So, You Think You Can’t Be Hacked?

I’m a Customer Service Representative at Private Proxy.  Every day, I speak with people about Internet privacy issues.  Most of the people I speak with feel that they cannot be hacked because they are careful.  They know all about identity theft, but are sure that it won’t happen to them.  That’s when I ask them if they ever use the free, public WiFi in hotspots like Starbucks and Panera.  I then tell them how they can be jeopardizing their Internet privacy by giving them this example:

You are in a store making a small purchase and your credit card is denied.  You don’t think anything of it, and swipe another card.  That one, too, is denied.  Now you start to wonder what’s up, so you call the credit card companies.   When you speak to Customer Service, you are told that your cards are maxed out.  These cards aren’t used that much and you always pay your bills in full as soon as they’re due, so how could you be maxed out?  You ask for copies of your transaction reports so you can see where the problem is.

You get your reports and, sure enough, not only are the cards maxed out, they are each over the credit limit!  Big problem!  As you look at the transactions, you see purchases made in stores you never heard of.  These purchases include gaming systems, computers and flat-screen TVs.  There was even a vacation at a Tahitian resort on there.  None of these purchases were made by you, so you call the card companies again and cancel those two cards.  Just to be on the safe side, you also cancel your other credit cards and bank card.

For the life of you, you can’t understand how this could be happening.  After wracking your brain trying to think of when you last used these credit cards, you remember that a couple of weeks before, you used both cards shopping on-line while you were taking your lunch hour at Panera.  Since this is a free public hotspot, everyone can use it.  Because it’s for the public to use, the data stream isn’t encrypted, so anyone with computer knowledge and the right software can intercept your data stream and get hold of your username, password and credit card information.   Mystery solved, but how do you stop it from happening again?

Well, for starters, you should download our Internet Privacy Guide.  When you read this, you will learn how your identity can and will be stolen.  When you learn of all that could go wrong, it would help you tremendously to take part in our FREE trial of Private Proxy.  It’s very easy to understand how the product works and it’s also easy to use.  You will have a choice of many servers, all using encryption to keep your data safe from cyber-crooks.

Protect Your Internet Identity!