Did You Just Send Me A Friend Request?

Here we go again. That heart-wrenching message came in today from a friend stating they think I've been hacked. "Did you just send me a friend request? Because if you didn't, you might want to reset your password." So I log into my account and proceed to reset my password for the third time in a couple of months.

Why do we need to even worry about this mostly annoying, bothersome task. It seems to happen overnight, like the hackers are out there waiting while the world's asleep. Some indecent jerks or possibly internet bots lurking in the web to pounce on innocent folks who just want to socialize with their friends, co-workers and family through electronic devices rather than snail mail. We worry because there are just too many victims of identity theft and fraud to leave it alone.

An article written by Jim Akin for Experian.com on October 11, 2022, explains identity theft incidents are increasing, as well as losses. In 2021, fraud complaints increased 19% making the total reach 5.8 million. Identity theft rose to slightly over 1.43 million. The most commonly reported category after identity theft are imposter scams where "... a criminal poses as a representative of a trusted institution or government agency in order to steal money or personal information," Akin writes.

So when Aunt Rosie receives that friend request on Facebook with an attached message saying, "Hey there," she forgets that she has already been friends with the same person for ten years, and she is very willing to accept their request and begin conversing with them without thinking twice. Unfortunately, the elderly get sucked into these types of fraudulent schemes quite often, but when hackers invent new ways of looking legitimate, we all should be on 'high alert'.

Can we overcome such common mistakes and avoid having to do the password reset? Almost everyone who uses electronic devices is dealing with it. I remember receiving an email several years ago that said, "Thank you for your order. Click here to view invoice. Please pay promptly." I knew the name of the company and had ordered books from them in the past, but I hadn't made a recent order. So I approached my office manager to see if she had ordered something for me, or if she was aware of the new email. She said, "It's probably just a scam to get you to click on the link so they can verify your email." That was the first time I'd ever seen such a convincing email. They knew my first name, and the list of books showing would have been ones I might order. So I immediately called my book rep at the compnay and informed them about the impersonator trying to reach their customer base. They would be looking for breaches of information within the company.

What are the most beneficial things we can do when being summoned by a potential hacker or fruadulent contact? Here are five solutions that may help:

1. Secure your mobile devices and computers from malicious actors.

Use a firewall, a private internet network, an antivirus software, and turn off Bluetooth when it's not in use. These are all "...deterrents from hackers stealing your personal information, tricking you into revealing private data, and using that data to steal and extort personal information, such as business secrets, bank account credentials and even people's identities," as is stated in the businessnewsdaily.com report(18 Ways to Secure Your Devices From Hackers) by Max Freedman, updated Oct. 20, 2022.

2. Only give your email address to trusted people.

Aura.com reported on Dec. 8, 2022 in the article (10 Ways Scammers Hack You With Your Email Address), by Chief Information Securtiy Officer J.R. Tietsort, that with just your email address, scammers can:

"- Target you with sophisticated phishing emails.

- Find more sensitive information about you, including where you live.

-Attempt to hack into your other online accounts.

-Impersonate you and scam your friends and family.

-Steal your identity and commit financial fraud."

3. Follow Facebook and Instagram User Guidelines and Protections.

Recently, these account users seems to be getting hit frequently by false contacts, so we might try a few of Meta's suggestions like keeping your password unique, not sharing it with anyone, and using a password that is not used elsewhere online. Meta also highly recommends managing who can see you in your privacy settings. Changing it to "friends of friends" keeps your account only accessible to a specific group rather than giving public access.

4. Activate two-factor authentication.

Yes, this does mean an extra step in opening certain types of websites, but it protects you by making you confirm your identitiy when it notices you are logging in from an unrecognizable device. Most businesses and social platforms have this type of security in place to keep emails and personal information about their users private.

5. Think before responding.

Everyone is busy. We are quick to see a name or company we recognize, but did we take a better look at the email or message that was sent to us before responding? There are ways to verify an authentic source for just about every contact that engages with you online. Whoever your email provider is, find out ways to spot real inbox messages from spammers or imposters.

Social media contacts should be in your "friends, or friends of friends" list, and if they are requesting friendship again, send them a quick private message asking if they sent out a friend request to you. One key thought is if you suspect you were already friends, then it is probably not a legitimate friend request (unless they had to make a brand-new page because their account was stolen or compromised).

So go ahead and reset your password. You may be doing yourself the biggest favor and protecting yourself from the never-ending world of online threats to your security.