Re: PayPal hacking Part 2
Re: PayPal hacking Part 2
- Subject: Re: PayPal hacking Part 2
- From: List Mom - Janice Kempf <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 22:46:37 -0700
What have I learned from all this?
1. If you are going to use PayPal or e-Bay, keep a small credit card, or
separate checking account, just for this purpose, and don't keep large sums
of money in those accounts. Deposit into those accounts only when you need
to use it for these transactions.
2. Change all your passwords to alpha/numeric, symbols, upper and lower
case, and do it on a regular basis (monthly would be nice) and NEVER be
stupid enough to use a dictionary word <flogging myself>, nor get complacent
enough <continuing to flog myself> to think this could never happen to you.
I'm nobody special or important, except to my family and friends. I'm just
a working person trying to enjoy life, same as you. First time anything like
this has ever happened in my 10 yrs. on the Net. Am I really "out there" on
the Net? Yes. Will I stop putting myself "out there"? No. But I will
protect myself a lot better from now on and I promise to never be lazy again
about rotating my passwords!
Identity theft is a very real problem in our world today. Everyone needs to
be aware of the risks, but they also need to be aware of how you can easily
protect yourself. Nothing wrong with being cautious and even a bit
paranoid. Check your e-mail daily, check your bank accounts, credit cards,
etc., daily or as often as possible, for any charges that are not yours, and
report these to the police and FBI immediately, and of course your bank and
credit card companies.
Here is a link everyone should read:
http://tinyurl.com/i3ae, titled
"Internet Scams Linked to Identity Theft".
This article also talks about the 17 yrs. old California boy that got caught
hacking and spoofing AOL to get information. This kid had social security
numbers, bank accounts, credit card numbers, the works. I could not believe
that he only got a slap on the wrist! His punishment: "agreed to settle
federal charges by accepting a lifetime ban on sending junk e-mail and
paying a $3,500 fine". That's it???
NEVER give anyone your social security number, do NOT have it printed on
your checks, and NEVER carry your SS card in your wallet (in case you ever
lose your wallet). Once someone has a social security number, according to
my conversation with the FBI agents, the crooks can buy houses, open credit
accounts, etc., all in your name. It is an absolute nightmare to get this
straightened out and can take years of fighting with the credit reporting
agencies.
Read this thread to get a glimpse of what's really going on out there:
http://www.pacific.net.ph/talk/gimmicks/messages/361.html
Personally, I will never do business with PayPal or e-Bay again, not because
they are "bad", but because they are so vulnerable and easy for Crackers
(are they using Apple Servers? Nope, they are using Windows, which is full
of security holes <
http://tinyurl.com/i3wd>). PayPal/e-Bay are constantly
getting hacked, spoofed e-mails, and even spoofed websites,
<
http://tinyurl.com/i3n7 > which are almost impossible, even for experts, to
tell which is a real site and which is a spoof site.
Please read this CERT warning to ISP system admins:
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/email_spoofing.html, and NOTE: "Some of the
header information may be spoofed; and if the abuser connected directly to
the SMTP port on your system, it may not be possible for you to identify the
source of the activity."
It's great that I will get my money back, but the people that did this got
away with it. It's not right that my bank and PayPal have to refund this
money. I am mad as hell, and I do hope that *WHEN* they catch these bored,
lazy, "babies", that they will be punished more severely than "a lifetime
ban on sending junk e-mail and paying a $3,500 fine"! If I got nailed,
think of how many others are getting financially ruined every single day
around the globe.
The Crackers are getting more sophisticated every day. Anyone that wants to
learn how to Hack n Crack can find it readily on the net. Go to Google and
type in "Hacker" or "Cracker". [btw, "they" did try to break into my
computer, according to my router security log. I'm so grateful for my
Belkin router firewall and Jaguar Firewall.]
I'm going to financially recover from this, but I'm concerned about "granny"
living on her fixed income, and "Joe & Jane Lunchbucket", who are just
trying to survive, that unknowingly clicks on a spoof e-mail, never checks
their bank statements, or rarely checks their e-mail, and finds themselves
wiped out. Pay attention out there.
Thanks for listening,
Janice Kempf
http://osxlist.com
MacRogues On-Line MUG
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