Something SERIOUS to bear in mind

yikes!

luckily, i'm well the wrong side of 25 ....

but, on a similar note, careful with your bank details etc as well! identity theft happens to everyone :eek: i had my bank card cloned in december and some nice person took £900 out of my account from an ATM in MARRACECH!!!

:eek:

Julia
x
 
Something for parents and younger members to bear in mind.
 
Very timely warning.My girls and I talked about this kind of activity..or rather my girls educated me :eek::eek:. Poor mamma, so innocent.
However, Its heartening to see the police are actively seeking these nasty people out and getting them sentenced.
 
I agree. I dont use Myspace etc but some of the profiles on there, well Im sure some kid's parents would be shocked if they realized who their children were talking to and how much information is given away.
 
there was a documentry on facebook a couple of weeks ago. i cannot believe how many people post mobile numbers and full addresses! bebo is full of young users who don't make their account private - there are actions on the sites to help prevent the wrong people viewing your profile but not many people use it :mad: :(
 
It's not just sites like Bebo and MySpace though - anyone can read what's posted here, you don't need to join to read. And we have more and more young members giving away their names, their ages, where they live, what they enjoy... It's easy enough to think 'it won't happen to me' but it can - and does.
 
When I worked for an on-line tack shop part of my job was to check credit card details before we finalised the transaction. If there was any suspicion the transaction would be "flagged" for my attention.

The weirdest one was an order from North Africa for some jackets, using a mastercard owned by someone in the USA!! :eek: When I e-mailed the guy making the order he just couldn't satisfy me that he was genuine so Obviously I cancelled the order, but it just shows how careless people are with their bank details.

Never ever give your card details in an e-mail!!! Only use it on a secure server.
 
This is something that worries me quite a bit about the forums, actually, especially horsy forums, where we have so many really young members desperate to ride. If i was a pervy, creepy old man (or even a pervy creepy young one), i could come on here, post loads of pictures of my ponies and invite anyone who wanted to come and see them. I don't think I'd have any trouble enticing people to my yard :(

Please, everyone, the prospect of a pony to ride is fabulous, but always keep yourself safe. Take someone else with you when going to see a prospective loan or share for the first time, make sure other people know where you've gone and what time you'll be back, and ensure your mobile is fully charged and in your pocket at all times.
 
I have noticed recently alot of people discussing which yards there on including names and areas ( infact I think theres a couple with the yards name under there avator)

I think its especially dangerous to talk about this... how many of us hack out alone etc...

Very good Thread...

Sometimes its so easy ( myself including) to be chatting away about a show were going to or a yard were on..or maybe a nice hack were planning.. on NR you forget sometimes you are on a public forum

Just try Googling your NR name its actually quite scary what it brings up.. anyone with half a brain can find out alot of details about you.

I do not let my daughter on NR, ( or any forum) or myspace etc etc.. She has MSN and is only allowed to chat to pepole I know when I'm there.

Shes very good and tells me when a unknown message or email comes through.

BE SAFE EVERYONE xx
 
I'm also the wrong side of 25 and I would be very carefull if I was going to meet anyone that had initially approached me online, even the nice folk I meet here! No offense to anyone intended.
 
I have a 12 year old girl and my mum told me over xmas that I was cruel not letting her have a computer in her bedroom.

We have a family computer in the lounge where I can keep and eye on what she is doing. Password protected so she can only use it when I am in the house.

My mum also said having a computer in the lounge makes the house look a mess.

Well it looks like I'm going to have a messy house for a long time because no way is my daughter going to have a computer in her room.

Rather a messy house than an abused daughter
 
Rather a messy house than an abused daughter

Well done for standing your ground, my Dad was strict with me as a teen and I kicked up a fuss regularly over curfews and rules. Now when I look at a couple of my friends and the trouble they got themselves in I feel lucky to have the perants I do.
 
IMO- It's the users fault. Everyone knows the risks they are taking when getting a Myspace or some other blog. There are settings on them where you can make so only your REAL friends can look at your page.


And on Facebook, people you don't know can't see your profile. You have to actually friend them in order to see it.

I don't post my number or anything like that. I wouldn't want some creepy person calling my cell.
 
Yes, they can look into information... but if you don't accept people as friends both who you don't know or who your friends don't know AND set your profile to be viewed by friends only then thats the best way to stay safe. I would never give out my mobile number to someone I didn't know, nor would I agree to meet up without a responsible adult - Im sorry, but I really do think its the users fault and naivety.:eek:
 
I watched the documentary as well about Facebook and it was scarey.

Not just how much personal info is given but that there are dedicated companies set up to trawl through these kinds of sites and gleem info for marketing purposes and all manner of other things.

being slightly mysterious is always a good plan!:)
 
I actually used New Rider in a ICT lesson to show some pupils how much information people could get about you from the internet - the school system doesn't let children log on Bebo or MySpace, but I can get onto NR.

We found a full face picture of a teen and her disticntive coloured pony, could have a good guess at her name, knew the area she was showing in and what sort of activities she took part in.

This was all in about 10 minutes - and I hadn't prepared before hand (((ooopps))) - we were randomly searching. With a bit more time and a motive, there would have been enough info to find her in real life or invite her via PM etc etc. SCARY!!!!

So do be careful - it is your responsiblility to look after your ID.

Edited to say this was with 9-10 year olds - so the teen in question was safe from me and them.
 
I have noticed recently alot of people discussing which yards there on including names and areas ( infact I think theres a couple with the yards name under there avator)

I think its especially dangerous to talk about this... how many of us hack out alone etc...

Very good Thread...

Sometimes its so easy ( myself including) to be chatting away about a show were going to or a yard were on..or maybe a nice hack were planning.. on NR you forget sometimes you are on a public forum

Just try Googling your NR name its actually quite scary what it brings up.. anyone with half a brain can find out alot of details about you.

I do not let my daughter on NR, ( or any forum) or myspace etc etc.. She has MSN and is only allowed to chat to pepole I know when I'm there.

Shes very good and tells me when a unknown message or email comes through.

BE SAFE EVERYONE xx

you can make it so that you can only receive messages and emails from people in your contacts list - worth looking up :)
 
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