Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 19, 2011

As the calendar year draws to an end, charities (and ideally, donors) are focused on year-end donations and tax deductions. Here are a few scenarios for U.S. charities to keep in mind. ( Note: I am not a lawyer. When in doubt, contact an attorney who specializes in nonprofit law or contact the IRS for a ruling. ). Let's say the following donations will be processed by different nonprofits in the United States on Jan. 2, 2012: A check mailed (and postmarked) on December 29th that arrived in the o

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Process Donation Montana United States 271

Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 7, 2011

I got 7 versions of this today, at 2 different email addresses. They included an attachment called bbb_logo.jpg but no graphics in the message body. A friend posted about them on a listserve and said that clicking the link downloads a virus. This scam has been around for a while. Here's an article about a similar batch in 2007. Version 1: Sender: ::Better Business Bureau:: (support@bbb.org).

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Arlington Spam Service Files 170

Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 8, 2011

It's novel to get the snail mail equivalent of spam. This one came via U.S. mail from the Fictitious Business Name Renewal Center in Sacramento, CA. My business is required to register and publish a Fictitious Business Name (FBN, aka DBA or Doing Business As) every 5 years. And every 5 years I get an official-looking form from this organization telling me that "California Law Requires You To Renew Your Fictitious Business Name.".

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Spam Sacramento Business California 152

Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 8, 2011

It's novel to get the snail mail equivalent of spam. This one came via U.S. mail from the Fictitious Business Name Renewal Center in Sacramento, CA. My business is required to register and publish a Fictitious Business Name (FBN, aka DBA or Doing Business As) every 5 years. And every 5 years I get an official-looking form from this organization telling me that "California Law Requires You To Renew Your Fictitious Business Name.".

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Sacramento Business Spam California 152

Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 13, 2011

I've been seeing a bunch of spams trying to prey on job seekers. Particularly evil in these tough times. None of them attempts to disguise the URL they're linking to. Judging from this writeup , they're phishing, not downloading malware. There are at least some novel locutions, like "Hurroo Robert" and "Pass the time of day with Robert" that make them a little entertaining.

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Spam Management Application Review 122

Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 12, 2011

NTEN just published a short piece of mine on data management in their Change magazine. It's in their DIY series -- short tips for implementing something for your organization without extensive tech know-how or extra budget. The topic they gave me was managing decentralized data entry.

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Data NTEN Tech Tips 122

Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 22, 2011

Don't people know not to click links in weird emails from strangers? Probably not. This site says the link leads to malware. Sender: Svetlana@rlweiner.com (My domain -- no Svetlanas work at my company). Subject: Fwd: I'm in trouble! Text: I was at a party, got drunk, couldn't drive the car, somebody gave me a lift on my car, and crossed on the red light!

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Spam Picture Photo Companies 112