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ByBetterBusinessBureau Watch out for phishing emails with a professional twist. Scammers are tar- geting businesses with email messages that ap- pear to be from the com- pany's human resources department. Howthescamworks You get an email to your work account that seems to be about your benefits. It looks official — and impor- tant — so you open it. The message contains "urgent news," such as your policy has been canceled, reduced or suspended. To fix the situation, the email instructs you to ei- ther click on a link or open an attachment. Don't do it! Clicking the link either downloads malware to your computer or leads you to a form that phishes for infor- mation. Malware hunts for con- fidential or banking infor- mation on your machine and opens you and your company up to identity theft. In the sample message below, the scam message claims that your life insur- ance policy has been re- duced, and you need to click a link to review the policy changes. How to spot a scam email Watch for look alike URLs. Be wary of sites that have the brand name as a subdomain of another URL — i.e., brandname.scam- website.com — or part of a longer URL — i.e., compa- nynamecustomersupport. com. Hover over URLs in emails to reveal their true destination. Scammers can make links appear to lead to a legitimate website, when they really point to a scam site, like the exam- ples above. Don't open attachments from unfamiliar sources. Legitimate businesses rarely send unsolicited emails with attachments. Always confirm an email is real before you download anything. Consider how the busi- ness normally reaches you. Did you sign up for email alerts from your health in- surance provider or does your HR person typically convey policy updates? A change from normal com- munication patterns is likely to be a scam. Contact the business or HR department. When in doubt, call the business's customer support line or your company's HR depart- ment to check the legitimacy of the email. Be sure to find the phone number on your bill or by a web search — not the email or website the scammers gave you. For more information Learn more about busi- ness email scams. Check out previous alerts about scammers posing as visual voicemail emails and hack- ing into business email ac- counts. To find out more about other scams, check out BBB Scam Stopper at bbb.org. SCAMALERT Phishingatwork?Watchoutfortheseemails Asampleofaphishingemail. The act of re- gifting — passing on as new, a gift someone else gave you — is contro- versial, but only because of those who do a notice- ably bad job of it. After all, if every act of regifting were carried out flawlessly, no one would have the occasion to find it distasteful because no one would know. And that brings me to the first Rule of Regifting: Rule 1. Never admit to regifting. If your friends know you're a regifter, you'll find yourself in the unpleasant situation of explaining why regift- ing is different from not caring. Worse, they will be suspicious of the gifts you give them. It's best to keep regifting completely to yourself. Rule 2. Designate a lo- cation. Keep regifts in a convenient, albeit se- cret, place in a special box or cupboard with ex- tra wrapping paper and ribbon. Some people shop for gifts in department stores. Never underesti- mate the utility of a gift stash that allows you to shop at home. Rule 3. Have a heart. Any gift made espe- cially for you or given to you by a parent, child or close relative cannot be regifted. Even if it's not ideal, consider its senti- mental value. Don't even think of regifting. It just wouldn't be right. Rule 4. Label all re- gifts. Do this as soon as you determine you've re- ceived a regift to avoid the heartbreak of back- gifting — giving someone a gift they gave you. Sim- ply make a detailed note of where this item origi- nated. Rule 5. Check again. You cannot be too care- ful. Let's say the gift is a book. Take a peek to make sure it has not been inscribed to you. If it's a boxed gift make sure the gift tag has not dropped inside the box. These are the care- less acts that give regift- ing a bad name. Rule 6. No telltale signs. A regift must look brand new. If the box is damaged or shows any signs that it has been opened, it does not qual- ify as a regift. Rule 7. Not remotely acquainted. Your regiftee must not in any way be acquainted with anyone in the circle of friends or relatives of the per- son who gave this to you. Refer to Rules 3 and 4 above. Rule 8. Do not reuse wrap on a regift. If there's a time you want to use new paper and ribbon, it's on a regift. Anything else is a dead giveaway. No matter how you feel about it, the prac- tice of regifting is here to stay. If you participate, do it well. And if you don't want your gift to land in someone's regift box, put a little thought and ef- fort into the gift to make sure it is something the receiver will truly enjoy — not just something that lets you mark another name off your gift list. Readers: We want to hear your best regifting stories, be they fabulous or frightening. Bring it! I have one to share in the comments. Would you like to send a tip to Mary? You can email her at mary@eve- rydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheap- skate, P.O. Box 2099, Cy- press, CA 90630. EVERYDAY CHEAPSKATE Theguideto proper regi ing Mary Hunt By Lee Reich The Associated Press Now that winter is here, scale insects have started showing up on my pot- ted citrus tree and some orchids. How many other plant pests lurk, ready for a population explosion when conditions become ripe, typically in late winter? Dowsing plants — espe- cially indoor houseplants — with pesticides is both- ersome and hazardous. Re- peat applications usually are needed to catch each wave of the emerging pest population at its most sus- ceptible stage. And it's dif- ficult to spray a plant thor- oughly while keeping the mist off curtains, windows and furniture. A number of sprays can stain or even dissolve certain finishes or plastics. A systemic pesticide such as Bonide Systemic In- secticide Granules, which spreads within the plant, also has shortcomings. It creates a toxic plant, which can poison any pet or child who nibbles a leaf. And, such materials can't, of course, be used on an in- door citrus whose fruit you plan to eat. Indoors, where rain and wind can't carry away res- idues, you have to be wary even of pesticides labelled "natural." Natural does not mean nontoxic. Rotenone, for example, is an all-nat- ural pesticide extracted from a tropical plant, yet it is much more toxic than, say, malathion, a synthetic pesticide that also might be used on houseplants. I'm not suggesting using syn- thetic pesticides over natu- ral ones on houseplants, but be aware of the hazards as- sociated with any pesticide. I try to avoid using pes- ticides altogether. They are just one approach to con- trolling pests, and should be the last one. Other ap- proaches may demand greater intimacy with your pests, learning their habits and life cycles, but that's part of what makes garden- ing interesting. Books such as "The Gardener's Guide to Common-Sense Pest Control" by William and Helga Olkowski, and "The Organic Gardener's Hand- book of Natural Pest and Disease Control," edited by Fern Marshall Bradley, Bar- bara W. Ellis and Deborah Martin, detail ways to con- trol many houseplant pests. For now, I'm dealing with scale insects by flicking any that I see off leaves with my thumbnail. I know I won't eliminate them with this brute-force method, but I can at least keep the pop- ulation in check. In a cou- ple of months, they might get ahead of me, but by then perhaps the ladybugs that call my home their home will help out, as they have in years past. I've used similar meth- ods against aphids, crush- ing them where they con- gregate on leaves near the tips of stems, and against mealybugs, doing them in with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol. Keeping an aphid-infested plant in the shower will wash the pests away and create conditions inimical to another com- mon pest, red spider mites, which are hard to see but make their presence known by imparting a bronze cast to leaves. Trapping is a more ele- gant approach to pest con- trol. Thwart aphids on sin- gle- or few-stemmed plants by blocking travel of the ants that herd and protect them: Wrap a sticky band around the stem or stems. Masking tape coated with sticky Tan- gle-Trap works and lasts for weeks. If clouds of whiteflies puff up whenever you brush against your geraniums, place yellow cards coated with oil or Tangle-Trap near the plants. Good growing conditions also can help deter pests. Less frequent watering, for instance, is usually all that's needed to deal with fungus gnats or sowbugs. INSECTS How to thwart houseplant pests LEE REICH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS In this undated photo, Cottony cushion scale insects are enjoying their feast on this plant's leaves in New Paltz, New York. By Jennifer Forker The Associated Press If at the end of the year your creativity needs a boost, here's a bak- er's dozen of recent titles that'll surely help. Let's start with a charmer: In "Playful" (STC Craft/A Melanie Falick Book), author Merrilee Liddiard uses her skills as an illustrator to give chil- dren's crafts some modern flair. Many of the crafts, which include wooden doll-face necklaces and trucks made from recy- cled cracker boxes, may be made with kids. Oth- ers, such as the machine- sewn tent and trapeze doll, may be more appropriate to make as gifts. Amanda Kingloff's "Proj- ect Kid: 100 Ingenious Crafts for Family Fun" (Artisan) provides similar crafting entertainment for families, and children can learn some basics, from fringing paper to thread- ing a needle. The most crafts-inclined will enjoy choosing projects from this heavy compendium. Hello Kitty has never been more adorable than in "Hello Kitty Crochet: Super- cute Amigurumi Patterns for Sanrio Friends" (Quirk Books), by Mei Li Lee. The book includes more than a dozen patterns, from easy to advanced. A crocheter could get stuck in this Sanrio world for quite some time. In "Petit Collage" (Potter Craft), author Lorena Simi- novich offers crafts for fam- ily playtime and home dé- cor, with easy-does-it tem- plates in the back. For play, there are customized baby blocks, a cardboard play- house and animal masks. For the home, there's a growth chart, veneer head- board and stepping stool. And much more. GETTING CREATIVE A look back at 2014 cra s books QUIRK BOOKS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS This photo provided by Quirk Books shows the book cover of "Hello Kitty Crochet: Supercute Amigurumi Patterns for Sanrio Friends," by Mei Li Lee. 100JacksonStreet, Red Bluff (530) 529-1220 NEW Membership Specials CallorComeIn for details RUNNINGS ROOFING SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane Ownerisonsiteoneveryjob ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 NoMoney Down! "NoJobTooSteep" " No Job Too Flat" FREE ESTIMATES CA. LIC#829089 723 Main St. 527.5470 $8HandCutSteakDinner with 2 Sides & Cornbread OpenTues-Sat www.palominoroom.com STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! 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