06 August 2007, New Paper
THAT'S ME, BUT I'M NOT SEX-CRAZY
IN the real world, Cathy Wilson (not her real name) is a sensible 25-year-old working two jobs to save for a deposit on a flat.
IN the real world, Cathy Wilson (not her real name) is a sensible 25-year-old working two jobs to save for a deposit on a flat.
But check out the MySpace website, and there seems to be another side to the Australian marketing manager and child-care worker, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.
There are sexy pictures, and on the site, Ms Wilson says she is a bisexual interested in 'sex, sex on contiki, sex at work, sex at my mum's house...'.
Her personal details, address and contact numbers are given.
But the profile isn't Ms Wilson's, although the contact details are.
She is the victim of identity theft.
Last Sunday, eager young men started phoning, e-mailing, texting and turning up at her front door.
Ms Wilson said: 'This can happen really easily. Once you put any information on the Internet, it's not safe. When I first saw the website on Sunday morning, I was distressed. I couldn't believe this could happen.'
Ms Wilson immediately contacted MySpace and the police. She has since changed her handphone number.
She believes the page was created by a former boyfriend.
She said the suggestive, tongue-in-cheek photos were copied from an Internet gallery reserved for close friends, which required a password to enter.
STALKING
Internet identity theft is an alarming new brand of stalking, harassment and defamation.
MySpace has 3.8 million profiles in Australia, and it is impossible to know how many are bogus.
MySpace spokesman Darain Faraz told the Sydney Morning Herald that even the site itself has no figure on how often identity theft occurs.
And the identity theft is not confined to MySpace.
Facebook, which bills itself as a 'social utility that connects you with the people around you' has also fallen prey to bogus identities.
The basic problem is the popularity of such sites.
Last year, Associated Press reported police were investigating whether up to seven girls aged 12 to 16 had been sexually assaulted by men they met on MySpace.
In May, a Melbourne 21-year-old, Tanya Maree Quattrocchi, was ordered to serve 150 hours of community service after stalking and blackmailing American Idol star Diana DeGarmo.
Quattrocchi bombarded DeGarmo with calls and text messages before hacking into her MySpace page and pretended to be her in e-mails she sent to the singer's family and friends.
THAT'S ME, BUT I'M NOT SEX-CRAZY
IN the real world, Cathy Wilson (not her real name) is a sensible 25-year-old working two jobs to save for a deposit on a flat.
IN the real world, Cathy Wilson (not her real name) is a sensible 25-year-old working two jobs to save for a deposit on a flat.
But check out the MySpace website, and there seems to be another side to the Australian marketing manager and child-care worker, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.
There are sexy pictures, and on the site, Ms Wilson says she is a bisexual interested in 'sex, sex on contiki, sex at work, sex at my mum's house...'.
Her personal details, address and contact numbers are given.
But the profile isn't Ms Wilson's, although the contact details are.
She is the victim of identity theft.
Last Sunday, eager young men started phoning, e-mailing, texting and turning up at her front door.
Ms Wilson said: 'This can happen really easily. Once you put any information on the Internet, it's not safe. When I first saw the website on Sunday morning, I was distressed. I couldn't believe this could happen.'
Ms Wilson immediately contacted MySpace and the police. She has since changed her handphone number.
She believes the page was created by a former boyfriend.
She said the suggestive, tongue-in-cheek photos were copied from an Internet gallery reserved for close friends, which required a password to enter.
STALKING
Internet identity theft is an alarming new brand of stalking, harassment and defamation.
MySpace has 3.8 million profiles in Australia, and it is impossible to know how many are bogus.
MySpace spokesman Darain Faraz told the Sydney Morning Herald that even the site itself has no figure on how often identity theft occurs.
And the identity theft is not confined to MySpace.
Facebook, which bills itself as a 'social utility that connects you with the people around you' has also fallen prey to bogus identities.
The basic problem is the popularity of such sites.
Last year, Associated Press reported police were investigating whether up to seven girls aged 12 to 16 had been sexually assaulted by men they met on MySpace.
In May, a Melbourne 21-year-old, Tanya Maree Quattrocchi, was ordered to serve 150 hours of community service after stalking and blackmailing American Idol star Diana DeGarmo.
Quattrocchi bombarded DeGarmo with calls and text messages before hacking into her MySpace page and pretended to be her in e-mails she sent to the singer's family and friends.
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