Just who are you talking to when you answer a message through Facebook?
Ann Cousins thinks people might be surprised that it isn't always their friends and family on the other side of those typed words.
She still doesn't know who pretended to be her and told her contacts that she was overseas and in trouble and, of course, required their financial help.
Mrs. Cousins, a Facebook user since the social networking site became popular several years ago, was the victim of a hacker.
The Port aux Basques resident was at work last Monday when she received a call on her cell phone from her daughter-in-law checking to make sure everything was all right. She told Mrs. Cousins that she had been checking her Facebook page when she received a message that appeared to be from Mrs. Cousins.
The message said that Mrs. Cousins was in London on vacation, had been taken hostage and was being held at gunpoint. She needed her friends and family back home to send her money so she could gain her freedom.
Her daughter-in-law quickly knew something was wrong - she lives in the same house as Mrs. Cousins and had seen her earlier that day. When she told the person pretending to be her other-in-law she knew it was a fraud, they blocked her from Mrs. Cousins' account.
"She told me, 'You have a hacker'," said Mrs. Cousins.
Sure enough, when she tried to log into her Facebook page, she couldn't. Her password had been changed.
Later on the same day, Mrs. Cousins received a call from friends living in Alberta wanting to know if everything was OK. Someone pretending to be Mrs. Cousins with the same story had also contacted them through Facebook.
However, being several provinces away, they didn't immediately know it was a scam.
Mrs. Cousins said she doesn't regularly talk to the people who were contacted in Alberta, so for all they knew, she could have been vacating overseas. Her friends told her that the mystery messenger also knew a lot of details about Mrs. Cousins and her family and could answer questions.
But they didn't get everything right. They said that Mrs. Cousins was in London with her two boys.
She said the hacker must have seen a photo posted on her Facebook page of her and her two grandsons and took them for her children. And he or she couldn't answer when asked for Mr. Cousins' first name - a detail not on Mrs. Cousins' Facebook page.
Mrs. Cousins knows of several of her friends who were contacted by the hacker, but doesn't think anyone was taken in by the rouse.
She's not sure how the hacker took control of her account in the first place. She said she never shares her passwords with anyone.
She contacted Facebook about the problem and the company has blocked her account. Mrs. Cousins said she'd like to be able to get back in just long enough to remove all of her personal information and photos. She doesn't think she'll be signing up again.
"It's scary," she said. "It could be anybody; you don't know who you're talking to."
Fearing possible identity theft, Mrs. Cousins also contact her bank and the police. Everything looks fine, but she's changed all her passwords as a precaution. The police also told her of at least one other similar incident in Newfoundland.
Mrs. Cousins wonders how many more people have experience something similar but haven't come forward. She said she wanted to tell her story in the hopes of helping someone else who may receive a similar message through Facebook or other means.
editor@gulfnews.ca
Step #1 - Do your research. Carefully investigate any online social network you may want to join. Use only well known online services.
Step #2 - Once you have picked a service, carefully read and clearly understand their Terms of Use.
Step #3 - Carefully read and clearly understand their Privacy Policy. Avoid using services that share your information with other companies.
Step #4 - Never expect absolute privacy! Create your account without providing any critical personal information. Do not provide valid critical information like: date of birth, full name, Social Insurance Number or address.
Step #5 - Protect your account profile with the highest and most restrictive security setting.
Step #6 - Build your profile. For each element of information you add, ask yourself this question: "Can a financial or sexual predator benefit from this information?"
Step #7 - You control your online environment. Do not give strangers permission to view your profile.
Step #8 - Protect your friends. Be careful of what you are posting on the Internet about them.
Step #9 - Monitor your own page for personal information posted by friends in their messages. Also monitor your friends' pages for your personal information. A simple comment or a photo may reveal your date of birth or give information that could be useful to predators.
Step #10 - Be creative, be safe and have fun!
Courtesy of the RCMP
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