Credit Card Fees

As of December 1, 2022 Tech Next Door will charge a 2.5% surcharge on Visa and MasterCard purchases. We do not accept any other form of credit card. We thought long and hard before implementing this policy. Here are our reasons for moving ahead with this new policy.

To offset expensive credit card fees
Since credit cards have been around, they charge a fee to the vendor to take a credit card payment. The rate for most small business is between 2 and 3 percent. We have been expected to bear this cost in past decades. What's worse is that the credit card companies would offer high reward cards (usually for a large annual fee) and when these cards were used the retailer was to pay a much higher rate, often in excess of 4%. The rules of the credit card companies has always been that retailers are NOT allowed to charge a fee for accepting credit cards. Things changed in 2022 when a class action law suit was won in Canada. See https://www.creditcardsettlements.ca/ for details.

To encourage other forms of payment
To be clear, we don't want to collect a surcharge. We would much rather you choose an alternate form of payment. We accept e-transfer, cheques and direct deposit. We have rebates to cover associated costs of these methods! *

To take a stand against heartless credit card company policies 
Let's face it, credit cards are very useful. They allow us to purchase items online, we can use them as a security on a rental item and we can buy an item that is above what we have available to spend (although we hope you don't do that!). However, credit card companies often have heartless finance policies, such as:

1. Extremely high interest rates (easy credit rip-offs!)
2. Over limit fees
3. A late payment resulting in interest hikes for a set number of months

These policies target the Canadians that are least able to afford them… our most vulnerable. We hope that further lawsuits and legislation will bring relief to some of these items. In the meantime we will discourage the use of credit cards by charging a surcharge. We encourage our fellow business owners to do the same... to promote alternate forms of payment and begin charging a surcharge on credit cards.

Our surcharge of 2.5% is slightly less that the 3% effective rate we get from our processor.

* e-transfer Rebate - Tech Next Door accepts e-transfer and has configured safe and secure 'auto-deposit'. Hence, the transfer is immediate and no password is required. It is a very easy way to pay! If your bank charges a fee for e-transfers, please let us know and we will credit your invoice for the amount (usually $1.50 per transfer).

The con went like this: There is a man, a very wealthy man, who is trapped in a Spanish prison under a false identity. I can't tell you his name as it would put him in great peril. I am his dear friend and he has entrusted me to retrieve some funds that would secure his escape. Unfortunately, getting to those funds and then getting them to Spain will incur some expense… a very small amount, I assure you, compared to the vast treasure that awaits. This man has promised one third of the treasure for the person who can help!

So goes one variation of the Spanish Prisoner confidence trick, popular in the late 19th century. The people have changed, the technology certainly has changed but that old con and ones like it, are still paying spades for fraudsters.

The stories have changed too. Remember the Nigerian Price scam from around the turn of this century… the poster child of email fraud for the 2000’s. And just this week many thousands received this imperative plea from Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzou, who was arrested in Vancouver last week:

"Hello, I am MENG Wanzou. Currently, I have been detained by Canadian customs. I have limited use of my phone. Right now CIA is trying to get me into the hands of the US government. I bribed the guard of my room, and urgently need US$2000 to get out of here. Once I am out, I will reward you 200,000 shares of Huawei. I will be good on my word. if you are single, we can also discuss the important thing in life. The guard’s name is David, the account number is 52836153836252, swift 55789034. I will be good on my word."

Wow – a promise of riches and ‘marrying up’! We can only wonder who would fall for this type of scam these days. Fact is, the reason we still see these is because they still work. And while it is possible that you might see one of these ‘classics’ show up in your Inbox, the reality is that the Spanish Prisoner scam is all growed up now, and there is a good chance you won’t be able to identify the ones being delivered today.

The term phishing was coined 20 years ago to describe these attempts to defraud via electronic means. Phishing is a progressive game… they cyber criminals are always improving. From phishing we advanced to spear phishing which were semi-targeted attacks. A good example of spear phishing is the UPS ‘There is a problem with your shipment’ email. For the 999 out of a thousand people who did not ship anything with UPS this week, we simply delete the email without a second thought. But if you happen to be the 1 in a thousand who did ship something with UPS … well, you might just double-click that attachment without even considering it. It’s been around for at least a decade and still going strong.

Recently the term phishing got another promotion… to laser phishing. Using AI, bots can collect information about you and generate a surprisingly authentic email direct to YOU and only YOU. Often these emails come in the form of CEO Fraud, also called Business Email Compromise (BEC). When the attackers know so much about you, it adds a level of authenticity to the email that can really throw you off. After all, they know your name, your bosses name, your emails, your title and responsibilities, your email… perhaps your travel plans. I know of one local attack this year where the victim did not fully check the legitimacy of an email because the writer knew the travel plans of the boss. ‘Who else would know that’ they thought. It was a mistake that cost the company over 100,000 US dollars.

How do they know this information? It’s child’s play. Social media is a huge vat of public information. Consider too the many hacks that have happened in recent years… Adobe, LinkedIn, Yahoo are a few of the big ones. Just last month Marriott gave up info on 500 million users. While the perps who orchestrate these attacks are elite hackers, all that information is then sold on the Dark Web to lower echelon hackers to do as they please.

Your privacy has gone public and practically anyone can buy the shares.

We need to assume criminals have your information and not be surprised when they use it to exploit you and your business.

The ‘Human Firewall’ has become the most important component of your business cyber security plan. If you are not taking staff training about cybercrime seriously, it’s time you did. Here are a few tips for your business to protect you against phishing scams.

1. Have regular security training. When I do training, I ask who knows what ‘phishing’ is. I would expect today that every hand goes up… but it rarely does. Ask your IT provider or call Tech Next Door about regular training on cyber-security.
2. Have a business class firewall with advanced malware protection. Attacks can often be stopped before even getting to your device.
3. Have firm but straight forward policies on communication especially regarding moving money. For smaller companies it can be as easy as ‘A sum greater that x dollars must be verbally authenticated by management/CEO’. For larger companies, analyze your policies and look for loopholes that can be exploited.
4. Enforce complex passwords. A large number of attacks happen when cloud services with simple passwords are guessed (or when everyone in the company uses the same password).
5. Have multiple data backups and make sure at least one of them is offsite.
   Be resolved to not be a statistic in 2019 and make sure your business is protected with robust business class hardware, firm policies and committed staff training.

Joel LaRusic is Founder of Tech Next Door, an IT solutions and support firm dedicated to security-forward results. Small business is often low-hanging fruit for cyber-criminals. Joel and his team all share the same mantra – We’re sick and tired of people getting ripped off and now we are dedicated to protecting the vulnerable! 

The con went like this: There is a man, a very wealthy man, who is trapped in a Spanish prison under a false identity. I can't tell you his name as it would put him in great peril. I am his dear friend and he has entrusted me to retrieve some funds that would secure his escape. Unfortunately, getting to those funds and then getting them to Spain will incur some expense… a very small amount, I assure you, compared to the vast treasure that awaits. This man has promised one third of the treasure for the person who can help!

So goes one variation of the Spanish Prisoner confidence trick, popular in the late 19th century. The people have changed, the technology certainly has changed but that old con and ones like it, are still paying spades for fraudsters.

The stories have changed too. Remember the Nigerian Price scam from around the turn of this century… the poster child of email fraud for the 2000’s. And just this week many thousands received this imperative plea from Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzou, who was arrested in Vancouver last week:

"Hello, I am MENG Wanzou. Currently, I have been detained by Canadian customs. I have limited use of my phone. Right now CIA is trying to get me into the hands of the US government. I bribed the guard of my room, and urgently need US$2000 to get out of here. Once I am out, I will reward you 200,000 shares of Huawei. I will be good on my word. if you are single, we can also discuss the important thing in life. The guard’s name is David, the account number is 52836153836252, swift 55789034. I will be good on my word."

Wow – a promise of riches and ‘marrying up’! We can only wonder who would fall for this type of scam these days. Fact is, the reason we still see these is because they still work. And while it is possible that you might see one of these ‘classics’ show up in your Inbox, the reality is that the Spanish Prisoner scam is all growed up now, and there is a good chance you won’t be able to identify the ones being delivered today.

The term phishing was coined 20 years ago to describe these attempts to defraud via electronic means. Phishing is a progressive game… they cyber criminals are always improving. From phishing we advanced to spear phishing which were semi-targeted attacks. A good example of spear phishing is the UPS ‘There is a problem with your shipment’ email. For the 999 out of a thousand people who did not ship anything with UPS this week, we simply delete the email without a second thought. But if you happen to be the 1 in a thousand who did ship something with UPS … well, you might just double-click that attachment without even considering it. It’s been around for at least a decade and still going strong.

Recently the term phishing got another promotion… to laser phishing. Using AI, bots can collect information about you and generate a surprisingly authentic email direct to YOU and only YOU. Often these emails come in the form of CEO Fraud, also called Business Email Compromise (BEC). When the attackers know so much about you, it adds a level of authenticity to the email that can really throw you off. After all, they know your name, your bosses name, your emails, your title and responsibilities, your email… perhaps your travel plans. I know of one local attack this year where the victim did not fully check the legitimacy of an email because the writer knew the travel plans of the boss. ‘Who else would know that’ they thought. It was a mistake that cost the company over 100,000 US dollars.

How do they know this information? It’s child’s play. Social media is a huge vat of public information. Consider too the many hacks that have happened in recent years… Adobe, LinkedIn, Yahoo are a few of the big ones. Just last month Marriott gave up info on 500 million users. While the perps who orchestrate these attacks are elite hackers, all that information is then sold on the Dark Web to lower echelon hackers to do as they please.

Your privacy has gone public and practically anyone can buy the shares.

We need to assume criminals have your information and not be surprised when they use it to exploit you and your business.

The ‘Human Firewall’ has become the most important component of your business cyber security plan. If you are not taking staff training about cybercrime seriously, it’s time you did. Here are a few tips for your business to protect you against phishing scams.

1. Have regular security training. When I do training, I ask who knows what ‘phishing’ is. I would expect today that every hand goes up… but it rarely does. Ask your IT provider or call Tech Next Door about regular training on cyber-security.
2. Have a business class firewall with advanced malware protection. Attacks can often be stopped before even getting to your device.
3. Have firm but straight forward policies on communication especially regarding moving money. For smaller companies it can be as easy as ‘A sum greater that x dollars must be verbally authenticated by management/CEO’. For larger companies, analyze your policies and look for loopholes that can be exploited.
4. Enforce complex passwords. A large number of attacks happen when cloud services with simple passwords are guessed (or when everyone in the company uses the same password).
5. Have multiple data backups and make sure at least one of them is offsite.
   Be resolved to not be a statistic in 2019 and make sure your business is protected with robust business class hardware, firm policies and committed staff training.

Joel LaRusic is Founder of Tech Next Door, an IT solutions and support firm dedicated to security-forward results. Small business is often low-hanging fruit for cyber-criminals. Joel and his team all share the same mantra – We’re sick and tired of people getting ripped off and now we are dedicated to protecting the vulnerable! 

All of the major browsers have a feature that provides greater privacy.

Internet Explorer and Edge browser call it 'InPrivate Browsing'
Chrome calls it 'Incognito'
Firefox calls it 'Private Browsing'
Safari calls it a 'Private Window'

Millions use these features for greater privacy however in a recent report by DuckDuckGo it turns out that very, very few understand the technology and most were shocked when they found out how little protection it affords.

Privacy features, such as those described above, do enable web browsing that clears browsing history and file cache after use... but only on your computer. Websites, search engines, internet service providers, and governments can still easily track you across the web. Since most people are really not that concerned about what is on their own computer (unless you are using a public computer) then really, these incognito modes are doing nothing for your privacy... accept maybe give you a false sense of security.

Note these key findings of the DuckDuckGo report:

76% of the 5710 people surveyed were unable to accurately identify the benefits of Private Browsing. In fact about:

Last week it was announced by Talos Intelligence, a leading cyber security intelligence organization, that a sophisticated new type of malware was infecting certain WiFi routers. It is called 'VPNFilter' and it can collect information, block network traffic and exploit devices on your network. Apparently it also has a 'self-destruct' command that renders your router useless. The report suggests up to 500,000 routers are affected. Here is what you need to know.

To cut to the chase, reboot your router. This malware resides in the router's memory so rebooting clears that memory. The FBI have shut-down the web-domain responsible for controlling the virus so you will not be reinfected after the clean boot of the router. True, only certain routers are infected but since the fix is so easy we would suggest just rebooting. 

How easy is rebooting your router? The hardest part for some might be identifying the router. For most home users it will be the box provided by your Internet Service Provider. Simply unplug it, wait about 10 seconds, and re-plug it in. That's it!

For businesses, you too may have a modem/router from your ISP or you may have a third-party router. Check with your IT provider if you are not sure.

To protect against this and future attacks to routers we strongly recommend making sure your computer operating system, applications and network devices such as routers are all on the latest firmware version available. If you need help, just call Tech Next Door.