Two days ago, my mom received a Facebook message from her friend who was based in London. My mom’s friend was apparently having a hard time abroad. She ran out of money because of exorbitant medical expenses. As her medication was absolutely necessary, she asked her friends to send her some money in whatever amount by depositing it in her bank account, the details of which were also in the message. A message like that would normally have gotten my mom to speedily call all their common friends to arrange how they can help, but it didn’t. Why? Because this friend, who supposedly sent her the message, is actually visiting in Manila and they just had dinner the night before!
So the impostor missed that one information about the target. My mom said though that the letter really did sound like it came from her friend—same writing style, same vocabulary. If she hadn’t just seen her friend, she would have believed it. She quickly informed her friend about it and, needless to say, her friend had to change her password and send out clarificatory messages so that no one will fall prey to this impostor.
Here’s what I got from my mom’s experience:
Lesson #1: Protect your password, especially if you’re sharing computers! Also, think of a really hard one to crack. You’ll never know what kind of trouble it can bring you and your friends if someone uses your account to swindle your friends.
Lesson #2: Verify messages, especially if it involves sending money or confidential information. I don’t think I need to elaborate on this one.
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