Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

http://austms.blogspot.com.au/

20 March  2020

The Ugly and Beautiful Amongst Us

The world is battling against a virus that affects the body. But we live with mind-viruses that kill the  intellectual / logical part of the brain. We do not battle against them. This happens when we do not have faith in those who shared their independent minds with us – starting with our parents and ending with community and social relations.  Below is how I fought against one of them:

Yesterday, around 1640 hrs – Sydney time,  I read the following email. (My computer shows Sri Lankan time due to majority of my emails relating to Sri Lankans. )

From: IT HELPDESK SOLUTION [mailto:myemailbillingnotifications.5745.5865.@online.telstra.com]
Sent: Thursday, 19 March 2020 11:05 AM
To: gajalakshmi_param@bigpond.com
Subject: Sync Error For gajalakshmi_param@bigpond.com

Dear User : gajalakshmi_param@bigpond.com

We received a request from you to shutdown this account gajalakshmi_param@bigpond.com This request will be processed by close of business today. 

If you did not authorize this action kindly cancel now if not disregard this message. 

CANCEL REQUEST

Thanks for taking additional steps to keep your account safe.

Regards,

gajalakshmi_param@bigpond.com  Delivery Checked

Telstra Support .

Аll Rights rеsеrvеd | Ассерtаblе usаgе рoliсy | Рrivасy Notiсе

My first thought was whether we had delayed payment? I checked our documents and confirmed that it was indeed paid well before the due date. Then I went to the online chat line which usually is helpful when I have email connection problems. This time it did not work. Then I went on the phone and waited through the long delay. While waiting, I recalled lodging a complaint after receiving suspicious calls warning me through a recorded message – that my internet services were at risk of being  disconnected . Back then I fought against it as follows:

[>   I am getting calls saying that my broadband account would be

> terminated. The latest came from 0531937446. My search led me to the

> following details about the user of this number in France: Either the

> operator has undertaken not to provide the identification of the

> subscriber of 05 31 93 74 46 (Red list or opposition number) The

> number 05 31 93 74 46 has not yet been allocated to a particular or

> professional subscriber The assignment of the number 05 31 93 74 46 is

> in progress Or the number 05 31 93 74 46 is not listed

>The user stated

> that my email has been hacked and I explained that she may be

> mistaking that my account was suspended when I used it in Sri Lanka

> but that Telstra had duly serviced me and that I was now back in

> Australia. She went on and on and I said that she sounded like the

> hacker. Then she cut off]

I then contacted Telstra Cyber Security who confirmed as follows:

[Hi Gajalakshmi,

Thank you for letting us know about this.

What you encountered was, in fact, a scam.

These sorts of frauds have been around for quite a while, often impersonating major brands such as Microsoft, Telstra and others. The goal of the fraudsters is to try to gain access to your computer, to your passwords, and sometimes to your bank accounts or other financial information.

Telstra should never unexpectedly contact you and ask for this sort of information and access.

We've also published an article which contains more information about these scams, as well as a few tips as to how you can better identify if a call is truly Telstra, or a potential fraudster…….]

I thanked Telstra and preserved the details. That happened in August last year. The work I did to make the discovery before going to Telstra helped register the experience at the deeper level than if I had gone first to Telstra without doing what I could. I did likewise in a money-laundering scam involving two banks. In that instance, I reported them to the Ombudsman.

Yesterday I forwarded the email to Scott McIntyre of Telstra Cyber Security, who promptly confirmed as follows:

[Hi Gajalakshmi,

This is definitely a phishing scam and in no way an authentic message from Telstra.

Thanks for passing it along - we'll try to get the malicious website taken down.]

I felt good. Later, when going through the mail delivered by Australia Post I felt really valued by the birthday wishes by our State Member of Parliament – Dr Marjorie O’Neill. I recalled organising my mother’s 70^th in Canada. The return came from our Coogee Community leader. That is how Dharma works. My  daily emails include some members of Parliament. Since my emails are  belief based – they are my relations. Hence the return.

The Coronavirus is surfacing the beautiful as well as the ugly minds in our community. Each one of us  has the ability to contribute to cleaning the community of ugly minds that  breed the virus of selfishness. Those who spread that virus are as cold blooded as the fish and the phishers.

Recently an Australian Tamil community leader forwarded the following message:

It is appropriate. But it applies also to refugees who take the place of the real victims. For some time they pretend to assist the victims who do not have an alternate place to flee to. But gradually they ‘forget’ to pretend and go to these places to ‘show off’. They end up suffering from early dementia when passive or bipolar disorder when active. If as a community we care about the common mind of our environment  - we need to invest more and more in common values and not limit ourselves to the community that glorifies our status. I believe that by genuinely serving the Tsunami and War victims in Sri Lanka – I developed the ability be steady minded in relation to global experiences that affect my  physical environment also.