It was the first week of college when I received a Facebook notification that someone had attempted to log into my account. I figured it was no big deal, changed my password, and moved on. Three weeks later, however, someone successfully accessed my account and began commenting on posts my friends tagged me in. I need you to keep in mind—I have never given anyone any of my passwords. I also make sure to use different passwords across accounts and to not use basic information. I was stunned, but it was what happened next that had me completely shook.
At the time I didn’t have cellphone signal at my college; I couldn’t call or text anyone, but three months after the successful Facebook hacking, (around a week after I got a new, working phone,) I received a call from a friend screaming “WHERE ARE YOU?” I responded calmly that I was on campus, and she proceeded to tell me that another friend of ours had waited three hours for me and assumed I had wrecked on the way to meet her. I was extremely confused. Perhaps I had made prior plans with her that I had forgotten about, or maybe this was just a complete mistake. I called her immediately. She described to me how someone (using my old cell number) had been texting her as me about the week-long senior trip we had taken. This person knew every detail about the trip, where we went, what we did, and when. This unknown person knew I was in college, as they talked about how I never get to see my sister anymore because I’m away. This person built trust with my friend then set-up a meeting with her. First, he wanted to meet at a pawn-shop, then a hotel. Confused, she asked to meet at a fast food location. She waited over 3 hours for me to arrive, this after giving her license plate number, and a great amount of information. She turned her cellphone into the police and they went through our social media accounts but found nothing. Several months later I had $700 taken out of my credit card account. I had the money returned but acquired no new information has come about in the previous incidents, and I may never.
I tell this story to let you know this can happen to anyone. As I’ve stated, I’ve never shared my passwords, I use multiple passwords across accounts, and I’ve never made them easy to guess. My recommendation to you is that if this has happened to you, report it immediately! Change your passwords frequently, and take all your accounts seriously. Identity theft doesn’t just affect your identity; it can affect your friends and family, too. Stay safe out there.