Yahoo Messenger, the free instant-messaging (IM) service is now being used by phishers to steal account usernames/passwords and other personal information.
My Mom, was a victim of this crafty technique done by Hackers. At first we are not aware that her account was being hacked until suddenly she couldn’t access her account. She then phoned me up and I tried to retrieve her password but it seems that all the information regarding password retrieval was already changed, this time my instinct tells me that her account could be hacked..
The next day I saw her online with the supposedly hacked account. Thinking that my mom probably retrieved her password on her own, we go on with our conversation. The hacker go with the flow as if she was my Mom until she asked me to buy several Smart Pre-Paid Card, this time I smell something is wrong, my Mom is on Globe and will not ask me to buy prepaid card also I noticed the difference on how she chat. I asked her to video chat with Skype but she refused and insist to Video Chat with Yahoo, She then invited me to a Video Call on Yahoo (I guess to convince me that she’s a real person and probably will say that the webcam she’s using is broken after I accept the invitation) but I refuse and insist that we do it in Skype. She then told me in our native language (yes the perpetrator is a Filipino) “Accept mo Video Chat, sira yung skype sa PC”(Accept my Video Call, the skype on the PC is broken) that time I am convinced that it’s not my Mom – She’s using a Mac and she never uses other’s PC , at age 55 she don’t know how to use a PC. I should have pretended that I’m not aware to catch him but I found myself in rage and asked the suspect “Sino ka?!” (Who are you?). Then the suspect never replied again.
My Mom and I talked on Skype and I asked her how her account was hacked. She was no idea but she remember that her close friend send her a link to her email saying she’ll show my mom her latest pictures but she have to login with her Yahoo username and password (with a link send through YM) an obvious act of phishing. At her age my mom is not aware of Phishing (she’s not like your techy lola) and the link sender was her very close friend which she would never think will do such devious act (probably who’s account was hacked too). Unlike me, upon opening a link I can say that it’s a Phishing site. My mom did not suspect anything could go wrong. The built in phishing protection in Firefox and Safari should have protected her but I guess she does not update Firefox and uses it as her default browser.
We cannot recover her yahoo account so we just warned our common friend in YM that her account was hacked and told them the necessary precautions to avoid their account from being hacked. So how can you protect yourself from phishing?, Here’s a few precautions to avoid your account from being hacked.
- Never login to ANY account may it be Yahoo, Google, specially online banking with a link send through IM (instant messenger). Browse the site through their URL. Type it on your browser navigation bar don’t be lazy.
- Update your browser regularly. So you get the latest protection built in to the browser.
- Don’t entrust your account to anyone. When some one asked for your password and username never give it may it be your son, parents or even your closest friend.
- Use common sense. We all chat in a certain manner unique to each of us so this way we know that the one we’re talking to is the real person. Incase the hacker is too sneaky that you never notice it’s a different person. Never do favor unless you speak through phone or talked via Webcam.
- Never store valuable information like passwords, bank information saved in your email folders, write or print it and save a physical copy. This way the hacker will get nothing when they access your account.
These days any one will do anything to survive and these hackers earn big money on stealing account information. All it takes to avoid this from happening to someone you knew is awareness, let that someone you know (who can be vulnerable) be aware that this could happen.
If you have experienced the same thing, please share it here.
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hi…i was victimized by this hacker this afternoon and i bought 33 cards!he was asking me to buy 60 but i smell something fishy when he can’t answer my questions so i didnt continue passing the pincode of the prepaid cards..what a waste of money ive done!!!!oh my…..