Okay Now I'm Freaked and Worried
@just4him (317249)
Green Bay, Wisconsin
July 16, 2016 12:10am CST
I try very hard not to pay attention to those We Recommend ads. However, I was staring at it for a few seconds until suddenly the numbers I was looking at registered on my brain. They are the last four digits of my debit card number!
I know they say data is collected wherever we go on the Internet, but I also thought the places where I used my card were secure. Not when I see those numbers staring me in the face.
So what do I do to be safe on the Internet? I know there are some geeks out there with the answers, especially @DaddyEvil. So any thoughts so I don't see my numbers anymore?
Thanks for reading.
16 people like this
12 responses
@toniganzon (72516)
• Philippines
16 Jul 16
That's really something to be scared of. I read in one of daddyevil's post that Microsoft giveaway our information to companies.
But I'm not a Microsoft user. Which makes me feel kind of secure.
6 people like this
@toniganzon (72516)
• Philippines
16 Jul 16
@DaddyEvil by giveaway i actually meant sell lol
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137526)
• United States
16 Jul 16
@MarshaMusselman @toniganzon No, Microsoft does not give away private information they collect to any company... They sell it! Our private information is a billion dollar industry and escalating.
And yes, Marsha, I totally believe that Microsoft only harvests the information they bother to mention they are harvesting... Uhm... just because they have incorporated a keylogger into their newest Windows incarnation doesn't mean a thing.
You do realize that a keylogger has only one use, right? It harvests data. ALL data. A keylogger can't tell what data it is harvesting. It only knows to take any data that is entered into a keyboard and send it back to whoever it belongs to.
Do you know how much of your personal information is floating around? It's more than you think and very easy to find. Phone numbers, home addresses, email accounts. As my recent story about gamers who got swatted showed, anybody can become a target. You do
6 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
16 Jul 16
I don't believe they can give away that type of information. There's a list of what type of info they will use of ours and we can opt out if we know where to look.
3 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
16 Jul 16
I know the main thing is to make sure the site you're visiting uses the the 's' means it's secure and it usually has a green lock on the address bar.
Recently I found out that one of the hospital bills we're paying has online bill pay, but when I checked it out recently it says the site isn't secure and that area has a red line through the http part. I checked it out with both browsers that I use and found the same thing, so I need to call the company which is in my home town and ask if they realize something is amiss with the company they're using for payments.
It could be that their certificate recently expired or something equally easy to fix.
As far as what you saw, it could have been a coincidence. There is a credit card showing in that area for me, but the four digits showing aren't my last four, but I've not checked to see whether it's any portion of mine or not as I'm not worried about it for me that is.
5 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137526)
• United States
16 Jul 16
@MarshaMusselman Yes, Marsha, I understand Valerie is the one who is having a problem. I was simply curious about how often you clear your pc.
I thought you might like to know that a pc doesn't always check a certificate to see if there is a new version out. If your pc has an older certificate for that site stored on it, then the one on your pc could be the bad one. If you are fairly regular at cleaning cookies, cache and history, that clears out old certificates so only the latest (and hopefully) most valid one is used.
Most companies will suggest you clear your pc before they will even bother checking their own certificates.
Ghostery is an excellent little tool. (Warning: If you choose to use it on your pc you will need to make some adjustments because it will block the cookie this site uses to track your usage here. Until you whitelist this site or at least allow that cookie, you won't be credited for anything from this site.)
I have Ghostery enabled here because there is one very malicious cookie that attacks my NetBook when I use it on myLot. (Yes, I know Bugs says there are no malicious cookies here. But it is not his pc that is getting attacked by it, either.)
3 people like this
@just4him (317249)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
16 Jul 16
@DaddyEvil How do you whitelist a site?
2 people like this
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
16 Jul 16
This is scary. Hope you got your answer and are OK with it.
3 people like this
@artemeis (4194)
• China
16 Jul 16
You have to determine the following:
1. The online merchant is legit
2. The online payment is through a recognized secured site which has it's address as
3. Any card payment usually would have to be on Verisign platform which is the known secured channel to pay via your credit or debit card.
4. If you can try and pay via an online payment processor i.e. paypal which minimize your card's exposure.
2 people like this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
17 Jul 16
hmm, i don't know but maybe your problem is already sorted out?
2 people like this
