How To Guard Against Hackers And Scammers

You would never open a package unless you knew what it was. (At least, I certainly hope you wouldn't.)

Well, some people would. They're not stupid or naive. They just don't know how these things work.

As the de facto tech support for my family, I get messages like this:

Hi Julie, you might know how to guard against this, I opened a pic on messenger that someone sent me, it had a very explicit porno pic, and was advertising a porno game. I think this person may have meant to send it to another [Name] that she’s friends with, it was not like her at all, it was captioned ‘I’ve been meaning to send this to you for a long time” so effin strange. I went in and updated my privacy settings, can someone hack into someone else’s messenger?

And here's my response:

First, never open anything unless you know what it is. Never. Even if it's from a friend, always ask them what it is.

Second, the caption is vague. That's another clue that the message may be spam. Such a caption takes many forms, such as "Have you seen this?" or "I thought you'd be interested in this," or "Wow, this is incredible!" These captions give no indication of what is in the pic; the sole purpose is to "tease" you into opening the picture.

Your friend's account was probably hacked. Most hackers use an account only once and just move on to another account. Your friend will want to change her account.

And in case my previous advice is in any way vague or obtuse:

Never open anything unless you know what it is.

You are under no obligation to open any message or email. Modern life has conditioned us for immediacy. Always ask yourself: "Can this keep till tonight or tomorrow?" Procrastination can be your friend.

In the end, don't worry about it. It's probably not a virus. If you still have some concerns, contact your service provider. And keep your guard up for the next time.