MALWARE Protection

Have you wondered what would allegedly motivate a person named Jayden K. Smith to want to hack your Facebook account? From time to time, I receive an invitation to accept a friend request from a person who is already thought to be a friend on Facebook. At least, I’ve had the thought, “We’re already friends”, so I opt to ignore the invitation.

 

However, my choosing to ignore an invitation to accept a friend request is not easily done. I always have the thought in the back of my mind: “Did they previously boot me off their existing Facebook account for some reason?” I mean, I post my blog on a daily basis and some folks might consider it spam.

 

Take the General for example, “Would she opt to trash my status as a friend on Facebook?” I don’t think so, but one never really knows. She did mention to me recently that she chooses not to read anything I post that has quotation marks around it. She doesn’t care about lyrics to songs or anything else that someone else has written. She reads only what I’ve written.

 

I took the highroad and decided to process her remarks as a left-handed compliment. How’s that for looking at life through rose-colored glasses? After all, if the General is filtering my stuff to ensure that she reads only my stuff, she must have some kind of regard for it. Please don’t mistaken what I’m suggesting. Under no circumstances do I permit myself to think of her as the type of gal that is going to hang on to every word generated on my computer. She’s not that kind of reader.

 

I recall having once accepted a friend request from someone identified as a mutual friend of a colleague from Abilene. I can’t remember her name, but I always remember a face. You know, under the concept of “any friend of…” is a friend of mine or at least worthy to be one, I accepted the friend request. At some point, the person’s profile picture became a basis of concern. She obviously was a very engaging reader and periodically made a comment or two about something I had written. Of course, each time she responded, her name and profile picture appeared along with her response.

 

Don’t get me wrong even though I don’t have a tattoo, I think body art looks good on some people. When I finally figured out that the skin-tight clothing this Facebook friend was wearing in her profile picture really might not be clothing, I opted to take a closer look. Oops, there are a couple of different ways you could interrupt that. I mean it only in the sense that I wanted ensure that anyone associated as “my friend” on Facebook was meeting some standard of appropriate dress.

 

Trust me, when I checked the person’s profile and discovered she worked in the “adult entertainment” business in Abilene, I discovered that “any friend of…” wasn’t necessarily a friend of mine. She may have worked in a “Gentleman’s Club”, but no gentleman would be visiting the establishment. Consequently, you’ll no longer find her name or profile picture on my list of Facebook friends.

 

I’ve thought about Jayden K. Smith several times this week. Why would he want to hack my Facebook account? At some point, it occurred to me that Jayden K. Smith is already a Facebook friend with many of my friends. Consequently, I’m surprised that we haven’t met. I keep receiving notices not to accept his friendship request. So is it really true that Jayden K. Smith is up to no good?

 

Perhaps you, too, have received the same warning: “Please tell all the contacts in your Messenger list not to accept Jayden K Smith friendship request. He is a hacker and has the system connected to your Facebook account. If one of your contacts accepts it, you will also be hacked, so make sure that all your friends know it. Thanks. Forwarded as received.”

 

If you’ll do a Google search to discover whether or not Jayden K. Smith is up to no good, you’ll discover it is all a hoax. His is a different name, but the same warning has been circulated using the name of Anwar Jitou, Tanner Dywer, Linda Smith and Bobby Roberts.

 

I’m not as concerned about Jayden K. Smith as I am the fictitious “Apple Support Folks” who filter an emergency alert on my computer screen to let me know my computer has been compromised. There is even an audible message to telephone immediately before someone has opportunity to glean credit card numbers and other sensitive information from my computer files.

 

Trust me, the warning isn’t from someone with Apple. It is a hoax to get your credit card number in order to bill you for their professional services. How do I know? Well the first time the message appeared on my computer, foolishly I called the number. In addition, it was the only way I could think of to get the audible message to go away.

 

Their help free of charge was available as long as my Apple computer was still in warranty. I assured them that it wasn’t and that I didn’t need their help. Guess what, after I terminated the conversation, they called me back. I opted not to answer, but they left a voice message. The down side is, now they also have my phone number.

 

I then downloaded a Malwarebytes Anti-Malware application to scan my computer for a virus. Fortunately, it was virus free. That came as good news! I addition, I had the sense that Jayden K. Smith and Anwar Jitou also weren’t lurking anywhere around my computer.

 

Have a malware free day! By the way, if you get a friend request from Rodney Topper, it is okay to accept it. He is the General’s nephew and he is already Facebook friends with about 2,000 people. While I’m worried about coming up with six friends when the time comes that I need someone to carry me out, Rodney has friends to spare. He has Facebook friends everywhere. If you are already not one, perhaps you should give it some thought. Consequently, if you get a friend request from Rodney, he is malware safe and the contact can be safely accepted.

 

All My Best!

Don