For the second time this week (and we've only made it to Wednesday) I had an email notification that ”someone we don't recognize attempted to log into your account.”
Frozen out?
In the first instance, it was related to a bank account I haven't actively used in about five years; in the second instance it was related to my Instagram account which — while active — I very rarely use.
In the case of Instagram, they were even kind enough to send me a little map suggesting that whomever was trying to log into my account was at the time located in Kyev in the Ukraine, and ”Was this you?”
Of course in neither case was it actually me who tried to log into these accounts, so I went through the usual rigamarole of changing passwords and confirming my identity.
All other things being equal, it just strikes me that online theft attempts are becoming more and more common as time passes by.
In truth, I don't get it. Meaning, that I find myself pondering why so many appear to be turning to illicit activities rather than pursuing more conventional avenues of getting money in the bank. When I think back, even during the period in my life when I was homeless, the thought of stealing to make my lot in my life any easier still never crossed my mind.
Is this whole trend — if, indeed, there is a trend — the result of a world in which people feel more and more entitled to riches/wealth without actually having to work for it?
It makes me briefly paused to visualize the imaginary conversations around the dinner table when these people were kids:
”So Johnny, have you thought about what you want to do when you grow up?”
”Yeah I wanna steal people’s money on the Internet!”
Oh, that just makes us so proud…
Of course, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised. Some months back I remember mentioning in one of my posts how I had been talking to an acquaintance who had spent a number of years doing business in an unnamed culture where the thought ”Cheat and steal if you can get away with it” is actually considered perfectly normal and reasonable.
It's not my place to judge what is considered normal and not normal in any given culture but the fact that such a value system not only exists, but evidently is also alive and thriving makes me ponder what sort of world we'd be living in if that was the de facto norm everywhere? What would it be like if with every single person we were to encounter our first thought was ”this person is probably going to try to rip me off!”
Of course, I only have my own value set as a point of reference… but based on that, I'm not sure that's a world I'd want to be alive in.
Meanwhile, I guess I will just continue strengthening my passwords and staying alert to all these messages I get! I don't like it, but it seems to increasingly be the world in which we live.
Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your week!
How about YOU? Do you get notifications that one of your online accounts has had "suspicious activity?" Does it happen often, or is it a rarity? Does it seem like online theft is getting more common? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20211201 18:32 PDT
0423/1667