May 13th 2011
What is click-jacking?
Click-jacking is a new form of scam, where personal details such your name, email address, and even where you live can be stolen by a single innocent click.
It´s a lot more common than you may realise. Click-jacking is everywhere you interact with friends through a digital medium, from emails to instant messaging, even Facebook!
Where once it was easy to separate an imitation from a genuine item, the internet makes this much more difficult. This problem is further enhanced when names and pictures of friends of yours are included in the scam, which puts websites such as Facebook at the centre of attention for scammers.
How can I avoid being click-jacked?
Remember that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. Common subjects of scams include unreleased versions of hardware or software (such as the iPhone 5, which does not yet exist), so if you are interested in cellphones for example, it helps to make yourself aware of what the most current version of leading products in that market is.
Another helpful thing to do is to check your privacy settings once in a while, as Facebook periodically updates these to allow increased security, but this is commonly switched off by default. One example of this is the option to use a more secure browsing session (https), which you have to turn on yourself if you want to use it.
But perhaps the easiest way of all to safeguard yourself is to ask the person you received the link from if they sent it. Eliminate the risk! And if you are sending something legitimate to your friends, make sure you identify yourself in an obvious way so people know it´s really you.
Safe browsing everyone!