Anybody else being "Spied" on?

[5129frederick]

For the past few days I have had a scam pop-up telling me that "Two people are spying on you.  To find out who, press this button."

Really? :^O  If people wish to "Spy" on me, I'd quite happily open the door, and let them in!

It's obviously scam - all they want are your internet details, and then you'll never get rid of them.  By totally ignoring it, it disappears after about half a minute.

The thing is, is it technically possible to "Spy" on somebody, watching what sites they visit.  I'm getting just a little bit annoyed about all this nonsense.

[clifford2031]

If you have Adobe Flash on your computer, and most people do, you are probably

being spied on and Adobe does their best not to let you know or do anything

about it. Fundamentally, rich video content is only the drug Adobe wants you to

get hooked on, but make no mistake, one of the main purposes of Flash is

apparently to secretly compromise your privacy. Flash cookies allow online

advertising networks to covertly and uniquely track your internet use. This is

not only a PC problem, but affects Linux, Mac, and mobile devices that support

Flash. Flash cookies provide advertising networks with much better tracking than

normal cookies do. Because a Flash cookie can effectively identify you (or your

computer) uniquely it becomes very easy for internet ad agencies to profile you

specifically

[5129frederick]

That's not a very comforting thought!  I think I've got Flash Abode, although I've only had to use it a couple of times a few years ago to open up information about a church ramble.  Nothing wrong with that, but I then "strayed" onto a couple of adult sites - who hasn't? and that was when my computer started going haywire.  Somebody tried to "Fine" me £100.00 to get my computer back on line.  I'm "cured" - for LIFE!:O  but it took me well over an hour after being talked through the system by the technician on the other end of the phone.  I'm now so paranoid, I daren't open up anything!  in case this person managed to get personal details of me.

[5129frederick]

Only part of the message came out, there.  I took the precaution of changing all my bank details just in case somebody had tried to empty my account.

The internet is a VERY dangerous tool - some of the biggest frauds in history have been carried out with the click of a mouse.

[al**bear]

Fred close yer Pyjamas  please

I do not allow 3rd party cookies,

I use a Firefox Add-on called DoNotTrackMe, loaded it beginning of March and it has stopped 150k instances of tracking/spying.

on this very page, 3 social networks and 1 company are trying to watch what I do here ( thats just Me, if you have tracking cookies in your browser that will be a lot higher)

https://www.abine.com/how-donottrackme-works/

on that page you can see another of their free bits of kit, MaskMe (hides your emeil address from companies , it gives you a cover email addy, that is linked to your own if you start to get spam you block that Addy.

BTW, when you sign into Google/Youtube , remember to logout before you leave page, just a tip  😉

[tommy.irene]

I use Adblock Plus and dont get any adds.

[mitzigirl_123]

Al - Just downloaded DoNotTrackMe:

My all time total is 124 blocked;

1 social network is tracking me and 7 companies.

😄

[bankhaunter]

It also pays to check flash cookies every so often.

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager09.html

[electric*mayhem*band]

[5129frederick]

Thanks Al.  I'm learning - a bit late in the day, perhaps, but I'm getting there!  :^O 

[5129frederick]

Al - as I said earlier, I hope to buy a new desktop and everything else in a couple of months to celebrate hitting the big Six Five. 

Am I correct in assuming that with a new computer which obviously comes with a new hard drive, everything starts afresh, and that any past history would be "Gone With The Wind"?  It would be an ideal time to download everything: DoNotTrackMet etc. etc.  I'm paranoid at the best of times! 😄 

[sinderella-2004]

Like Al I use donottrackme. I also use Better privacy on Firefox. It deletes LSO cookies that don't ever expire. They can be up to 100kb in size and can hold an awful lot of info that's downloaded to whoever put them there. Be careful out there folks, somebody is watching.

[al**bear]

Fred thats right

But you can import your bookmarks/favourites, just don't import cookies or history

Remember to save your passwords , I have loads , try & use good differnt ones for important stuff, you can use a basic one over all the unimportant ones

I always choose (tick) the option, in browser Tools/options to clear history on closing

[5129frederick]

Thanks for the advice, although new computer, new me, including user name.  I've already got the sledgehammer ready to break open the piggy bank!:-D  Anon, Fred

[Anonymous]

in watching the news recently about all this spying on people, I have become so paranoid that I have placed black tape over the small blue light within the top frame of my lappy. those beggars could be snooping, so be on the lookout. 

[al**bear]

Great thing on Yesterday about the downfall of  LulzSec  the hackers group and the reporter was interviewing one of the experts who was brought in to investigate the groups activity.

In a small 'test' he remotely, opened all her files, contacts, emails etc on Her laptop.  She had 'good' protection and was a bit shocked at what He'd done.  But not as shocked as when He showed her he'd  started her webcam , with no clues on her laptop that it was working and that it was sending a live feed of what it was viewing to His laptop.