My six year old is pretty amazing. He can work his way around my new smart phone with ease, dial up Angry Birds without blinking and eye, and find a way to snap pictures of his baby sister with just a few swipes of the screen. But one thing I know he can't do is send an e-mail. That's why I was taken aback when I turned on the phone this morning to find that I had -- apparently -- sent more than 400 e-mails to all of my contacts saying that I was capable of helping them become "the lover they've always dreamed of," among other strange propositions.
I'm sure you've all received these e-mails. They're from trusted contacts, but usually have strange subject lines -- if a subject at all. The temptation is to open the e-mail since you know this person. When you open it, there's a short line or two -- almost always with horrific spelling and grammatical errors -- and a URL to some strange website you've never heard of.
The tell for me that I was hacked was that I had more than 100 returned messages. Upon scanning my 'sent' messages, I saw more than 60 mass e-mails . . . unsettling and unnerving, to say the least.
And while in 2011, I would hope that my contacts are all smart enough to know not to click on the link, here are some tips, with the help of Jon Chase of Switched.com, on what to do should you find yourself the unfortunate victim of hackers.
- Don't panic. There are worse things that could happen to you, like purposefully sending lewd photos of yourself across social media sites (e.g. a certain former US Congressman).
- Change your password immediately. Obviously, you're old password wasn't strong enough. Find a combination of letters, numbers and symbols that you can remember, and hackers can't figure out. You may need to check for malware, which Chase outlines nicely in his article.
- Assess the damage. A lot of times your contacts will respond and ask if you're aware you've been spammed. Be sure to send these people a thank you response (and make sure you personalize it so they know it's you!) If it's from someone you haven't heard from in a while, it'll be nice to reconnect.
- Don't let it happen to you again. "Despite the many ways an e-mail account is hacked, the one common element is that you, the owner, essentially allow it," Chase says in his article. Be vigilant in protecting your online profile. Hackers make a living out of stealing your information. Don't make it easy for them!
This certainly isn't new info, but it's a great reminder that it can happen to anyone at any time. I've taken my lumps and learned my lesson. Life goes on, and so will my e-mail account. I just wish I was better at helping my friends become the lover they've always wanted to be.
