Have you checked your email lately? I bet you have. Do you know that a cracker, a person who tweaks and manipulates some system loop holes for their own benefit, could trace your email accounts, change your settings and could hold your online properties in ransom? I didn’t know that until I have read David Airey’s blog. Says there, Gmail is Hacked/Hijacked and left his business sabotaged. If you read through the entry, you’ll know about how a cracker stole and held his domain for ransom. In his site, he stated how it was taken away, how it was recovered and how much damage it caused him.

Thieves appear in many forms and permeate in various ways. We’ve heard stories of people with hacked online accounts, of people who had to pay for something they did not purchase with their card themselves, but they pay anyway just to maintain a good credit standing. My friend, Michelle, received an email from a “supposedly” Gmail admin, asking for her account access because of a needed settings reset. She replied with the details in all innocence thinking it was legit. The next day, she can no longer log in. And her boyfriend from Michigan asked her the next day “Why do you need such a huge sum of money?”, pertaining to an email he “received from her”. She realized that a cracker accessed her email and demanded money from her American boyfriend. Good thing that the bf called to check before sending anything. Another friend of mine uses her Yahoo email to receive funds through PayPal. One day she can no longer access her PayPal account. She remembered giving her Yahoo account details through a form sent by a “customer service” rep of Yahoo for “maintenance check”. It was too late, her email account was cracked and so was her PayPal. She notified PayPal for a transaction hold, but it was too late. The funds were all transferred. All she could do was a request to close her account and get a new one, to prevent the thief from using her credit cards and debit cards any further.

I’m sure we don’t want anything like that to happen to us or to anybody. But the truth is, it is happening and we should all be aware of the booby traps set around this filthy online world. I highly suggest that you do not use free emails as contact emails of important accounts like Online banking, PayPal, Ebay, Domain Hosting.. anything that’s of value to you. Thieves would steal anything valuable, for money’s sake. Also, make it a habit to Log Out when you’re done checking your emails. When you browse through the net with a logged in Gmail account, some unsecured sites track your mail accounts and start their crime from there. So never leave imprints of your email accounts anywhere in the net.

If your budget allows, get a Lifelock account. As shown in LifeLock.com, LifeLock is America’s #1 Identity Theft Prevention Program. Works like an insurance, they guarantee to shield your identity up to $1,000,000. They’ll prove to be the most advanced, safest and easiest to use in cases of Identity theft. They have an Identity Theft Quiz form. They offer protection services for a minimal fee and even discounts. Try visiting their website to get your own LifeLock promotion code and subscribe to their services.

Above all, be aware of what’s happening. Be mindful before you lose anything you’ve been working hard on.

Posted: January 4th, 2008 under Reminders, articles, work.
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