Boon or bane?
Monday November 5, 2007 : By CHONG SHEAU CHING
SO many friends have sent me happy birthday wishes!” exclaimed Big R, my daughter as she opened her profile in Face Book. “My friends haven’t forgotten me!”
We had just returned from a dinner at her favourite restaurant. The first thing she did after returning home was to continue her birthday celebration in virtual space with her friends. For the next few hours, the teen was glued to the computer, chatting with several friends at the same time as she shared her birthday wishes and pictures with them.
My antennae were up. The maternal instinct to protect my baby from danger was still as strong as when the kid was a year old. Big R knows that she should not chat with strangers on the Net and she must not divulge personal information, to avoid ID theft.
I peered at the screen with a pair of hawk eyes.
“Wow, let me see who your good friends are,” I said.
The chats were typical of teens. Lots of “LOL” (laughing out loud), and SMS messages. I recognised some names and asked for the identities of those I don’t know. I couldn’t resist asking: “This Form Two guy who is chatting with you, how do you know he is a good guy and that he is not flirting with another girl at the same time?”
“Mum! Don’t be so old-fashioned. He doesn’t know that I am chatting with five boys at the same time!”
I studied the names on the chat windows she had opened. Oh, I see.
Even though the teen is responsible and obedient, she can become a naughty and flirty girl in cyberspace!
Big R uses the Net for social activities while I use it for work and to manage my household and other duties. Is the Net a blessing to mother and daughter?
“Yes,” said Big R. “I have a lot of fun!”
“I’m not so sure,” I said.
As a home computer user, it has been an uphill task for me to cope with scams and spam. Although the Internet saves time with efficient communication, it has also wasted my time, as I have to delete unwanted e-mail, scams and spam daily.
My Internet adventure started 13 years ago when I was one of 2,000 Malaysians with personal e-mail and home Internet connection. Someone sent me an e-mail to subscribe to a mailing list that would give me a Malaysian joke a day. The jokes were funny initially, then they became vulgar and some were repeated.
The mailing list owner was running out of jokes. He kept urging me to get other Malaysians to subscribe even after I tried to unsubscribe. After several angry e-mails from me, I finally succeeded in getting off the mailing list. A few weeks later, my mailbox was spammed with all kinds of Internet marketing e-mail from the United States.
I began to learn what Internet marketing schemes were all about – collecting databases, selling them to Internet marketers who will resell them to others in their network, or use them as databases for spam and scams.
Scammers and spammers have gotten more sophisticated. I have received e-mails purportedly from banks and agencies requesting personal information besides my bank account number.
I wasn’t sure why I received over 200 spam a day until recently. An American anti-virus program which I got for free from a computer fair was actually an application that disabled all my spam protection measures and opened up my computer to all the spam that someone was sending.
A month ago, a virtual card purportedly from an old classmate was sent to me. I didn’t click on the virtual link, but I put it in my KIV folder. The next day, there was a virtual card from a former neighbour. The day after, my mailbox had at least 10 virtual cards from old classmates and friends. It was obvious that the virtual cards belong to a new type of scam. Once I clicked on them, an application would be installed inside my computer, tracking everything about me.
Last week, an Internal Revenue Service Department Notice was sent to me telling me that I was eligible to receive a tax refund of RM268.32. And if I didn’t fill in my bank account details within 48 hours, the refund would be suspended. It didn’t have my name and tax file number.
I'm glad I spotted this scam, but how long will I be this lucky?
sourced primarily for your reading pleasure by Mr Kelvin Liew Peng Chuan 2011/12
We had just returned from a dinner at her favourite restaurant. The first thing she did after returning home was to continue her birthday celebration in virtual space with her friends. For the next few hours, the teen was glued to the computer, chatting with several friends at the same time as she shared her birthday wishes and pictures with them.
My antennae were up. The maternal instinct to protect my baby from danger was still as strong as when the kid was a year old. Big R knows that she should not chat with strangers on the Net and she must not divulge personal information, to avoid ID theft.
I peered at the screen with a pair of hawk eyes.
“Wow, let me see who your good friends are,” I said.
The chats were typical of teens. Lots of “LOL” (laughing out loud), and SMS messages. I recognised some names and asked for the identities of those I don’t know. I couldn’t resist asking: “This Form Two guy who is chatting with you, how do you know he is a good guy and that he is not flirting with another girl at the same time?”
“Mum! Don’t be so old-fashioned. He doesn’t know that I am chatting with five boys at the same time!”
I studied the names on the chat windows she had opened. Oh, I see.
Even though the teen is responsible and obedient, she can become a naughty and flirty girl in cyberspace!
Big R uses the Net for social activities while I use it for work and to manage my household and other duties. Is the Net a blessing to mother and daughter?
“Yes,” said Big R. “I have a lot of fun!”
“I’m not so sure,” I said.
As a home computer user, it has been an uphill task for me to cope with scams and spam. Although the Internet saves time with efficient communication, it has also wasted my time, as I have to delete unwanted e-mail, scams and spam daily.
My Internet adventure started 13 years ago when I was one of 2,000 Malaysians with personal e-mail and home Internet connection. Someone sent me an e-mail to subscribe to a mailing list that would give me a Malaysian joke a day. The jokes were funny initially, then they became vulgar and some were repeated.
The mailing list owner was running out of jokes. He kept urging me to get other Malaysians to subscribe even after I tried to unsubscribe. After several angry e-mails from me, I finally succeeded in getting off the mailing list. A few weeks later, my mailbox was spammed with all kinds of Internet marketing e-mail from the United States.
I began to learn what Internet marketing schemes were all about – collecting databases, selling them to Internet marketers who will resell them to others in their network, or use them as databases for spam and scams.
Scammers and spammers have gotten more sophisticated. I have received e-mails purportedly from banks and agencies requesting personal information besides my bank account number.
I wasn’t sure why I received over 200 spam a day until recently. An American anti-virus program which I got for free from a computer fair was actually an application that disabled all my spam protection measures and opened up my computer to all the spam that someone was sending.
A month ago, a virtual card purportedly from an old classmate was sent to me. I didn’t click on the virtual link, but I put it in my KIV folder. The next day, there was a virtual card from a former neighbour. The day after, my mailbox had at least 10 virtual cards from old classmates and friends. It was obvious that the virtual cards belong to a new type of scam. Once I clicked on them, an application would be installed inside my computer, tracking everything about me.
Last week, an Internal Revenue Service Department Notice was sent to me telling me that I was eligible to receive a tax refund of RM268.32. And if I didn’t fill in my bank account details within 48 hours, the refund would be suspended. It didn’t have my name and tax file number.
I'm glad I spotted this scam, but how long will I be this lucky?
sourced primarily for your reading pleasure by Mr Kelvin Liew Peng Chuan 2011/12
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