A Case of Taken Identity
31.12.69
You’re sitting in your favorite coffee shop, relaxing with a tasty mocha java and reading the newspaper, when your cell phone begins to chime. The number on the call display doesn’t look familiar. Curiosity gets the better of you and you thumb the talk button. It’s a wrong number, but the voice on the other end sounds so charmingly befuddled, you talk with him for a few minutes, just long enough for a second caller to ring your phone. Because you’re already on the line, that call goes into voicemail. Unbeknownst to you, the second caller then enters a default code, which lets him or her access all your stored voice and image messages.
Bad news: Your cell phone has just been hacked. Why you? Well, the hackers had probably cracked their way into the database of a website company that stores your information. This enabled them to steal your password to that website (which may also be your ATM PIN number and the password to your PayPal account if, like thousands of other people, you use one password for everything because it’s easier to remember). The hackers also nab your credit card number, street address, e-mail address, phone numbers (work, cell and land line, depending on what data you gave that website) and other personal information — maybe even a bra or waist size.
Source: Bucknell University