[APG Public List] [APG Members] My Predicament!!!! (Need Help).

[LBoswell]

Well Jack, wouldn't want to leave it unlocked around here (and this isn't 
exactly a high crime area).  And in some areas, it's preferred that someone 
is found to be home!

And on unlocking or carelessness,   I inadvertently left the trunk on my car 
unlocked (slightly ajar) last week.  I can hardly complain when it was 
rifled.  It was "entered" in the middle of the night (I think).  Spilled 
things around, but not much there worth stealing, so no damage to me.  Not 
very bright thieves as they could have flipped down the rear seats and 
gained access to more valuable stuff in the glove box in the main 
compartment, so I got off lightly.

I think your reply is interesting though I believe people on the internet 
need to be far more careful because unlike my rather poor analogy, you'll 
never *see* them enter (hack, or leave a worm or trojan on)  your pc.  But 
it will be because you left "a door open" in your internet security.  Most 
of these things are automatic, not directly controlled. Phishing for 
information.  Notice a lot of spam doesn't have your email address.  Just 
viewing it can trigger notice that a valid email address has been found.

Sorry, responsibility lies first with those who don't take precautions, who 
aren't protecting themselves. It's why some municipalities charge people who 
leave their car doors unlocked.

Larry
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jack Butler
  To: apgpubliclist
  Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 1:15 PM
  Subject: Re: [APG Public List] [APG Members] My Predicament!!!! (Need 
Help).


  Larry wrote:

  "It's the responsibility of each person to make sure they're secure.  If 
you leave your door unlocked, you can't complain if someone opens the door 
and walks in."

  I concur totally with the first sentence and find the 2nd totally 
nonsensical. During daylight hours, my door is routinely unlocked. The idea 
that I am inviting strangers into my house and that I have no complaint 
should one enter is ridiculous. It has never happened, but I assure you that 
any stranger walking through that unlocked door without invitation would 
most certainly be met with complaint and might quite possibly be met with 
overt hostility.

  Likewise, the fact that I might inadvertently leave some crack in my 
computer security (I don't particularly believe that I do) is not equivalent 
to giving tacit permission for some jerk to go poking about the innards of 
my system. The error, or even carelessness of a computer user does not 
excuse or justify someone else's bad behavior.

  Jack Butler

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: LBoswell
    To: Terry Reigel ; apgpubliclist
    Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 12:02 PM
    Subject: Re: [APG Public List] [APG Members] My Predicament!!!! (Need 
Help).


    That make sense, I don't use free email accounts.  In this case maybe 
they were too free!  Or freely available.

    People get careless with their passwords and usernames, and who can 
blame them.  For genealogical purposes alone I have over 200 
username/passwords.  But each one is unique, and composed of a mix of 
uppercase, lowercase and numerals.  I record the answer to my security 
questions on the same file card that has the password and username, never 
leaving it on the website in question.  And I make up my own unique security 
question (not just 'mother's maiden name').  I never leave my computer set 
to automatically log in to a site (which parks a cookie containing that 
information on your pc).

    It's the responsibility of each person to make sure they're secure.  If 
you leave your door unlocked, you can't complain if someone opens the door 
and walks in.

    The good thing is that it's pointless to keep changing your passwords. 
Absolutely not necessary unless you know for sure that you've been hacked. 
No need to change your bank password every so many months. Hackers don't 
operate like that.

    with dozens and dozens of these things, who could keep updating them 
anyway?

    play by the same rules you'd use in real life, and you won't be as 
vulnerable on the web.

    But again Terry, it's that old Urban Legend chant someone told me "a 
friend of hers did...."  Ye olde 'friend of a friend" again.

    Larry
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Terry Reigel
      To: apgpubliclist
      Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 10:55 AM
      Subject: Re: [APG Public List] [APG Members] My Predicament!!!! (Need 
Help).


      LBoswell wrote:
      > It's more likely from third party applications accessed
      > through FB.  Privacy settings that you have set for FB
      > may not apply when you use those other apps.

      While the same scam is being run on Facebook, best I can see in those 
cases it's actually done on the Facebook system, not via email. All the 
messages of this sort I've received were emails, and seem to have two things 
in common -- use of a "free" email account, and a computer user who seems to 
be relatively unaware of security issues. In each of those cases the email 
account was actually taken over by the intruder. And, few if any of them 
every figure out how their account was compromised. I suspect they have 
either fallen for a phishing message and voluntarily given up their 
passwords, or have used weak passwords or security questions that make it 
easier for the scammers to break into the accounts. One told me he used the 
security question "What was your first phone number?" and not remembering 
it, entered 1234567890, and believed that was the way the account was 
compromised.

      > I just don't think people would actually
      > fall for this little con.

      Oh but they do - that's why it's going on. A correspondent whose 
account was compromised for one of these told me one of her friends did 
indeed send the money.

      Terry Reigel 
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