NewsLady

TWO EVENTS ONE PLACE Concert $20.00+ITBM Friday, September 23th + Mexican Night $16.90+tax September 28th Members club $14.90+tax RESERVATIONS MUST BE DONE AT 730-8313 OR 6676-0653

Seeking Souper Heroes!!! The Great Boquete Soup Fest is coming up on Friday, October 28, 11AM - 1:30 PM, and we need you to bring your special soup -- that delicious recipe that people beg for and which always leaves them satisfied. The Great Boquete Soup Fest helps to fund the Boquete Knitters and Quilters purchase of supplies with which we make quilts, sweaters, blankets, caps and booties for our tiny neighbors. Please contact Brandy Gregory, TNRNMSG@YAHOO.COM, and let us know what your special soup is. Be a Souper Hero!!

I have expanded my range of artisan woodturnings to include 7" long single cigar tubes made from Panamanian woods. The matching caps have o-rings that seal the tubes tightly and securely. Each tube is made by hand on my wood lather here in Boquete, sanded smooth, and finished with a buffed-on coat of pure Brazilian carnauba wax. The current collection of these finely crafted tubes are priced from $30 - 40 each. I am also turning 9" wooden plates for my friend, Richar Huisa Mamani, a local Panamanian artist who is an excellent painter as well as a jewelry maker. I will have two of Richar's beautiful hand-painted plates available tomorrow - one featuring a quetzal and the other a scarlet macaw. $40 each. -- David van Harn Woodturning Artisan Boquete, Chiriqui, Panama

Several people are interested in creating a place that would offer housing and services for those of us who wish to remain here for the rest of their lives, in an environment that is SAFE and COMFORTABLE, when they are no longer able to live independently. The book BEING MORTAL, Medicine and What Matters In The End is one that should be read by everyone because it brings to the forefront the types of issues we will all face as we age. We strongly recommend this book to everyone. It is available in a Kindle version on Amazon, as well as in print (click the link above). If you feel inclined to know more about the project we are working on here in Boquete, please complete our SURVEY, and indicate your preferences. You can also join the core group in the planning stages....we need people with all kinds of talents to lend their expertise to the project. Click here to complete the short survey. Thank you, Penny Ripple & Linda Hart

We’re back, but not with tomatoes. Yes, we have the real stuff –organic sweet corn on the cob. Look for us across the road from the BCP market this Tuesday, September 20th from 9 a.m. This may be the only day available. thomas

Hello, my name is Rita Mariel Ruiz and I'm a senior in engineering at Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá. We are making a donation and a party for the orphans at Hogar Trisker here in Boquete. The kids' age varies from 1-11 years and we are in need of towels, bed clothing, diapers, some food. If any of you can donate anything e mail me at ritina1812@hotmail.com or call me at 6263-6687 and I can pass to pick up any donations. The party will be next saturday so I will be picking up donations until friday.

Stretching for EveryBODY Included in this Program are Specific Stretching Patterns for… First Thing in the Morning Before & After Walking Relief of Lower Back Tension or Pain Sitting for Long Periods Simple Stretches You Can do While Watching TV All Around Good Health This one week program has three 90 minute sessions Included will be a short lecture, varied routines with instruction, and personalized attention. You will learn breathing techniques along with how to stretch properly and safely. Each session will end with a Q&A. Programs are limited to 8 participants maximum Everyone gets personal attention. No BODY left behind! Please wear comfortable clothing that will provide freedom of movement. You can be barefoot or wear socks for the sessions. Location The Haven Hotel & Spa Yoga Room (This Program includes use of yoga room only) Program #1 Dates Mon Oct 10, 10:30am - 12pm Wed Oct 12, 10:30am - 12pm Fri Oct 14, 10:30am - 12pm RSVP at The Haven reception desk by October 1 Please bring your $65 cash only donation when registering, which covers all 3 sessions. Stop in soon. Only 8 spots will be available! For Program q uestions please email Michael at mic1951co@gmail.com. Private Sessions are available. BE WELL BOQUETE Programs For Healthy Living are led by Michael Cooper, who in the summer of 2000 began his wellness practice by learning the Tibetan 5 Rites. After discovering the joys, benefits, and the transformation this ancient stretching practice had on his own life, he began teaching in 2002 upon completing training with Bikram's Yoga College of India. He has taught various yoga styles branching into Vinyasa, Yin, and Ashtanga. Other trainings include a 200HR RYT with Tiffany Cruikshank of Yoga Medicine, then following Paul Grilley techniques, earned a certification in Restorative Yin Yoga with Debbi Atkins-Davis1000HR RYT. Having recently relocated to Boquete Panama from Las Vegas Nevada (US), where Michael taught the last 8 years both in public classes and studios throughout the city, and to private clients. His teachings range from the gentle practices such as Assisted Stretching, Chair, and Yin Yoga, to more aggressive yoga styles from which he created a fusion of yoga disciplines he calls Yoga Fusion 90.

Movie starts at 1pm - popcorn, food and drinks available. (Cafe La Villa has a full bar) LINK to photo (just in case e-mail deletes it...) Children of Men is a 2006 British-American science fiction thriller film directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay is based on P. D. James' 1992 novel of the same name. The film takes place in 2027, where two decades of human infertility have left society on the brink of collapse. Illegal immigrants seek sanctuary in the United Kingdom, where the last functioning government imposes oppressive immigration laws on refugees. Clive Owen plays civil servant Theo Faron, who must help a pregnant refugee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) escape the chaos. Children of Men also stars Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Charlie Hunnam. Link to trailer. movie

10:30 in the BCP Theater Tuesday September 20 -- Merl Will-Wallace will speak on how to stay “Forever Young in Paradise!” Retirement, new income, new home, new language, new friends - how to assemble all the puzzle pieces in retiring to Panama and how to have fun at the same time. As good as we plan retirement offers many changes that come as a surprise. Learn the common pitfalls that occur in retirement and how to engage them in a conscious, positive manner – not stressfully. Merl is a coach and counselor who, for the last 20 years, has helped people navigate change for a more positive and fruitful life. He is the author of the book Awakening in Change: Working with Change on the Path to Enlightenment Tuesday September 27 – After living in Boquete for 5 years, Penny Ripple decided to move to Cuenca, Ecuador. Good thing she didn’t sell her house in Boquete because, after a year, she moved back to Boquete and will never leave again. Find out why. Her presentation will include a slide show and will also update her experience with current information about Cuenca. Tuesday October 4 – Open Date. Please make suggestions Tuesday October 11 – Yira De Alvarado and Judith Tovar will speak about their work with Nutre Hogar of Chiriqui. Nutre Hogar is a private organization created in 1988 by Monsignor Romulo Emiliani and a group of volunteers, in order to recover and prevent severe malnutrition of children of the most impoverished communities of our country. Nutre Hogar Chiriqui is a non-profit organization that treats 40 severely malnourished children who are transferred from the Malnutrition Ward at Hospital Materno Infantil Jose Domingo De Obaldia. They attend to the children’s needs with medicine, dietary supplements, education, and MUCH LOVE. To give you an understanding of the scope of their Mission, they need $25,000.00 per month to maintain operations. http://nutrehogar.org/ Tuesday October 18 – Meet the Wardens. We will introduce Hank Landis and Bonnie Williams, the two new U.S. wardens, Tricia Daugherty, the British Consular Agent, and Mika Kosaki Oldham, Consul and First Secretary of the Canadian embassy. These folks will speak about what their respective embassies can and cannot do for their citizens, how and when to contact them, their citizen registries maintained by the embassies, and other pertinent topics raised by the audience. A must attend program for all U.S., Canadian and British citizens. Tuesday October 25 – Expats — Would it be helpful if you had someone you could trust to manage your affairs in the states while you enjoy your life in Panama? Could you use someone in the U.S. to handle your U.S. mail, medication needs, insurance, social security, bank or other companies in the U.S.? Richard Green of Expat Concierge U.S, will be talking about the numerous services he can provide. Richard is based in South Florida and has 30+ years of Operations, Management and Logistics experience. His website is www.ExpatConciergeUS.com.. FREE ADMISSION. Tuesday November 1 – Mark & Martine Heyer, Rodny Fuentes & Irma Castillo Smith present their group health insurance policies for members of Rodny Direct. Martine will speak on 2 or 3 different health insurance plans that exist and that will give discounts for group members. Rodny and Mark will be there to sign up folks for Rodny Direct. Irma Castillo Smith will be the plan administrator for the Rodny Direct group insurance plans. Tuesday November 8 – Allison Tilluma will speak about detoxification of the body, how the body naturally detoxifies, why it is necessary, and what we can do to support it in a nourishing and natural way. Allison is a local massage therapist, herbalist, and yoga teacher. She has been specializing in alternative medicine for the past 10 years after realizing Western medicine was not effectively treating her issues. Tuesday November 15 – Kevin Fisher (aka Sparky Boquete) will give a talk/demonstration on cutting edge light based wellness technology. These products are used for appetite control, cell repair, detoxification, sleep, pain relief, energy, stress, and inflammation control. FREE ADMISSION Tuesday November 22 -- Price Peterson, Peter Sterling, and Rodrigo Marciacq on the scientific and economic facts and the truth) about GMO products especially as they exist in Panama. Tuesday November 29 – Dr. Peter Juhos, owner of Natural Alternative Health, S.A. in David will speak about the programs his clinic offers. FREE ADMISSION Tuesday, Dec. 6 -- Dr. Alfredo Molto, high level plastic surgeon practicing in David will speak about advancements in plastic surgery and his work with Operation Smile in Panama. Tuesday, Dec. 13 -- Alberto Alemán is the former CEO of the Panama Canal Authority. He is a graduate of Texas A & M University. Under his leadership, the Panama Canal Authority´s vision has been to transform the Canal into a world leader in services to the maritime industry, to be the cornerstone of the global transportation system, and a model of excellence, integrity, and transparency. He is the recipient of numerous national and international awards for his achievements and contributions to the world maritime industry. Sr. Alberto will speak to us about the history and the future of the canal and its importance to the Panamanian people. Tuesday, Dec. 27 – Darrell Eash presents Camels & Chameleons (Learning to Thrive in a New Environment). How to understand and appreciate the differences between Latinos and Gringos, and how to adapt to and succeed in a culture and language different from your own. Darrell’s knowledge in this area comes from being born and raised in Venezuela, living there until he left for college in the U.S. He’s also worked among Latinos for nearly 28 years, and has traveled extensively to all but four Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. Darrell will address the 10 cultural differences between Latino and Gringo cultures and explain how they can harmoniously work together. Tuesday January 3 – Boquete Hospice and Health presents “Being Prepared.” Do you know the legalities in Panama if you were to die or become ill and unable to make very important medical decisions for yourself? Laws you're familiar with in your home country do not apply! Did you know that you must have enough cash on hand to pay a doctor to pronounce someone dead and to have the mortuary pick you up? No credit cards. No IOUs. What will you do if you're hospitalized in an emergency and can't express what medical treatment you want? And who can legally enter your home to feed your pets if you can't? What's your legal marital status? What about wills? There's a lot we ASSUME we know but we don't Tuesday January 10 – David MacKenzie will speak on “Diseases Are Your Friends” and are messages from your body (and God). Medicines are unnatural and toxic and just kill the messenger. David believes the great majority of diseases are caused by diet and lifestyle and we all need to know the biologically correct diet.. Tuesday January 24 -- Alvaro Almengor of Hatstone Lawyers, a boutique law firm with five partners across four offices (Jersey, London, Panama and South Africa) will speak. They are primarily a corporate and private law firm, and work regularly on cross border structures for international clients. they regularly advise international banks, financial services business, foreign corporations, local business, public and private companies, directors, shareholders, entrepreneurs and high-net-worth individuals on all aspects of corporate and commercial law. In Panama, in particular, they have expertise in incorporating companies and foundations, construction and property, employment, immigration, taxation, corporate and commercial, succession planning and asset protection, cross-border transactions, new business establishment and general legal advice. FREE ADMISSION To suggest a speaker or topic for these meetings please email BCP Tuesday Meeting To become a vendor at the Tuesday market, email Elena Serracin

AMIGOS DE ANIMALES SPAY/NEUTER CLINIC WHEN: Sunday September 25 WHERE: The Animales Clinic in Alto Boquete FOR APPOINTMENT: Contact Magaly at 6563-8686 or boqueteanimales@gmail.com TO VOLUNTEER: Please contact Alicia at akcleavenger@hotmail.com. Please let me know if you can come in the morning, afternoon, or all day. TRAINING: If you are a new volunteer, please let me know and we will arrange for training. Once again, we are asking that anyone who can, to please bring a dish to share for our lunch.

arf.boquete@gmail.com

The owners/administrators of Chiriqui.Life (CL) website are very pleased to announce the seventh podcast in a new series that is called "Chiriqui Life Stories". This new series of podcasts is produced by Michael Schwartz. Quoting from the description of the Chiriqui Life Stories category: The subject of this podcast is Gabrielle and Patrick Reynolds. They are recent "transplants" to Boquete, having worked in the theater, film, and entertainment industries in Hollywood. This podcast focuses on their early years and how that prepared them to create their own fun and happiness. Gabrielle and Patrick created a very successful improv group in Boquete shortly after their arrival in Boquete. They also are the creators of the "Boquete Video Festival 2017" that includes workshops, judged entries, and culminating with a formal gala screening event in January 2017. Access this podcast at http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/3578-chiriqui-life-stories-gabrielle-and-patrick-reynolds/. Podcasts are premium content on CL, which means that you need to be a registered member of CL and logged in. Membership on CL is free, so if you are not already a member, then register and listen to Gabrielle and Patrick tell their story. If you would like to tell your story or recommend someone for an interview with the podcast producer, please send an email to Mike Schwartz at mikeseeemail@gmail.com. Marcelyn Jandreau and Bud Huber Owners/Administrators of Chiriqui.Life

Clarinon Chamber Music Group Directed by - Carmen Small Performing in Boquete Date: Friday September 16, 2016 Time: 6:00 p.m. Venue: Biblioteca de Boquete Phone: 720-2879 www.biblioboquete.com Performing in David Date: Saturday September 17, 2016 Time: 7:30 p.m. Venue: Casa Cultural La Guaricha Phone: 6618-2929 www.facebook.com/casalaguaricha Donation $10.00 - includes one glass of wine and appetizers Tickets for sale at: Mail Boxes Etc. and Biblioteca de Boquete The Biblioteca de Boquete proudly presents the Clarinon Chamber Music Group. Enjoy classical chamber music and panamanian melodies performed by this internationally acclaimed group. Don´t miss this one opportunity. Join us during their 2016 Chiriqui tour and fill your senses with beautifuly performed music.

We have only 4 places remaining for our Holiday trip to Medellin Dec. 8-12. Contact dannypanama@hotmail.com Danny Blank Danny Panama Travels www.dannypanamatravels.com

Expats in Chiriquí, We are a group of students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), located in Massachusetts, who are working on a project with Oteima University, the City of Knowledge, and the Competitiveness Center of the Western Region of Panama (CECOM-RO). CECOM-RO’s main goal is to provide tools and resources to other companies and organizations within Western Panama, with the use of Panamanian Government funding. This project ultimately involves connecting experienced expatriates from the United States with these development initiatives within the region. This is where you come in! We believe that your interests could help benefit the aforementioned organizations and would like to connect you with CECOM-RO, if you’re interested. Our group has been tasked with creating a database of individuals, like yourself, which will enable CECOM-RO and partner organizations to effectively match expatriates with specific projects and potentially to produce projects of your own. Involvement and commitment in these projects is entirely up to you! Below you will find a link to CECOM-RO’s website with more information regarding some projects, as well as their vision. You will also find a link to the survey to become connected to the organization and to be included into our database. The database will be private and will only be accessible to CECOM-RO, and the sharing of your information will only be allowed with your permission. CECOM-RO’s website: http://www.cecomro.com/cecom-ro/ Database Survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfViaIqXFRU81iv7ealNceIfBOHXfmCVmzW3k0YtC2xyJav5A/viewform Please feel free to contact us with any questions, comments, concerns via email at cecomro.expats@gmail.com. Thank you and we hope this could be of interest to you, The WPI Team; Caroline Armstrong Marissa Bennett Matthew Eaton Ranier Gran

You are cordially invited. 2nd.Yard Sale, Saturday Sept. 17, 2016 From 9 am to 11 pm. We want to say thank you to all people who came last Saturday. We decided to do a 2nd Yard Sale and sale other items that were not offered before that belonged to our family. If you missed last Saturday, we will be selling cooking items from Germany and Spain, antiques and rare items, decoration, beautiful teddy bears and other toys, furniture, sports tools and more..! Directions: Coming from Boquete turn right at the first entrance to Brisas Boqueteñas, fourth house (Nr. 18/yellow) on the left.

Hello everyone! For August, the amount of the monthly donations were $920.00 and expenses totaled $1,412.00. Thank you to everyone who contributed! 3 dogs and 4 cats found their forever home this month….we are so happy for these furries! If you have any friends or relatives looking for a pet, please direct them to our site or have them contact us, as we have many ready for adoption. Please consider fostering an animal if you are able to do so. When you foster an animal with ARF, we take care of all food and medical expenses – we just need you to provide a loving and protective environment. If you are not in the position to foster an animal, please consider making a donation. Any amount is greatly appreciated. Events: Our Pancake Breakfast/Adoption Day at the Animales Building – Saturday, October 1st 9:00am-11:30am. The menu includes pancakes, bacon, fruit, coffee, tea and the necessary accompaniments (butter, syrup, etc.) Bloody Mary’s, Mimosas and Juice will be available for purchase. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Mailboxes Etc. and at the ARF tent at the Tuesday market. Mr. Dog will also be there selling pet supplies and will also have his engraving machine to make tags. Remember, it is noted in the Animal Law 70 of Panama that domestic animals are required to have a tag with at least a phone number that can be called in the event an animal is found wandering the streets. Protect your furry friends – an unplanned escape is always possible! Shopping Party – This is planned for November 30th at Mike’s Global Grill…..just in time to get started on your Christmas shopping. Details will be announced shortly. ARF is a small non-profit animal organization dedicated to the rescue, care, foster and adoption of the unwanted and neglected animals in Boquete and the surrounding areas. Please visit our website at http://www.arf-boquete.com/ if you are interested in adopting an animal. You can also help with the financial support of these animals by clicking here http://www.arf-boquete.com/donate.html Our email address is arf.boquete@gmail.com Please visit and “like” our Facebook page on https://www.facebook.com/ARF-Adopt-Rescue-Foster-Boquete-Panama-260616740779036/ Also, please visit Pets Want Homes if you are interested in adopting an animal on http://www.petswanthomes.com/

Art of the Didgeridoo at La Ville Cafe - BCP Theater Friday, September 16, 3 pm We are very excited to have Hubert and Willeke Pena talk about the art of the Didgeridoo. Huber builds and plays them and Willeke does the painting on them. They will talk about the origin of the didgeridoo in Australian aboriginal culture including its use in ceremonial gatherings as well as in recreation. The meaning of certain dance, painting, and music motifs in the early aboriginal culture with a brief discussion of "Song lines". They will discuss the method of traditional didgeridoo construction and how the modern didgeridoos have developed from that ie:types of materials used and the variety of decorations. Several didgeridoos locally made from the agave stalks will be shown as well as a traditional didgeridoo from Australia Don't miss this meeting. It promises to be exceptional and different. Note: There will be an open board meeting at 2:15 all are welcome. Boquete Art Works www.boqueteartworks.com Pm

Wednesday, Sept. 21 @ 9:00 a.m Mike's Global Grill, Boquete Calling all Volunteers! There will be an informational meeting for those interested in helping with the "Biggest Little Festival in the World," February 9-12, 2017. If you know you want to help, or just want to get some more information, please plan to attend the meeting at Mike's Global Grill, Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 9:00 a.m. BTW - Mike's is open for breakfast from 8:00 to 11:00. Come early and grab a bite to eat! Eddie Pittman, Volunteer Coordinator eddiepittmanfla@gmail.com

Sleepwellpanama.com The Tide of Cybercrime is Rising Fast While physical crime against expats here in Panama is diminishing, cybercrime is rising world wide. Losses from cybercrime may already be greater than physical robbery. It is one of the fastest growing businesses in the world. Cybercriminals are targeting Seniors Anyone over 60 did not grow up with computers or the Internet from day one. Many of us openly admit to computer illiteracy. Cybercriminals are specifically targeting this group, especially relatively rich North Americans and Europeans. The criminals include enterprising ten year olds cracking your passwords and selling you out to sophisticated multi-national mafia-like businesses. How to Protect Yourself From Cybercrime A good friend of mine in California, Larry Magid, is a top computer journalist who has made his career mission protecting children and now seniors from cybercrime. Download his free Seniors Guide to Online Safety. Yes, it is safe to download In the rest of this article, we will take apart a recent incident and show the dangers of being hacked, which hopefully will inspire you to take steps to protect yourself. The Anatomy of a Hacking In the last week many of us became aware that a member of our community was hacked and as a result all of the people in his address book were exposed to Internet scams themselves. We’ll Call Him Bob Many of you reading this already know the identity of the person who was hacked and that’s fine. He is not shy about what happened. If you don’t know already, it isn’t important to our story. It all started with an upgrade of several computers to Windows 10. While the upgrade want fine, a short time later Microsoft pushed an Outlook update to all his computers. While most of them were protected by a commercial anti-virus program, one was only protected by the Microsoft-provided Defender program and this computer became infected. Although we will never know for sure, apparently the attackers were ready for this Outlook update and may even have previously installed malware in his computer waiting for it to happen. Lesson #1 - Some computers are safer than others People have personal preferences for Windows PCs vs. Apple Macs and that is fine. However it is a simple fact of life that 99.99% of computer viruses and malware infect PCs, not Macs. There are technical reasons why this is true having to do with the fundamental design of the Apple OS X operating system, which like Linux and others, is based on the UNIX operating system, the oldest and most widely used for secure computing platforms. The awful moment of realization After the update, Bob turned on his computer and noticed very strange behavior as his file folders first showed up as empty and then slowly came back to “normal.” When Bob went to his email he made the startling discovery that his entire email contact list, dating back to the early 90s, was simply gone. It was also gone on all his other computers, which had “synchronized” with the master list kept online, which had been deleted by the hackers. Attempts to recover his contact list from computers backed up with previous versions of Windows failed. Lesson #2 - Bob’s was using a “free” email account. Free email accounts are not secure or private You may wonder why Google, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc. are so magnanimous as to offer you free email accounts. It is because you are their product. Every email you send is read for salable information, every person in your contact list is sold to the highest bidder for advertising or whatever (IRS, NSA, front businesses for hackers, etc.). They own your contact list and as Bob found out, once deleted, it is gone forever. If you use a free email account, make sure you have a backup of your computer and an exported version of your contact list at all times. There are excellent, secure and private email services available from Godaddy and others, but they are not free. They never store your contact list, which lives on your own computer. In my view, they are well worth the extra money. Bob is now manually recreating his contact list by going through every email since 1995 and recovering the email addresses. Of course, phone numbers and street addresses are just lost. This is what happened to Bob Once they owned his email account and armed with all of his emails, they learned about his bank accounts, which boards he sat on and much more. The hackers emailed his personal banker in the US and asked to set up a wire transfer for something in excess of $17,000. Bob’s personal banker (at the bank he used to work for and who knew him personally) replied that Bob would need to confirm the transfer by phone. She received an email that Bob couldn’t come to the phone because he was in a board meeting, naming the organization precisely. Fortunately the banker knew Bob and insisted that the “real” Bob call. When “real” Bob called from Indonesia with a foreign accent, she hung up and immediately called the real Bob and the scam was stopped. But is was very close. Meanwhile the scammers undertook to send scam emails to everyone in Bob’s contact list. Some claimed to be Bob who was stranded in an foreign city and needed money. Others, which many of us saw personally, were legitimate looking Dropbox documents with a secure PDF file that needed to be “signed for” with your email address and PASSWORD. Since the scammers owned Bob’s email account, when people replied asking if this was for real, the scammers pretended to be Bob and assured them that it was a legitimate email. If you fell for it, they then owned your email account and you would likely meet the same fate as Bob. Very quickly, Bob deactivated his email account, but it was too late. How not to become Bob If you are on the Windows platform you have to be super-vigilant about virus and malware protection, since Windows is the primary target of hackers. Internet and email scams affect every computer user whether Windows or Mac or Linux. Phishing, the practice of conning you into providing passwords to fake web sites, is very common. For example, if you get an email from Paypal asking you to verify your password, take a look at the actual email address of the sender - you will find it has nothing to do with Paypal. The same goes for websites - take a look at the URL at the top of your browser - If it is not something like http://Paypal.com, you are being phished. Email addresses and passwords are regularly stolen from companies large and small. The only real protection is to eliminate the risk by using long, uncrackable passwords that are unique for every website you log into. Let’s face it, no one can remember all those passwords, so you need a commercial password manager to help out. This topic will be the subject of a detailed article to follow shortly. If you think your computer has been hacked IMMEDIATELY if not sooner, disconnect it from the Internet - pull the plug if you have to. As you are sitting there gawking, the hackers may be downloading all your email or other files, preparing to wipe your computer completely or hold it hostage for a ransom. MAKE SURE YOUR COMPUTER IS BACKED UP - ALWAYS. Make sure the backup system actually works. Next Up - Learning to Love Passwords Having an easy and effective password strategy is the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself online. In the next article, I will talk about how to do that without pain and show an entirely new approach to generating and remembering passwords. About the Author Dr. Sleepwell, AKA Mark Heyer, has been involved in the computer industry since the 1960s. He has designed and built computer systems, written hundreds of programs, owned a computer support company for professionals working at home in the Silicon Valley and served as executive director of customer service and tech support for a national Internet provider.