In a way, having my identity stolen several years ago has paid off. I
was placed in a credit monitoring program which is fairly
comprehensive, in that they monitor EVERYTHING, not just credit.
A few days ago, I received an alert that my password to my two blogs on Word Press had been 'compromised'.
I promptly changed them, and then contacted a technician at the monitoring program.
After some digging, he found that the password had been stolen by whomever created an empty blog.
Earlier
I had mentioned (and posted) that I was receiving empty blogs. I wrote
about it, titling the post "What are they trying to accomplish?" Well,
now I know.
As you know, Word Press notifies you by email
that Someone Liked My Blog Post "-------", and that I should go see what
they're up to.
I did. First time it was
'cuteanimal pictures". Puppies and kitten pictures lifted wholesale from
the web. No writing. No credits, no comments, Nothing "about me"
Nichts, nein nada.
I removed the jerk.
Next time it was something a bit different: "Loveanimals" or some such
rot. Again: pictures stolen from the web (no name of owner, no weblinks,
etc). No writing. No information, no opinion, etc. Nothing "about me".
I
began to call this 'blishing'..someone crawling around on the
blogosphere, trying to get someone to click on a link (hidden, mind you)
in their blog. It's 'phishing' on the blog.
I
removed that person. I wondered what are they doing? Trying to get a
like without working for it? Trying to get on a 'fairly' successful
blog? Trying..what?
This last time, though,
I received a 'like' from "Cookingwithevan" and did I want to see what
they're up to? Well, I KNOW an Evan. So I looked at it and foolishly,
clicked on a recipe. It took me to SOMEONE ELSE's blog. Not 'Evan". No
information about who Evan is. It's certainly not MY Evan. No recipe.
No credit for the true owner or author. And again, No information about
the original "like", Evan.
Well, this time, "Evan" got me. Somehow he got my password to Word Press. This is quite a feat because I never remember it!
That
set off alarms with my credit monitoring program. The tech told me that
clicking on the recipe inserted a code that sent my password back to
the thief. Now it was all over the "Dark Web". He used a term that I
can't remember...after all, I was a bit excited.. that means the
password is sold to thieves in the underworld of cyber theft.
I
changed ALL my passwords, because it would have been very easy, once the
thief got my password, to start rummaging about. But I wasn't quick
enough...the thief tried to change my mailing address! Not my
webmail...my SNAIL mail address.
That set off another alarm.
I called the USPS and let them know someone has stolen my ID. AGAIN. And trying to steal whatever.
So
BEWARE, Bloggers and Word Pressers! BEWARE. Someone is out there who
has figured out that people blog and are fairly trusting. He knows what
you like and will do everything he can to steal from you. Beware. Beware of empty blogs
19 February 17.
I am adding this as a postscript.
After I posted this, I ran the fourth of virus checks in as many days. Up until yesterday, I'd never had a virus show up. Now I have FOUR. They were inserted at various times in the past two years and were all activated yesterday.
Don't worry, I'm on a different computer, so you won't 'catch' my infection. I disconnected the infected PC from the net and it is now in my truck, awaiting my taking it to the 'doctor' for cleaning.
Again, beware. Some nasty effers have figured out how to infiltrate one's computer through a blog and are willing to destroy everything you have worked on and for...for what? I don't keep account numbers, credit card statements, etc on my computer.
Beware.
