ONE word that can never be overemphasized these days to all those who travel on the Internet superhighway day in and day out is ‘beware.' From time immemorial people have been traveling on the highways of the world in search of their livelihood and for other reasons necessitating travel, many a time falling victim to highway robbers - giving rise to the term ‘highway robbery.' For security, they traveled in groups or caravans – armed and fully ready to face any untoward eventuality. These days one traverses the Internet superhighway for a myriad of reasons – mostly as a means of livelihood in one legitimate way or the other. But there are those who not only lie in wait but also use the same medium to lure and cheat the unwary user. For every good service or facility, there are those who misuse it, making it necessary for those who have legitimate purposes to be aware and cautious. Of the myriad methods that ‘cyber criminals' use, some are easily detectable as being fake, such as, the spate of e-mails announcing to the recipient that he/she has been the winner (of a usually seven figure amount in US dollars or British pounds) in a random lottery of e-mail addresses. Then there are business proposals, so cleverly devised that those who are unaware might fall prey to them. And what started as faxes (when the Internet was not widely used) requesting help in getting a certain amount of money (of course in millions), held up for this or that reason, released for the payment of a handsome percentage, has shifted to the Internet. Since Internet users ‘travel' alone, they need to be warned of the new ways of getting cheated and ‘robbed', most importantly of one's reputation, and dignity. One such method, to which this writer fell victim, is an email in the name of Yahoo. It requests the recipient to update his information in a specific period of time or else risk losing the use of the e-mail facility. As a freelance journalist, who depends a lot on the regular functioning and availability of the e-mail service – for sending and receiving information, photographs, and sometimes conducting interviews online – the loss of an e-mail account is a serious issue. Thus it was that in an unguarded moment, I answered the email and updated my data only to find that my computer was hacked and my e-mail address list was hijacked. This had seriously damaging consequences as the hackers used my address list to send ‘distress' emails to my contacts, saying to the effect (as some of the recipients wisely phoned and informed me accordingly) that I was stranded in London and needed money to be sent to a particular address, at the same time urging them not to inform my family. One needs to be very careful. There is no saying what other evil things such people might do with the information that they took from my computer. One of my main worries is that some of my good friends might fall for the trick. The other is the concern that one's hard-earned reputation and goodwill can be so easily ruined. I can only hope and pray that no one is taken in. There have been calls from friends within the Kingdom and as far away as India, which was a wise thing for them to do. No one should have to go through such an unfortunate experience, which is why I am sharing this sad story with you.
