West Side Stories

A Tosa resident for almost 20 years, Karen is a mom and freelance writer, addicted to playing tennis. When not on the tennis court, she spends the fall and winter in the stands at Green Bay Packer and Marquette basketball games.

Karen is the author of “Grab a Bite,” a dining out column and the former community columnist for the Wauwatosa NOW newspaper.

Hacked Off and the Silver Lining

Technology, The Online World

This past weekend, my email address was hacked. Somebody swooped in and sent an email to EVERYONE in my address book and then erased all my contacts. The email said that I was in Spain, had lost my purse and needed money (in Euros) immediately. I’ve never been to Spain and if I need money, you can be darn sure that I’m asking for good old American dollars, no matter where I am.

I know this happens to people all of the time, but when it happens to you, it’s rather disturbing. I was pretty upset until the silver lining of this scenario revealed itself – I have really nice friends. People started calling and, after verifying that I wasn’t in Spain, told me that my email was compromised. What took me by surprise was the number of people that said: “If you really are in trouble, I’ll try to help you out.” I was touched.

The other bright side to this situation is that I’ve started hearing from lots and lots of old friends. Yesterday, I received calls from a grade school friend and my first college roommate. I’m pretty bad at staying in touch, so it was really sweet of them to call and check in on me…and it was really great to take a few moments to reconnect with them.

I’m still a little freaked out about this personal security breach, but it’s nice to know when something goes wrong, lots of people have your back.
 

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