Aug 18, 2010

[Stephen's Blog] MySpace - Beware of con artists

My post today is about all the scams and cons that take place on a daily basis on MySpace. Now just in case you just woke up from a 5 year coma, MySpace is the most popular social networking site on the web today. With over 100 million MySpace accounts, there are going to be plenty of con artists on the site too. Most of them just want your account information so they can take over your account which gives them access to all your other information, and all your friends or online contacts. How is this done?

There are 2 popular ways that these bad people can get this information from you. One of those ways requires them to know your email address that you used when you first opened an account with MySpace. So, please, do not show your email address on your profile, blog, bulletins, or give it to someone that you do not know, or trust. That goes the same for your Yahoo ID or any other ID that can easily be linked to an email address. Once they have your email address, then the only thing left is your password. Please make sure that your password is very strong. At least 8 digits long with at least one number and two capital letters. By following these simple guidelines, your account is a lot less likely to be hacked into.

The second popular way that these bad people can get this information from you is to trick you or con you into clicking on a link in a bulletin, blog post, or private message, or directly from their profile page. Please understand that clicking on the link will not give your information to them. But, if you are taken to (what appears to be) the MySpace homepage to sign back in again, then don't do it. You are not signed out, you don't need to sign back in again, and that is not the official MySpace homepage. Check the address bar on your browser to make sure you are on the official MySpace homepage. http://www.myspace.com/

Read more about MySpace Security and Safety Tips here

I rate MySpace a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 on my Social Web Totem Pole.
Thank you for reading my blog. I value your comments and questions.

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Posted By Stephen Robinson to Stephen's Blog at 7/20/2009 02:28:00 PM

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