VLEMX "keep informed"

Sometimes it pays to be wary of your friends!   As more people turn to Facebook and Twitter for much of their online communicating, Internet scammers and spammers are trying to cash in by hijacking the names and images of users’ “friends’’ and “followers.’’ They use the stolen identities to place fake come-ons and shady pitches alongside all the funny pictures and snide remarks posted by people legitimately granted access to online accounts. The goal is to trick users into buying products, volunteering credit card numbers and other personal information, or unknowingly installing malicious software that can damage computers. Too often, the tactics work, according to computer security specialists, in part because of our faith in people we know. “When someone posts a link, they say, ‘Oh, that’s from my friend, I trust that link,’ ’’ said Maxim Weinstein, executive director of StopBadware Inc., a Cambridge nonprofit that helps Internet users guard against computer viruses and spyware. ...