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Have you ever gotten an e-mail that says "you got an e-kiss from someone!" and the site it links to asks for your name and password? AOL users: have you ever gotten an e-mail that claims that there was an account messup and then askes for your username and password? These two types of internet password stealing scams often end up in peoples' e-mail boxes. Why?
Ever since the earliest days of peeping toms, people have been intrested in other people. That is exactly why shows such as Survivor, The Real World, and Boot Camp have become so popular. This is the same case with the people who wright these password stealing e-mails. They want to be able to acess your personal account and see whats going on with your life and steal as much as they can. That is the 'fun' factor for these criminal types.
Another reason why someone tries to get your password is the free online time. They get your password, type your screen name in, type in the password, and they have full acess to the internet at your own expense. This can be particularly costly when you have an internet service provider plan where they charge you by the hour.
Some people just want to be malicious. If they get your password, check out your billing plan and see that it is based on an hourly rate, they very well might just leave their computer on while connected with your screen name. Sure, they have to pay the electric bill, but they have the satisfaction that they cost you hundreds of dollars.
So now that we know why these people might commit this crime; let's see what can be done to prevent it. Prevention is really simple in this case, you just have to use your head. One of the better features of AOL is that the real AOL people send you special e-mail. Their special e-mails have a blue envelope next to them in the list as opposed to the tan envelope. NEVER open an e-mail that claims it is from AOL but doesnt have the special seal. Easy enough?
That is the easiest way to prevent the most common passord stealing scam. But, not all scams claim they are AOL certified. As I mentioned earlier, you could recieve an e-mail that says that you got an e-card or love letter. Human curiosity plays a huge roll in this; even if one half of you is saying that this is a password scam, the other half is saying "what if it isn't? What if that girl in biology is finally intrested in me?"
Well, I can tell you that it isn't the girl from biology. Well, it could be, it's OK to open these mails, but if you click on the link and it asks you for you ISP (Internet service Provider), user name, and password, it is obviously fake. Trust me, I've gotten my fair share of authentic e-kisses and whatnot, and they certainly don't ask for that information.
So then what do you do if you accidently gave away your screen name and password? Be the first one to get online and change it. But when you change it, make sure that you totally change it. Don't change "frog2" to "frog3". Add extra characters to the password if you can too. Change "frog2" to "scream765". The old and new passwords have nothing in common and have different amounts of characters. Nothing discourages the crook more than a wrong password. If you can't get online, whether it be becasue the other guy already changed your password or something else, call up your ISP immediately and tell them that someone stole your password and is using it. Ask them to either discontinue your account or change the password to something you'll remember. You don't really have to ask them to do these things, they will probably ask you what you want to do. But you still need to act fast before the costs are run up.
Well, this topic was on my mind today because I got a few of these e-mails, and felt like writing about it. Happy e-mail checking.