Social networking sites do enable interaction between individuals and groups. An influx of data in the form of graphics and textual information that are distributed in operating websites enhance the quality of communication every user experiences.
However, the splendor of the intangible mediators isn't my point here.
With the advent of modern technology, the methods of being accessed and contacted interpersonally have been changing.
The data you own and share may put you at risk if you, by chance, neglect privacy settings and if you happen to post overly personal information (such as e-mail addresses and passwords).
Similarly, you might not know when you're going to be victimized by merely owning an account in a social networking site and by merely owning a phone.
Like me.
I have my fair share of eerie experiences and they are not, in any way, in relation to paranormal encounters.
Here we go.
Encounter #1
To me, this one's a complete shocker.
One day on Facebook, I got a notification, informing me that someone liked a cover photo I uploaded on 2012. It was a photo of my 12-year-old self together with two of my classmates in seventh grade.
It creeped me out because:
1· The user and I didn't share mutual friends (not even one). How did he find me and what made him like my cover photo?
2· The user was from another country, which I found unusually creepy! I checked his profile and I even saw posts written in a language I couldn't even decipher.
3· A post that old (imagine, 2012) may not be easily accessed by lazy people; it just proved the user had the patience and time to access my timeline and scroll all the way down to the older public posts I have shared. Alternatively, my post might have showed up as well in some search query the user made within Facebook. Coming from the person I don't even know personally? Whoa!
In the end, I set the privacy of my cover photo to "Friends" and I blocked the user on Facebook.
Encounter #2
I had experienced phishing. Fortunately, I was meticulous enough to detect such.
For those who do not know what phishing is, let this source define for you:
"Phishing is a form of fraud in which the attacker tries to learn information such as login credentials or account information by masquerading as a reputable entity or person in email, IM or other communication channels." -from https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/
In my own words, phishing is an attack that lures victims to supply information by informing suspicious activities that are commonly performed in the name of a reputable and trustworthy brand.
That's somehow smart but creepily deceptive.
Examples are like these:
Let's go back to my own experience.
I was in school when I received an SMS message, telling me that someone has used my password in an e-mail account I don't even own.
This is the exact message I had received. However, I censored the e-mail address for privacy reasons (even though it's an alien address after all).
It creeped me out because:
1· The phone number was from another country. It started with the numbers +356 unlike the usual +639 here in my country and the subsequent numbers were oddly arranged as well.
2· It looked trustworthy. I clicked the link and I was close to giving my information when I figured out to manually change details myself.
3· I don't share my phone number to people I don't know. How did the sender know my number and how did the sender manage to send an SMS message?
Since I was in school, I rushed to our library to avail the free Internet access there. I opened my e-mail account and changed my password with a much stronger one just in case.
Encounter #3
After leaving my phone for a while one day, I was beyond than shocked to know that I had received eight consecutive missed calls from a foreign phone number.
The time I brought my phone with me, the number called again. I answered it, anticipating for important news. It had been around twenty seconds and no one was responding, so I instinctively hung up. The caller called for the tenth time and an approximate location showed up: Seattle, WA, USA. This time, I declined the call.
It creeped me out because:
1· I later learned that it was a scam called "ring and run." It's a form of a spam call and it can cost you money!
"You'll be connected to an expensive international hotline—usually an "adult entertainment" service—that charges as much as $19.95 as soon as you connect. There may also be a sizable per-minute fee. Those costs typically show up on your phone bill as "premium services." -from https://www.cnbc.com/
After that, I blocked the number and carried on with my life.
So much for the creeps.
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