I've got some NIGHTMARE FUEL and true stories for you guys tonight! When you are making a difference or excelling in an area, people are going to attempt to discredit you and your claims at some time or another, or even worse, they pretend to be you. Steemit makes it a point that you should always be yourself, and I'm here tonight to give you insight on a few of the things I do to protect my identity and integrity of information from thieves, scammers and the like online so that I'm the only one that's me. Tonight's Motivation Nightly is on Security, and I touch on a lot of subjects that may help.

Pics or it Didn't Happen

"I don't believe who you are, take a picture with a spoon on your head so I know the pictures you're sending me is really you." This is one of my favorite memes, as the hilarity ensues when people post the photos online of people looking dumb with spoons on their head, or some other strange pose to verify themselves. Last night, I revealed one of my "projects" that rewarded me with a maxxed out Facebook friendlist.

This is what I look like with straight hair, make up, nice lighting and a good outfit. When hair is wet, it appears darker. When I am not wearing gel or hairspray, my color goes up several shades. It is hard to tell that both of these photos are of me. This is who I am claiming to be on Steemit, how would you know that I'm not lying about being this person? To be 100% honest, you wouldn't unless you checked. You could also ask for a normal photo showing my tattoo.

If you go to my Facebook profile to figure out if I'm really Sheryl Kona from Hawaii facebook.com/shello.marshmello, you will find that I changed my picture to an Alpaca. Why would "someone with 5000 friends" want to do that randomly? Go back to the first image. I am holding a stuffed animal as part of my verification. I would imagine that my Steemit link in my user description was enough, but you can always take additional measures to provide the evidence that someone else can't come up with easily. Steemit and an alpaca are in both images. I also list my bitcoin address because it never hurts to receive some extra BTC!

What Is The Point?

You have to be unique. Really unique in the sense that if someone else pretends to be you, it won't work. Doing things like this make you seem weird, but also a bad target. The amount of effort that it takes to duplicate you greatly outweighs the profits a thief can gain.

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Social Engineering

Anyone can be a target of social engineering. All that means is that people are capable of tricking you to believe something about a person that holds no truth. We hear of scams where someone emails or calls a person pretending to be some relative that needs help in the form of money. Many people know someone who sends money to companies pretending to award prizes, but the money being sent to them is just the delivery fee for the winner to get it. Pirates call companies themselves, pretending to need a security key for the software "they bought" but lost the key or needs to reinstall. More recently with ICOs getting hacked and deposit addresses changed, and duplicate sites with very similarly spelt names are being made. There are some companies that just disappear. People are getting duped on the regular and although some of them are the real thing, there are many that aren't.

Pretending to be someone else proves beneficial for these scammers because they can attain money, contracts, and other things by becoming an "authorized" party. People are capable of lying often, and sometimes it isn't money what they are after, but credit for someone's work. On Steemit, we see people promoting another artist's work as their own, and on a platform where currency is involved, these liars are making money doing it.

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Watermarking

This is an image I edited for a friend of mine two years ago. One of my nicer pieces that did well on Facebook. Now here's where scamming gets interesting. The photo above is proof enough for most, but not all. It's fairly easy to fake a Facebook screenshot. People do this often in messenger, and for posts. Doesn't that sound too convenient to be tagged and credited as the editor of the image? Pay no mind at how I have a different screen name, in this case- I had two profiles. (Beware of multi accounting!) But what if someone went on Facebook, stole this image, and put it elsewhere? I do have the original edit in full quality, but that's not what I would post as my proof. When verifying your identity, you need to be careful and remember to reveal only enough to prove. If I post the edit in full quality, someone is going to steal it and pretend it's theirs.

This is the original image that was sent to me privately by the subject in the photo that I edited for upload. If you reverse image search it, it returns zero results. No one else will be able to use the original because I water marked the image and blended the text to the picture- then I blurred the picture. Anyone trying to steal it will have to work so hard to restore it, that it won't be worth it. I could have put the watermark as my name, but even if someone takes this, I can still change it and post a much clearer one. Many artists still place watermarks in the corner of their work, making it an easy target to crop out. If you are serious about your work, you need a mark better placed in the image. Some artists sign their initials in the picture itself.

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Reverse Image Search

It feels like almost everyday we hear about someone not crediting the original artist, or someone who has used an image playing it off as their own. A lot of people know how to reverse image search, but if you don't, you can try it here.

https://tineye.com/

There are many services where you can upload a picture and you will be shown how many times, and where this image was posted. You would be amazed at how many people give no credit and steal from others. This method became popular on the random board of 4chan known as /b/ (but be careful as it's very NSFW, not safe for work), where people tell all kinds of outlandish and insane stories, offering up photos for proof. The other users with a knack for detecting BS will download an image the OP (Original Poster) posted and reverse image search it, for proof that it is a real picture they took, and not something they found online. In some murder cases where OP said they killed someone, it is said that the images in the thread returned zero matching results.

I also had a classmate two classes ago who didn't give credit to an image she posted for an assignment. You write a lot of papers in college, and have to cite literally anything and everything. In an assignment requiring APA formatting, she submitted all of her sources, except for the image. You can get a zero in class, if you're caught plagiarizing. I saw this professionally made chart, looked it up, and found the exact site she pulled it from. I posted the original link under her post with a reminder to always give credit, and how to for images.

Claims: People Aren't Always Who They Say They Are

There are many people that are not who they claim to be, others who take some one else's credit, what about people who lie about themselves? I've seen one too many people lie about their job/line of work, and their relation to other people. Status trip. People in higher positions, or is close to someone of high status are treated better out of respect for their authority.

For one of my recent computer jobs, me and my client needed to work on files at an office. We looked up an Uber, and declined a Mercedes we saw, as we were on the wrong tab. We went on an errand first before realizing that this luxury ride, was actually at the regular price, so we aimed to get this to be our driver to the office. The car rolls up and a foreigner who was in his late 30's, extremely well dressed, wearing a Rolex, who spoke perfect English was our driver.

Obviously we asked him about why on Earth he would be driving for Uber. He had recently closed down some restaurants on a few islands, and preparing to open a new one in the area, extra cash is always good. My client who is a Japanese woman in her 50's speaks up and asks him what restaurants he owns and their locations, as she is a dining enthusiast. When he tells her which ones, she looks confused. Apparently one of her friends (who we found out was a line cook) said that him and his brother owned one of the restaurants he was talking about, he was always trying to hang out with her, promising free food because he owned the place. Our driver asked for this guy's name, and laughed hard when he realized that he used to be his boss, and some guy had the audacity to pretend to be him. Stuff like this happens everyday.

The liar in the above story had enough "proof"showing her menu designs, and various other media in an attempt to befriend her for personal gain. Anyone can get fooled, and we need to request more proof than what someone should normally expect if we don't want to be scammed. If you're the real deal, you might be offended but you would understand why there may be questions. Don't be afraid to request more proof if you are not sure.

If they don't provide it, they don't have it.

This is Who I Claim To Be

In a few of my posts, I do make a reference to being a former nightclub manager. Am I gonna make an excuse now? Hell no. But can I prove this claim? It's a big one, seeing that if it is true- makes me an expert or at least knowledgeable and well versed in many topics. This is something that adds to my credibility.

Now, anything that I can type here, wouldn't be proof enough of this claim. People make so many things up online, I could say I'm an astronaut and if I had enough stories, you might believe me. Welp let's see, pictures fail here too. Look at my above photo, if I can photoshop an entire forest, what's stopping me from faking a few venue photos? Do you see how easy it would be for someone to pretend to be something they're not?

http://honoluluweekly.com/entertainment/2010/03/yes-mistresses/

I was featured in an a cover story in 2013 as one of the three main BDSM dominatrix's for this venue. We have to use aliases in this line of work to protect our identities but the person in that photo, and my first one clearly resemble each other. I try to adopt a unique style, and it shows. Okay, I can't fake an article feature in a well-known magazine on their website, but what does this prove? The only thing it actually proves is that I worked for the venue and was affiliated, not that I managed it.

Leading the dominatrix team was one of the many side projects assigned to me, as stated in the interview, I had previous experience. The owner of Alter Solum was a close friend and regular of the venue I had previously mentioned working for. So did I manage this club, or was a just a lackey trying to claim the fame of someone else?

http://www.honolulu.gov/rep/site/nco/nb13/10/13201003min.pdf

This is a government document for a neighborhood board meeting for the City and County of Honolulu. In it I am listed as one of two company representatives for Alter Solum. It uses my legal name. You cannot fake something like this, again, government site. So why was I requested to attend this meeting? If you read the agenda, we had to address our plans to make our venue compliant of noise pollution laws in the surrounding residential area. The street is listed, and is where the nightclub was. Now who would be responsible for seeing that issues like this were resolved? The owner, and the manager, anyone else would have be irrelevant.

Pictures can't prove all, but I have made sick event fliers :D

Know Your Own Information Better Than Anyone Else

The above verification is something that is not well known, that thieves would not even be aware about. Remember the scene in Grandma's Boy? When the main character spent years developing a video game only to have his whole project stolen by the freaky robot guy? The protagonist's grandma knew secrets about the game that the robot guy didn't, verifying her grandson as the games owner. That's the kind of stuff you actually need to do in order to protect yourself, and your ideas. I do a lot of seemingly strange things, but I can prove without doubt a lot of things I have done... as fact.

Search Engine Optimized

How many of us here ever googled our own name? Isn't it fun to see the kind of stuff you can find? I love hearing about the stories where someone posted the wrong thing at the wrong time, and it cost them the new job they just got. If other people can look you up, you should be concerned at what they could find. Many years back I first learned the google trick where you put your name in quotes and search yourself. This isn't common, but what I found was very unsettling.

I am one of 7 billion. No one else on the face of the Earth, living or dead has the same first and last name as me. If someone uses my name for a website domain or anything else, I could take legal action. Think I'm paranoid? Maybe, but I'll tell you why.

Personal Safety

You don't want your information to be easily accessible online... to other people. Could you imagine how much that messed me up, when I typed in "Sheryl Kona" and only found stuff about me? When I asked other people and tried other names, that didn't happen to them. My name is search engine optimized, and I wanted to make that curse into a blessing.

Anything that I did not want displayed I had removed from the search engines by either deleting the account or having a website administrator remove it by request. Because of how easily I could find my own information and all of it, I made extra sure that anything someone could use against or pretending to be me would be inaccessible. I removed a lot of information manually, and because of this I regained control of my online identity.

Always Control Who Knows What About You

You want to be in control of your own information. You may be able to find an old address or number of mine, but nothing current nor relevant. I've researched myself online as hard as I could, and anything you can find without hacking, is because I put it there for others to see. If I attached my name to something or made a brand of it, it would be easy to show up as the first result on search. I cannot stress the importance of paying attention to what you reveal about yourself, and don't give more info than needed and unless you are dealing with an important thing that requires your information AND you're 100% sure of their identity, don't give out your details. Ever.

I don't click links. That's a rule I gave myself on messenger. Unless I asked you to specifically send me a link to something we're talking about, no matter what it is- I ignore links. If my phone rings and I don't recognize the phone number, you can tell my voicemail who you are. I have 500+ numbers saved, it's suspicious that I would not have it. When I hear of other people getting scammed it makes me grateful that I am taking my safety seriously. But no matter what measures I took, it didn't erase the fact that my identity has been stolen, twice.

Identity Theft

You can be the most careful or paranoid person and still get your identity stolen. Last year I got a phone call claiming to be from a financial fraud department on my voicemail. I didn't call them back, and headed straight to my bank. I talked to the teller and explained what happened, since they have official fraud phone numbers to access, it is smarter for them to call instead of me. They confirmed with me that several large charges were made to my credit card in the past two days. I was lucky that my charges were reversed immediately because it was impossible for me to have purchased items from stores and restaurants that have no franchises in Hawaii. My credit data was part of a larger breach where I was not a specific target, because if they lived near me or knew me, the places they visited would have been better thought out. Banks can and do lock cards often. Living in a state with heavy tourist traffic, I've had numerous customers unable to purchase anything because they didn't inform their bank of where they were travelling to and to remove the lock on their cards.

I love ordering stuff online, but depending on which country my retailer is from, I still have to call my bank to temporarily suspend the lock on my card until I've made my desired purchases. This is a good and bad thing. If you get your stuff stolen, they can get it back for you. However, at the same time, they can trace you to locations and by denying your location, they can deny you service. Cryptocurrency has the opposite benefits. If you lose your keys, it's gone forever along with your coins. If someone else gets your send key, they can empty your wallet instantly. You may be able to see what address they were sent to, but you won't get them back. But, you can essentially disappear off the grid, and rest safely knowing that malicious parties will have a hard time finding you.

I Went To Court For a Crime I Didn't Commit

I also did their community service. Several years ago, my younger sister's friend got a DUI and everyone in the car was drunk. My sister threw a plastic cup out of the window, and it just so happened to hit a police car. They got pulled over. Since my sister was underage at the time, she was really scared of getting arrested for underage drinking. She gave my name, but when asked for my social, she didn't know it. Instead she gave our home address, and every other piece of identifying information including our parents info and my date of birth. She lied hard and how would they know? When we got the fine in the mail, my mom mailed it back knowing that it was her. She didn't want our family to "get in trouble," but by paying that fine she acknowledged me as being at the scene. Even if they are related to you, or are a close friend, you still need to guard your information. Situations do happen where people compromise their inner circle to save themselves. At the time I didn't want to believe that, but the closer someone is, the more access they have.

What Have We Learned?

• Provide proof that others can't access nor duplicate
• Depending on what's represented in a photo, it may prove all or prove nothing
• Images can be faked easily
• Tendencies can be just as specific as handwriting or a fingerprint
• ANYONE can pretend to be anyone else
• People lie for authorization, fame, and money, or out of fear
• You can check for original images
• Watermark properly to protect your work
• A lot of people are not whom they seem at first glance
• Create fail-saves that only you can prove
• Research yourself to know what others can find on you
• Only provide information that cannot compromise you
• it's always okay to ask for more proof if you don't believe a claim
• You control your information, don't lose that control

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As always, I hope that you were able to take something away from this that can improve your online and offline experiences. If you like my design work, you can email me at [email protected], I'll do commissions for some SBD! c:

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Want to check out my other posts from this week? You can find them here

🌟🌟 Motivation Nightly #5: What DREAMS and REAL SUCCESS is Made Of! Advice From Experience! 🌟🌟

Repair Diaries #1 HOW TO KNOW A LAPTOP IS BEYOND REPAIR: Qosimo x775 (REAL COMPUTER SECRETS PLUS A SECRET FEATURE ON STEEMIT YOU CAN TRY NOW)

Motivation Nightly #4 Your Steemit Voice and its Secret; How to Get More Followers!

Aloha Story #1 GEN: Best Korean BBQ All You Can Eat in Honolulu! 🍴💯

Motivation Nightly #3: Doubt the Silent Killer

Motivation Nightly #2: Body Before Productivity & Voluntary Suffering

Motivation Nightly #1: The Fear of Initial Failure

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I start my Project Management class tomorrow, please pray for me to get good grades!~