I got some very unpleasant news when I checked my Global Traveler email first thing one morning this past week. Publisher and CEO Fran Gallagher was the first of several GT colleagues (including editor in chief Lisa Matte, who was on vacation) to inform me that I’d been hacked. He’d received an email from another of my email accounts stating I had to make a sudden trip to Cyprus and needed him to send me $2,500 asap. Sure enough, when I tried to log in to the account in question, the password had been changed.

Great! I spent the rest of the morning getting back in to my account (wherein the default wording and file headings were switched to Arabic), deleting the command that would forward any new emails I got or sent to my supposed hacker, and changing the password two or three times. I also went through folders to see if there might be something an identity thief might find useful. Luckily, I’m very careful not to use account numbers or sensitive information in my email correspondence, but I’ll nevertheless be keeping a sharp eye out for the next several months for anything suspicious. As soon as possible, though, I’ll be copying any files and emails I need from this account, weeding through the contact list to save my current contacts (far too many in there I don’t use anymore!) and closing out the account.

This experience, though one I hope won’t be repeated, did teach me a few important lessons. I’d had that account for more than a decade, and I am embarrassed to admit that I rarely changed the password. Complacency is a dangerous thing! You can be sure from here on out that I’ll be switching out passwords on all my various accounts on a very regular basis. On a positive note, it was heartwarming to me to see how many people (close friends, casual business acquaintances, family) picked up the phone or contacted me through a family member to warn me I’d been hacked. I think most folks, when they get these kinds of messages, figure it is spam and just hit “delete,” without taking the effort to warn the victim. I even learned one friend (before she reached me by phone) was ready to wire “me” the funds requested in the email. I really appreciated her generosity, but I was also concerned that she would have fallen for what I thought most people (especially those who know me well) would easily recognize as a con.

So, in the span of one short day, I got to experience some of the worst in our society but also some of the best. Thanks to all who warned me and gave me excellent advice in dealing with the situation. And to anyone reading this, I will ask: When was the last time you changed your password?

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor