A few days ago, the instant messenger of my friend got hacked. The hacker sent me a message linking me to a website. He was acting weird so I caught the hacker easily. We had a little bit of a chat before he finally stopped messaging me. I’m publishing this so readers would know the situation when they encounter it.

My friend likes to download “free” stuff from the internet so that’s probably how his account was jacked. I was surfing the web when I got a message from Long (English translation of my friend’s Vietnamese name and that’s how I call him). His greeting was

Long: hey are you around?

I think the hacker sent this message to all contacts of the account to see who’s online at the moment.

StarMars: ?

Long: hahahaha, I’m in SHOCK right now..

That sentence was meant to catch my attention and it did.

StarMars: why

Long: http://somesite.com – WOW use that real quick and tell me its not crazy..

StarMars: …

Long: they are soooo right! lol what’s it saying for you?

At this point, I was having suspicions already. He sounded different. My Vietnamese friend does not speak straight English.

StarMars: wtf rofl

StarMars: i see nothing

Long: uh oh, you must of made a mistake

StarMars: blocked by my firewall

Long: DO IT! I DARE YOU…

I actually clicked the link he sent me and it was blocked by my firewall or Firefox. He knew he can’t trick me so he said “I dare you” to sway me into accessing the site.  Too bad for you, I’m not your regular internet guy who can be easily tricked.

StarMars: who are you?

StarMars: whats ur name

Long: real funny, be back later lol

Long: guess…c’mon u seriously dont know who this is?? lol i gotta run

He was out of options and this was his escape phrase. He knew his identity was exposed.

StarMars: whats my name?

StarMars: idiot

StarMars: who are you

StarMars: noob

Long: lol funny..i gotta run

Long: real funny, be back later lol

StarMars: idiot

StarMars: u cant spam me

StarMars: noob

Long: plz u have to tell me, fill it out..I have to know if your results were as crazy as mine lol

And I thought he gave up already…

Long: nah, I am a vegetarian… no spam for me! haha

StarMars: i have firewall and firefox extensions

Long: k

StarMars: that block ur phishing site

Long: hahahaha, I’m in SHOCK right now..

That was the last message of the hacker. I was feeling a little bit evil and playful so I teased and taunted him just for the lulz. xD

StarMars: hows life?

StarMars: u there?

StarMars: hello

StarMars: im in SHOCK right now too

StarMars: rofl

When my real friend logged on, I told him what happened though I was surprised the hacker didn’t change the password. He wasn’t aware of it and he just laughed it out. I don’t know what else the hacker did. Who knows if one of the other contacts fell for it. I certainly hope that Long does have a different password for his important accounts like ebay, paypal, etc.

Hacking/phishing attempts like this are called social engineering and are very dangerous. In my case, the hacker assumed the identity of a trusted friend so he got me to visit his site. It pays to have an online protection. People who always use the internet should be aware of this.

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