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Staying Safe in A Cyber World

February 2011 - By Tom Sadaka

February is here and we find ourselves looking forward to the month of love; looking back at the holiday season and our efforts to bestow our good wishes and blessing on our friends and family; and cringing as we review the bills we incurred.

Our reflection and our looking forward find us firmly rooted in a technology-connected world. We posted "happy holidays" on our Facebook profile; emailed our colleagues, friends and family; bought holiday gifts online; and perhaps updated our profile and photographs on our online dating site in search of a new Valentine.

In going about our daily lives and utilizing what technology has to offer, we expose ourselves to would be cyber scammers; fraudsters; and bullies. How do we live our connected lives yet protect ourselves from the technology assisted identity thieves, conmen and stalkers? While volumes can be devoted to personal cyber-security, this article will outline a few simple steps we can take to provide ourselves with a bit more protection when dealing with online dating or social networking sites.

Online dating and social networking sites proliferate and are far more than a fad or trend. Online dating sites provide us with a means to connect with people outside of our traditional social circle of friends and acquaintances. Social networking sites allow us to reconnect with old friends, stay in touch with family and even market our businesses and endeavors. Through these sites we can create profiles that highlight our best assets, put forth our likes and dislikes, and chat with people who purport to have interests similar to ours regardless of whether they live down the street or across the world. We can be a bit of a voyeur and look at other people’s photos, videos and web-cams as we gain some sense of physical and emotional familiarity without ever having met. The best part is that we can do all of this in the comfort of our homes, waiting at the airport, riding in our carpool or in the corner of our office at anytime of the day or night.

We must, however, keep in mind that meeting and "dating" people over the Internet involves risks. I believe that a good number of us still believe in a certain level of anonymity when we converse and exist in the virtual world, as such, our waistlines grow smaller, our chest sizes grow larger, our education becomes more impressive as do our incomes and lifestyles. However, the more we reveal about ourselves, coupled with the plethora of public information available on the Internet, the more likely it is that we are giving people more than a map to our hearts we are providing a map to our doorsteps.

Many online dating sites and social networks do not independently verify any information from applicants or members.  Photos posted on profiles are not verified and are often stolen from other people’s profiles, other sites on the web or purchased from stock photography.

The goal of the scammer is to steal your money. The scammer will surf the profiles on the web and send emails or instant messages to other members and play on their vanities or insecurities in order to gain a position of trust. The ruse varies but the general scheme is for the scammer to find their way into their victims' emotions and then into their wallets. The scammer will readily give you a Western Union or other instant money transfer ID and ask that you send whatever money you can so that they can pay their Internet bill or finish paying for the plane ticket to come see you. The ruse may also take on the form of a money order scam, a dire financial emergency scam and of recent popularity the “I’m in jail and need bond money” scam.

The key to the success of these scams is the amount of information shared by the victim and the ability of the scammer to gain your trust.

There are some general tips for protecting yourself on online dating and social networking sites that can minimize the risks of falling victim to a scammer. Obviously we can avoid the sites altogether but rather than advocating a form of agoraphobia lets look at some tips that will allow you to share in the joys of online dating or reconnecting with that nerdy kid that sat behind you in the 3rd grade.

Knowledge is power. Before you join an online dating site do some research to find out what the site does to police itself.  Some sites do nothing but allow an open forum for connecting while others gather the personal information of the subscribers and engage in some level of verification of the information provided.

Be cognizant of false representations. That 22-year-old blond co-ed from South Beach is just as easily a pot bellied middle aged man from Poughkeepsie, NY.  Watch for inconsistencies in their profile or in their various messages to you. There are web-services available that will scan the Internet for other sites or pages where a particular photograph appears (www.tineye.com). You can input the photographs used on a particular profile into the web-service and voila you see that the photo appears on 20 other sites ranging from professional network profiles to pornography. You can utilize the same service to check your own photos as well to make sure no one has stolen your pictures and posted them as their own on other profiles and sites.

Be careful about the amount of information you share in your own profile. This tip is not limited to the profile you’ve posted on one particular online dating site but all of your online profiles, social and professional. It is not a difficult task for someone to find your other online profiles after they have read your dating site profile. Online search engines are very powerful and can easily lead the scammer to a treasure trove of information about you.

Take advantage of the privacy settings of the various social networking sites. Lock your photos and walls down as best you can so that only the people who you choose can have access to your more private information.

Be careful about opening attachments from your online friends as these can carry along a program that will create a backdoor into your computer system and grant access to all your financial and personal information. Invest in virus checking and antivirus software and make certain to keep the software current by downloading all available updates.

Never send money or give financial account information to someone you've only met online. If you are going to send money, make sure it is done in a way where you can trace the funds and have a trail that you can provide to investigators in case things go wrong. Remember that most Western Union type money transfers provide you with little or no recourse. Once the money is sent, it is gone from you forever.

If your online contact starts to bully or stalk you, report the matter to law enforcement. Cyber-stalking is a crime in Florida (Florida Statutes 784.048) and is also grounds to apply for a protection order or injunction from the court. Further, report the person to the social networking or dating site so that their profiles can be restricted or shut down.

If you do fall victim to a scam be prepared to provide all the information you can about the scammer to law enforcement. While jurisdictional limitations and minimum resources do restrict the ability of most agencies to investigate online scams, the more information you can provide them about the scammer the better their chances of success.

If you choose not to report the case to your local law enforcement agency or they indicate that the matter is outside of their jurisdiction, you can still file a complaint about a financial scam with the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel (www.sentinel.gov). The Consumer Sentinel takes complaints related to identity theft, do not call violations, Internet and online auction frauds, telemarketing scams, credit scams, business opportunity fraud and health and weight loss product scams.

Finally, trust your instincts rather than your emotions. If the situation doesn't feel right then it probably isn't. Try to take a step back and evaluate the situation. As difficult as it may seem, walk away from the relationship so you can live to chat another day.

 

Tom Sadaka
Civil Litigation Attorney