Dear Vocalisters:
This weekend I was shocked to discover that someone else has been accessing
and using my email account.
I had had difficulty logging on once or twice, but thought that it was due to
a technical glitch. I also had the feeling that I was missing some emails,
but couldn't really prove anything and was too busy to worry about it.
Then I got an email thanking me for registering at a "reunion" site--one
where you can locate your old classmates, etc. I went to the site with the
registration data and there was the name and address of this person!
I have no idea how a woman in New Jersey obtained my password, which I have
NOT given out to anyone. The AOL security people tell me that there are now
password generators that function much in the way the dialup devices used by
hackers do. But there are also Trojan Horses that can detect your password
and transmit it to another user. I had recently opened some attachments from
people that I know--(the silly chain emails that ask you to download a gra
phic and then forward to as many people as possible within the next 5
minutes).
So from now on I will not download attachments, even from people I know, if I
do not have an explanation in advance of what it is and who created it.
I've also decided to change my password on a regular basis.
I thought that you would like to be aware that this kind of thing can happen
so easily--even when you think that you are being pretty careful. If you get
one of those emails, DELETE it immediately. Don't open it (if possible) and
don't pass it along to your friends. And keep your anti-virus program
installed, active and up to date.
Judy
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