Caution: Bogus Link!

Last week, I got a Y!M message from a friend. He said hi, so I said hi back. After exchanging pleasantries, he sent me a link, telling me he took this online quiz or survey or something like that. Thankfully, I didn't click on the link, because a few days later, he sent a message saying his Y!M was hacked.

This is a bit alarming since unlike spamming where there is mass-sending of e-mail messages to random persons, in Y!M, one is are under the belief that the person he or she is talking to, if that person is a friend, is someone he or she can trust. That is probably why in addition to spamming, people resort to hacking instant messaging. It is possible that more people are duped through Y!M than through spam because they think that the links are from their friends. I'm not sure what the technical solution to this is, but what can be done is to exercise caution before clicking on random links.