Social media
can be a great way for people to stay connected and informed, BUT and it's a
really BIG BUT...
Do you know
everyone on your friends list?
Do you know if
they are real people and by that I mean, are they who they say they are?
If you are a
business owner, do you know who you are connecting yourself to and what their
intentions are? Yah, I know, sounds like
a bad dad commentary, but seriously - DO YOU KNOW WHO you are connected to?
The internet,
as I have learned has a very, very dark underbelly. A place where people have
multiple identities, claim the hard work of others as their own and scam and
hurt people in ways that can take years to repair.
Because I
seldom stray off of the topics that interest me when I am surfing the net, I
tend to not see that side of things too often.
Recently I
have had cause to be investigating some people for an article that I intend to
write in the future and a few that I have already written.
While doing
that research, I found out just how desperate and deranged some people can be.
People can
pretend to be some one they are not and hide behind a key board and say what
ever in the HE Double Hockey Sticks they want to say about you and you have
very little recourse is most cases.
Internet
crimes like impersonation, plagiarism, photo theft, slander, stalking, bullying
go unreported too often because even when reported, a lot of these scary things
aren't considered crimes when they happen on the internet. A lot of things we think are crimes - like
impersonation - are not criminal unless the person doing the impersonating is
getting some financial gain, the same for plagiarism.
Did you know
that you could steal whole articles that other people have written and go
undetected for years?
Did you know that
seasoned journalists don't know that there are plagiarism checker tools or that
you can use images.google.com -
and in the search bar there is a little camera, click on that, upload a picture
and you can find articles on and variations of those pictures if they have been
shared lots?
It's amazing
what happens when you do that - the things
you learn about the people that you think you know....
Did you know
that often times the profile images of Porn Stars are stolen and used by others
to pass themselves off as pretty girls or handsome guys?
Did you know
that there are people out there who are so good at Photoshop that unless you
see the original photo you would NEVER suspect that the photos they produce to
you as theirs are phony?
Did you know
that all of the tools that people like me use in their day to day work, are
used by jerk offs looking to take you for a ride, scam you, or just make
themselves feel superior because you were stupid enough to believe them?
Motorcyclists
are not the only community that gets a black eye courtesy of the disrespectful
or deceitful.
There are some
tools that you can use to protect yourself out there.
Before you accept a friend request from anyone, vet them.
Find out who is at the table...
Check to see
who else they are connected to, what kind of things they post about and if you
can't find that information or get a true recommendation from a friend you know
and trust via PM, then don't accept their requests.
There are so
many scammers and con artists just waiting in the wings for that break, that
chance to infiltrate all of your data and that of your friends.
If you think
that someone is trying to scam you about who or what they are...
If your spider senses are tingling - pay attention to
them. Even people you know
personally can change due to life situations like divorces that see wounded
people trying to drown themselves in all sorts of ways...people change and not
always for the better.
If you are in
the dating game, check the profile images ( images.google.com ) of the guy or chick, cause guess what,
they probably look nothing like their profile picture. There are tons of sites
out there dedicated to protecting the porn stars from having their photos
ripped off, be they female or male.
There are tons
of scammer checker sites now days. Use them.
Keep your computer and emails safe with a top-drawer
security system like Kaspersky - which is what I use. It's a little more expensive than some
programs out there but think of how expensive life will become if someone
hacked your computer and stole your identity....
I am not a
trained journalist and I tend to trust people far too easily.
I write about
our community, my feelings towards it and when I need to I dig hard to find out
the truth of a situation, I look for as much info to provide balanced
reporting...investigative journalism is not something I have been trained for
but, I do the best I can and am continually reading and learning.
I use the
tools I have tripped across to protect myself, because no one wants to take
someone like me under their wing - so I learn everything the hard way...hence
why I am sharing these tips with you.
I don't want you learning the hard way - it hurts - a lot.
People have
duped me because I take people at their word, at face value. I am too old
school for a world that connects you to so many. I am, however, learning at a
rapid rate an art I would never have thought I'd wanted to learn - How not to trust.
And so...
I have gone to
great lengths recently to learn how to protect myself out there even better,
because the more I am in the "public eye" the more the freaks are
coming out of the closet.
In every
community there is someone who seems to need to destroy everything that others
do or hold dear. I am not sure why we
can't all just be happy for each other, why there are so many broken and dead
souls walking around - but there are.
In the riding community:
You have those
who use their loud pipes to show off instead of for safety.
You have
people who hold events and then don't pay their bills.
In almost every community:
You have
people who volunteer and then don't show up.
You have
people who take on a job but never really show up.
You have
people whose word isn't worth the paper it's written on.
In government and policing:
You have
politicians that lie and steal from the Canadian Taxpayer.
You have
police officers that ruin the name of the force by their conduct while the good
ones have to put up with the brunt of the anger...
Yes, there are
nut jobs everywhere you turn and the Internet makes them more accessible than
ever.
Just like
riding, the best defense is a great offence.
What say you?
I leave you with a few funnies shared with me by friends on Facebook and via emails:
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Have a safe and pleasurable weekend...
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
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