Stop! Those 25 Items May Be a Scam

The other day I was thrilled to connect with a friend from high school with whom I had not heard from in more than 35 years!

I find I thoroughly enjoy the various social networking sites. I guess I tend to lean more on Facebook these days….seems all encompassing. I’m still trying to figure out how to best use Twitter. But indeed, it’s really wonderful…..almost a gift….to connect with long lost friends and develop new friendships via Facebook and others sites. The ability to follow friends in daily activities is tremendously interesting. With friends from all over the world and the distance so vast….. it’s remarkable how the technology somehow brings us all a bit closer together.

It’s also richly rewarding to participate in helping others by supporting a good cause. And yet....I’m not sure about you, but I tend to get bomb barded with causes everyday….which has “caused” me to become selective.

A few weeks ago a friend had his Facebook account hacked. The crooks high jacked his identity in an attempt to make money. They created a fraudulent crisis scenario involving my friend. Using his Facebook IM they were contacting any of his friends on line and described his crisis; “He had been robbed….was stranded in London and desperately needed to get back to the states and needed money…he had no where else to turn” I called him at home in North Carolina to check his status and of course he answered the phone. He said he was working to fix the mess these jerks had created. Fortunately, no one took the crooks up on the scam this time…..but I understand others have not been so fortunate. I imagine we should be cautious with "friends", "links" and "games".

This leads me to those interesting "sharing" games most all of us have participated in. You know….25 intimate details about your life etc. They are a blast to read! Learning about your friends foods, music, travel experiences etc...is captivating. Certainly, they appear innocent enough? I got to thinking however...….suppose the overriding purpose was to provide hacking information to "would be" thieves?

See if you agree…and check out one you’ve completed or about to do. Many ask for nicknames, pet names, maiden names….and on and on. Perhaps I’m a tad paranoid….but I think a little caution may be in order. Yikes!

Inside Studio A.....I'm James Herron

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