I’m careful online—I really am. I
don’t click on suspicious emails, and I never give my information to anyone. I
know that those “wonderful” book club fans who love my latest work are just AI
solicitation. And yet two days ago my computer was hacked and my personal
information was accessed remotely. Someone started ordering high-ticket items
with my VISA card. All I did was click on an invitation from a writer friend.
And yes, her computer had been hacked, too.
Fortunately, I alerted VISA right
away. I won’t be charged for the pricey I-phone or the 18K gold necklace from
Nordstrom. Still. This feels a lot like a house invasion. And the emotional
toll is only the beginning. My entire computer has had to be erased and then
restored (incompletely). All my credit cards have been stopped. And all my
passwords are in the process of being changed. The criminal had even changed a
few of my passwords so I was temporarily locked out. The entire process is
going to take me weeks if not months.
I know how people in the 17th
century must have felt embarking on a stagecoach journey. Would they arrive at
their destination safe and sound, or would they have to surrender all their
valuables to highway robbers? It’s the Wild West out there online.
Fortunately, I’ve recovered my
WIPs. For one awful hour or so, I thought they’d been lost.
Here’s the bottom line: you can’t
trust anything online these days. Not even if it comes from someone in the
writing community. Begin with the assumption that someone is trying to scam
you. Be sure to send copies of your work to yourself daily. Changing
passwords is a pain, but losing a manuscript you’ve worked on for months is
unthinkable. And the most difficult part? We need technology. Writers need computers. And the new world of AI is coming, whether we like or not--for good and for ill.
What is the cleverest scam you’ve
received? Forewarned is forearmed.
I've been lucky so far. But note the key phrases: lucky, and so far.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nightmare! So far, the only scams I've encountered have been telephone. Once my husband, who had dementia, answered the phone to one of those "Dad! I need bail money!" followed by an "attorney" who told him that unless we came up with the money, our son would be going to jail. My husband told them, "Keep him! He's nothing but a leech anyhow." (We do not have a son.) I've never figured out whether that was a rational moment on my husband's part, or a random response to a statement he didn't understand.
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