Fakes on the Internet: The epidemic

Bathroom camera phone “models“, totally unknown “famous rap artists“, and Internet “gangsters” all fall into the category of fakes on the web; we have all seen cases of this omnipresent phenomena lol, but what happens when this goes too far?

Thugs                                                                                                                       Models

With today’s prevalence of technology, media, and social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and others it is quite obvious that there is almost no source of relevant communication that is not web based, or at least web dominant. People now convey messages, handle business, and keep up with all the latest occurrences via Internet sources.  This powerful plethora of information also is many people’s primary source of income, from stay at home mom’s to stock brokers, and even musicians.  YOU ARE IRRELEVANT if you are not found online! (sad, but true)

This new found “luxury” of being able to handle all sorts of communication simply by creating a user name, password, and in some cases uploading pictures is both seamless and convenient.  People can be searched for by their name, talent, location, school, job, photo, and even their age and body type (depending on the site).  Because of this anonymous interaction, in addition to the obvious benefits enthralled, this method of new-aged communication has had a tremendous amount of adverse affects on millions of good hearted people.

There are lots small cases, like when someone creates a phony twitter account pretending to be a world famous pop star and will actually manage the account and acknowledge fans, to more extreme cases of hackers to peruse the web to create fake accounts and email addresses to get perform identity theft and get financial royalties. Both of these falsehoods are punishable by law and encompass the Internet environment every minute.

IDENTITY THEFT

The five major categories of data loss methods are: data on the move, accidental exposure, insider theft, subcontractors, and hacking (source itc.org)

Between January and December 2007, Consumer Sentinel, the complaint database developed and  maintained by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), received over 800,000 consumer fraud and
identity theft complaints. Consumers reported losses from fraud of more than $1.2 billion. The two major groups hit were between the ages 18 and 29, and the second largest were between 48 and 59
(source: ftc.gov)

for more on identity theft visit: How do I protect my information on the Internet? and Know If You Are Potential Scam Victim

IS THAT THE REAL YOU?

Weirdos are weirdos, whether the smaller cases, like the many who pretend to be celebrities or the methodical Internet criminal that scams for money.  Although evil, these people have a motive.  I think I am more weirded out by another type of person. There are people who create accounts online to pretend to be someone else and maintain that person’s life completely.  You’ve heard of it, the not so attractive girl who steals a more prettier girl’s pictures then creates an account with a different name and “becomes” this new person.  Or what about the middle aged man who secretly lives a life of a young man trying to meet up with teenage girls?  They will even exchange phone numbers and spend their full time acting as the person they imagined in order to live out the lie.
These types of people are really really scary.  How much of an insecure and unhappy social path do you have to be to really want will live another life totally different from reality?  There are hundreds of stories of these types of people meeting up with unsuspecting victims and killing them or committing suicide once the burden of maintaining their double life is too heavy to maintain.

Although the thrilled facade of a hidden identity may serve as an escape from real life’s woes, no “virtual mask” can compensate for the emotional distress endured by not loving oneself flaws and all.  In actuality, the shallow perspective created by todays society which is dedicated to a perfectly figured socially elite person, with no blemishes, family issues, bad habits, or financial hardships is just as big of a facade anyway. Attempting to fabricate your life to fit into that fairy tale world will most likely leave you even more depressed than before. Besides, you will eventually have to walk past the mirror sometime, what then?
Love yourself
Keep it 100