I had a repeated message yesterday from the bank about the suspicious activity around my accounts and that they are blocking my access until clarification.
I did not use the 800-telephone number they recommended. Instead, I went to my local bank in person. When in the bank I waited for a bank employee (not a teller at the window) to finish his conversation with a customer and shared my story with him. He was a young, bilingual (English-Spanish) man.
He called their security department and he said to me that there was an attempt from Los Angeles to access my account. Then he showed me one of my personal phrases that dated to 18 years ago and said that it was my ID. I replied, “No, it isn’t. That ID I used many years ago.” And I showed him my current ID. After about 20-25 minutes of him speaking to their department, we created new phrases, IDs and passwords.
Of course, today we have a wonderful tool, a personal cell, through which an instantaneous digital code is sent to the owner of the phone. Unless the owner is kept hostage, the code remains the last unbreakable barrier which is very smart because of its short life. However, for the hostage situation, let your friends know about your whereabouts frequently, or leave a comment on a public profile that people around know about your latest activities or shared thoughts.
Dear friends, as a matter of fact, my password for the bank was the same for 16 years. And it was a very short phrase without any capital letters or special signs. After 16 years a hacker got to my ID and password and tried to access my banking. And, by the way, banking of a part-time educator is not a big catch so why they bothered - who knows.
I wish everybody stayed secure, and could clear out, desirably in person, all obscurities that come your way today. With AI developing fast there will be more and more fakeness for real human beings to figure out in all possible shapes - pictures, texts, videos, people.
I yesterday saw a short (video) where they showed an Asian country and a robot - a young girl with eastern face features and white complexion, dressed in 2024 fashion, - so the robot was walking out of the grocery store and big crowds of people were watching. The robot had a very unnatural appearance - the features were the fantasy of its creator - eastern features with not matching complexion. The movements were regular robot's movements. She was cautiously stepping out of the market and down from the curb to the road while surrounded by a lively crowd of people, who observed her.
I believe we will have more and more of all of these kinds of creations almost every new day.
And fraud is never asleep. Who brought up those people? Why they have this ugly occupation of stealing from others? Who taught them? What culture made them crooked? How they skipped all good and valuable what each culture has? Why they are not ashamed of themselves and continue engaging themselves in pathetic criminal wrongdoings?
Let's fight fraud by exposing hackers' ways and sharing stories of fakeness and fraudulent activities, and how to stand against them - so our friend, relative, or neighbor is always on alert what can happen.Zoia Eliseyeva on June 16, 2024, from CA, USA