Smokescreen § Mission One - The Rumour Mill

Mission 1: The Rumour Mill

A vicious new game is causing a stir on the White Smoke social network, but is it a front for something much worse?

Status: Not started 0 out of 9 achievements won Extras

Mission One Progress

You haven't started playing this mission yet - why not give it a go?

Achievements

Run of The Mill

Somebody Told Me...

Rock Star

Beat him at his own game

Meet the Cast

Hero to Zero

Secret Agent

Members Only

Rumourmeister

Mission Extras

Don't give out your password. Don't tell anyone your address. Always be careful when meeting people you've only talked to online. We've all heard it before - so who'd be stupid enough to give some random on the internet your login details or your password?

Most people don't, and it's easy to laugh at anyone taken in by the terrible spelling of a 'former Minister from Nigeria' who wants to give you millions in return for your bank account details - but four million people in the UK have had their personal information stolen online, and even tech-savvy types like the White Smoke admins can get taken in, by things like 'phishing' scams.

Phishing

Phishing scammers pretend to be trustworthy people - like Facebook or eBay - and they send out genuine-looking emails asking for your password or credit card number. If you click on any link in the email, you'll get taken to a fake website that collects your password. Nasty.

Not all phishing scams are emails, though. Here, Shane's phishing scam is a game, and instead of simply asking for your password, he asks you for stuff that seems perfectly innocent - your favourite colour, where you were born, your pets' name. The problem is that many websites, including White Smoke, use questions like this to help you reset your password in case you forget it.

So Shane (or any other scammer) doesn't always need your password to log in as you - he can just get the information he needs to reset it! It's simple to protect yourself though:

Look out for suspicious emails/websites. Don't just give away your info, even if it seems innocent.
Use an up-to-date browser with that can detect phishing websites
If you can't tell whether an email for your bank or eBay is legit, don't click any links in it! They might take you to a fake site. Just type in the website address yourself and log in that way.

The good news is that UK laws are changing to prosecute these scammers. Shane might think its just a bit of fun, but stealing private data is a serious crime - and using it is even worse. If he gets caught for his illegal activities, he could face a large fine or up to 10 years in prison.