student.  Especially if you’re also working full time and/or raising a family at the same time as you study to enter this exciting new field.  There frequently isn’t much do re mi left after you finish paying for all the essentials.  Lucky for you the fabulous folks at Kiplinger’s compiled this awesome list of freebies.  From meals, to books, to outings and more, there is lots to do, eat, drink, watch, listen to, read and enjoy for less than one thin dime.  Click here for the article chock full of fee-free goodness.   And if there’s nothing there that appeals to you, have a look at www.totallyfreestuff.com for even more gratis goodies.  If you’re still not satisfied, I will refund to you the full purchase price you paid for this blog.

Buying a New Laptop? Good Housekeeping’s Top Picks

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Buying a New LaptopSo Online students, anyone in the market for a new laptop?  I know I am.  My 7 year old Dell Inspiron finally bit the dust.  So I am on the hunt for the best unit at the most attractive price.  It can be awfully confusing with so many makes, models and configurations to choose from.  Luckily, Good Housekeeping magazine published their pick for best laptops on the market today.  I would recommend reading other reviews too from trusted reviewing outlets like Consumer Reports and www.cnet.com.  But here’s a link to the Good Housekeeping list.

Top 10 Cities for Medical Billing/Coding Careers

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Medical Billing and Coding, Vallejo, CAThe AllHealthCare section of Monster.com compiled a list of the top 10 best cities for people pursuing careers in medical assistant/billing/coding.   The list goes into a bit of detail for each city explaining why it made the list.  Of course, the most prominent contributing factor is the average pay for workers in the field.  But there are many other reasons to live in all of the cities listed.  Here are the top five and the average annual salary figures for each. CITY                             AVG. PAY 1)  Vallejo, CA                 $45,000 2)  Danbury, CT              $37,000 3)  San Francisco, CA   $37,000 4)  Salinas, CA                 $35,000 5)  Oakland, CA               $34,500 The rest of the list and more detailed information on the above cities can be viewed here.

Breakthrough!

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It’s always gratifying to blog about advances in the exciting medical field.  Unlike so many other fields you could have chosen to work in, medicine offers regular innovations that have dramatically positive consequences for humanity.  Take the case of the woman whose face was ripped off by an angry chimpanzee but this week unveiled the new face that doctors had successfully transplanted from a donor.  Breathtaking medical science at work no? Also of incredible value is a new treatment revealed in the AP story here and still very much in the experimental phase, which seems to be highly effective at killing leukemia.  The implications for all of humanity are significant if this cure is validated and distributed to cancer patients worldwide.  Sorry, but you’re just not going to be a part of any earth-shattering advances working at Speedy-Lube or McDougal’s Hamburger Hut.  (Both honorable jobs, just not fertile grounds for innovation.)