The truly awful hackers will go into chat and say bad things to your friends or strangers, which gets you into trouble with them and maybe Whyville too. Even worse, though, they might try to find out your friends' real life information, like phone numbers or addresses -- or get your friends to tell them YOUR personal info!

I am writing about this because I just recently had one of my 'less protected' accounts stolen from me, when I was being careless. Never be careless.

Keep in mind throughout this article that I care about other Whyvillians' safety, so I won't release the names of the people who have helped me with this article.

Okay. Down to business. This is a real hack; it's kind of cheap, but it's still really dangerous to you if you don't treat it seriously.

If you ever recieve a Y-mail asking you to change your password, don't do it. Someone may be doing what's known as 'key logging'. That's where they send a file to your computer that traces everything you type, and since they see everything you type, they'll get your password when you put it in. (This can be done with your email accounts and other passwords outside of Whyville, too.)

The main way they send this file to your computer is through an instant messenger program or attached to an email message. You can't get one of these things through Whyville, fortunately!

To make sure you don't have a key logger on your computer, check it with at least two good virus programs.

Now, I know you hear this every day, and you think you're going to EXPLODE if you hear it again, but NEVER give out your password. Not to your friends, not to your cousins, and, I may be pushing it, but you probably should not give it to your brothers or sisters, as they might 'accidently' tell a friend, and just like that, your account is gone.

Another thing to help you stay safe is to never buy accounts. You may think you're smarter than the hacker, but the truth is, you probably aren't. Ask anyone who knows a 'hack' and they'll say it's not just some 'thing' that you do on Friday nights -- it has to be planned and plotted out, because a badly done hack leads to getting caught and possibly banished from Whyville.

Also, never take 'free' accounts. Think it sounds like a scam? Well, it is.

If anyone barges in a room and starts typing in those so very annoying CAPS LOCK "FREE ACCOUNT PRESS 333. " Don't take the offer -- it may come in a Y-mail or a whisper, but never ever take it.

The reason you shouldn't take someone else's account is the parental email. You might never think about it, but if the original owner of the account simply goes to the login page, they can click on a link to get their password at any time. So whatever you change the password to, they'll get it back, and you can't change it. The email address you can change is NOT the permanent parental email. Yeah, you'd think that scammers wouldn't get protection, but they do.

You see, when someone has more than one account, they tend to use the same password so that they can remember it easiest. You'll probably use that same password on the "new" account you got from the scammer. They'll get that password sent to them, and then go and test it on any other account they think you have. Even if they don't get your accounts, they're sure to get their old account back from you.

So basically, you're paying them to take your account from you. Now who do you think has it all planned out!

Lastly, never write your password down where a friend can find it easily, especially not with your screenname on the same piece of paper. They'll make something up to get you in an argument, then steal your account. Then when you ask them about it, they'll act sympathetic. They might even admit it, and try to be friends again, but that doesn't change the fact that they stole from you.

That's all! Coming from first time writer, long time reader, Pegs45.
Catch you on the flip side!