Don’t Talk to Strangers Applies to the Internet as Well
June 24, 2009 – 2:23 pm
Growing up your parents told you not to talk to strangers. It wasn’t because they thought strangers had your best interests in mind and didn’t want you getting free lollipops and ice cream. It’s because your parents knew there were bad people out there that were out to get you.
The same can be said for the internet. The internet is the equivalent of a fleet of ‘82 Ford Econoline vans with blacked out windows driving slowly down your street while the drivers yell “FREE CANDY!” In other words, it’s a scary place. And scammers are out there daily trying to entice you with whatever they can.
Recently their van of choice has been MSN’s messaging service. The candy in this case would be links where the suckers (the victims, not the candy) could watch a live webcam of the person on the other end. Except there is no person on the other end, only an automated bot programmed to get information about the victim’s identity.
Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at the security firm Sophos, said, “Talking to strangers can be dangerous on the net, but many people do it. So it’s actually quite likely that this scam could be successful. Engaging victims in playful and flirtatious chat like this is a sure fire way to hook people in and entice them to part with sensitive information.”
Always be aware of people asking you for personal questions on the web. It all boils down to this: DON’T GET IN THE VAN.
Tags: applies to internet, don't get in the van, don't talk to stranger, free candy, ID theft, im, internet, msn, spam, suckers, van, victims, web cam
One Response to “Don’t Talk to Strangers Applies to the Internet as Well”
Cool post, just subscribed.
By Mandy on Jun 30, 2009