The dark side

This morning, a newspaper story caught my eye. It’s about a married Singaporean woman who befriended a man over a chatline and eventually tricked him out of $68,000. This very ordinary looking woman had sent him pictures of a pretty movie star, claiming they were of herself. The US-based software engineer soon became so besotted by her beauty and promises of marriage that he remitted money to her on several occasions.

Once again, this is another story that reminds us of the darker side of the Internet. There are scams and spam, hoaxes and bogus information going round the Web. With the proliferation of blogs, dating sites and chatlines, it is all too easy for any conman to find his victims.

If grown ups can be victims, what about the young ones who spend hours chatting and interacting with ‘friends’ on the Internet? Parents will find it difficult to constantly monitor who they’re chatting with and what they are discussing about. Come to think of it, it is really scary.

I read people’s blogs everyday and even though they’re perfect strangers, I know what they love to eat, their favourite hangouts, their pets, friends, the cars they drive, their aspirations, inner thoughts and so forth.

Is this a good or bad thing? Gee, I really don’t know…