You heard me. For the past month, at least, I have been receiving email messages that I have been evicted from my home, or that I have to appear in court to answer some charge. Usually the court is in California. So, since I don’t live, nor do business, outside my country, and I own my house, I wasn’t too concerned about the message. It did go to my junk mail, but you may get it in your inbox. Here is an example:

“Notice of eviction,

Please be advised that your

current dwelling has been condemned.

The eviction proceedings are already in process.

You are hereby ordered to vacate

the premises no later than 03/21/2014 or face forcible removal.

Any attempt to resist is futile.

Contact our office without delay to

make proper arrangements for a move out.

We want to hope for you cooperation.

Our contact details and judicial statement are enclosed to this notice.

Real estate agency,

Donna Mason”

This particular message was sent from ‘your_notice@valuedpropertiesllc.com’, with the subject of ‘For the Attention of Houselhold Member’. It ended up in my junk mail – as did all the others.

Poor grammar and formatting are your first clues this is a hoax. Please do not click on any attachments you get with email messages, especially from someone you don’t know; and take extra care if it is threatening like this example. Criminals are just trying to scare you into infecting your computer with a virus. DON’T DO IT!

Make sure you have a current antivirus program, that it is up-to-date, and that your firewall is running. Should you be unsure of any of this, or want to discuss your situation, please contact me!