The other day many of the contacts in my email account received an email from me that simply had a link in it. Some people followed the link and it led to information about Viagra and a “click here” if you want to buy it.
Many friends emailed me letting me know that they got a “strange” message from me. I assured all that I wasn’t moonlighting as a pharma rep selling Viagra online.
Some realized I had been hacked.
Help, Please Send Me Some Cash
Several months ago my friend Laura “sent” an email to her entire contact list informing everyone that she and her husband were on vacation in Scotland and that she had been mugged. In the email she asked that we send money to her and her husband because theirs had been stolen.
Laura’s phone rang off the hook and her blackberry didn’t stop buzzing for the next day as a result of many worried friends checking in on her and her husband. In fact, some friends nearly sent money to her!
What do you do if you’re victim to this kind of behavior?
In my case I contacted AOL (yes, I still have an AOL email account) directly despite the fact that their site clearly states that their phone support is ONLY for customers who have paid accounts. I was lucky enough to get a kind person on the phone that assured me that all I needed to do was change my password.
He went on to explain that this was an Internet virus that gets sent to everyone in my address book. If you click on the link you can contract the equivalent of an e-STD so don’t ever click on those links. Luckily, I have a MAC and they somehow manage to stay virus free. (knock on wood).
What he couldn’t tell me is if my emails had been compromised which didn’t really worry me because I typically never give out my social security number, credit card numbers or any other sensitive info out over email. You shouldn’t either.
Gone Phishing
Laura’s intrusion was a bit more serious and referred to as “phishing.” Phishing is when someone sends an email from you to all your contacts tricking them into emailing back sensitive information. You may have seen similar ones from your bank or other companies you do business with claiming to be a representative and asking for information such as your social security number.
Don’t EVER give your social security number or any other personal information out via your email account. EVER. Even if you are 100% sure who is requesting it don’t put it out there in cyberspace or for someone to find in your “sent” folder of your email account.
Here are some additional pointers from AOL’s site on how to protect your computer from these types of viruses
o Make sure you have antivirus protection on your PC. (If you have not installed any antivirus software, go to
safety.aol.com to find the latest McAfee software provided by AOL).
o Ensure that your antivirus software is up-to-date.
o Run a complete scan of your computer using your antivirus software.
. Remember, strong passwords are a combination of upper case and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters (e.g., @, #, and &).
o Review your “Away Messages” for both your AOL Mail and Instant Messages to ensure that they have not been modified to include spam or other inappropriate content. Please check the articles listed to the right of the article under Related Resources for instructions to set your Away Message for both your AOL Mail and Instant Messages.
o Review your “signatures” for AOL Mail, message board posts, and comments to ensure that they have not been modified to include spam or other inappropriate content. Please check the articles listed to the right of the article under Related Resources for instructions to set your signature for AOL Mail and Message Boards.