What if a hacker uses the above technique or another technique to access your online account, what is he likely to do? The answer, unfortunately, includes a likely possibility that he’ll wipe out all of your data.
Some hackers are just bad intentioned—they delete all of your data out of spite. Other hackers use your account for some scam, but then they delete all of your data to make it harder for your to undo the scam.
For example, a common scam is the Western Union scam. A hacker breaks into your email account and sends everyone in your address book an email telling them you’re stuck in a foreign country and you’ve lost your wallet. The email continues with a plea for your friends to send you a few hundred dollars by Western Union Moneygram.
If your friends and family do send money, it’ll be picked up by an associate of the scammer and will never be seen again. (Moneygrams are not refundable when fraud occurs.)
To make it harder for you to ruin this scheme, hackers will delete your entire email address book and all of your old messages so you can’t find the addresses for your friends and family to tell them that you’ve been hacked and that the money request is a scam.
As I said earlier, that unfortunately leaves you without email or address book. Scammers will also delete your information off of social media sites for the same reason, leaving you without any friends or followers.
No comments:
Post a Comment