Someone Hacked Your YM ID? Did You Enter Your Login Details to Bogus Websites?

Here's a story that I would like to share with you guys. Yesterday when I was online and messaging my friends through YM, and suddenly I saw one of my friends status had changed to something like "Hi, there, want to chat with me? Add me at AIM: hottygirl1984" and she was not online at that time.

I suspected that someone got her YM ID and password and use it for their own purpose. When I clicked my friend's profile, it took me to a profile which I know was not my friend and it actually link to a porn website.

I immediately contacted my friend and ask her to change her password and she did just that. The comment on her profile immediately disappeared and when I clicked the profile, it doesn't redirect me to the Hottygirl1984's profile.

Now, the question is, how does the hackers can steal her YM username and password?

Remember my previous post about Date My IM? Maybe she typed her login details on similar websites. Never enter your login details to other websites that you don't know. Some of it look authentic but it's not.

So, how do you spot if the website that you're visiting is authentic or not?

Here's how:
From this picture, you can see three circles. The circles are actually the signs that you need to pay attention to as it show that the website you're visiting is a secure website and you can enter your login details safely.

1. The URL of the website will be written https:// instead of the usual http://. The 's' shows that it's a secure website.

2. You will see an image of a padlock at the browser and as far as I know, every browser will show you this image if it's a secure website. But the position of the image will be different. Some browser such as Internet Explorer will show this image after the URL.

3. It's better if you install the McAfee Site Advisor because it will show you if the website is a phishing/bogus website. The colour will then turns to red. In this picture, the colour is green showing that this Yahoo website is authentic.

If the website you're visiting don't have these features, it's a bogus website and NEVER enter your login details.

Any questions? Feel free to email me at wan14my[at]gmail.com and if this is your first time here, subscribe to my RSS feed so you'll not miss future posts.

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