Net Crimes & Misdemeanors

eBay scammer exposed by the victim. Victim ended up finding loads of info on the hard drive and lo and behold. . .the web site.

. . .this has happened too many times to just be a coincidence. I had a Fox TV producer from a Dallas, Texas station call me about doing a story on cyberstalking. He was hot to trot and wanted to set up an in-person interview at my house or at a Fox affiliate near me. I told him I had a couple of Dallas victims who would be willing to speak on camera. I then mentioned that I'd been trying to get on Fox News in NYC on any of their shows for some time and haven't had any luck. He was surprised and said he used to work in NYC and would talk to the booking agent there. I thanked him. He said he'd call within the next couple of days to set up the interview. That was on May 10th. I called and left three voicemail messages, the latest was yesterday asking him to let me know one way or the other if he needed me for the story; I emailed him three times as well. No reply. This has happened before, because a certain person who is head of another online safety organization has basicall...

If you buy my book and like it, would you please post a review on Amazon.com and bn.com (Barnes & Noble)? Every little bit helps!

Well, Sunday was perfect! Got up, checked email, showered, changed into my suit and took the shuttle to the Washington Convention Center, where the Book Expo was taking place. I had to take it early because it didn't run between 1030 am and 330 pm. I got my badge changed to spell my last name correctly, got a map and decided to check out the children's section of the show. As I walked in, I saw 100s of booths of publishers. Talk about intimidating. I wandered a bit, talked with some of the publishers and actually made some possible contacts for getting Gil The Gecko published. Cross your fingers! I got a new copy of Hemingway's Cats by Hemingway's nice Hilary Hemingway for just $10 (it retails for $24.95). I made my way to the C hall, where my publisher's booth was located and discovered chair massages! So, since I had the free time, I had a 15-minute chair massage, which I desperately needed. Boy, did that feel good! Got a signed book, The Tesla Experiment, fictio...

Saturday, May 20th – 2 pm I should have known my trip to D.C. was going to be bad when my publisher told me there was a “minor” printing error in the foreword by Vint Cerf in the 2nd edition of Net Crimes & Misdemeanors . Yes, it’s only part of a sentence that was set in italics, but it’s still a mistake (buy this first printing while you can, it’ll be a collectible). Then when the books didn’t show up for the conference until moments before I had to speak last weekend in Virginia Beach, I should have know there would be a problem. Then the publicist at my publisher told me my badge for the Book Expo had my last name spelled wrong. I got it in the mail the other day and my name is spelled Hitchcoal. Seriously. Then the day and time of my autograph session was missing from the list on the Book Expo web site and the guy who posted those refused to add me. Then the hotel I’m to stay at had me booked only for two nights, not three. The publicist took care of that and told me to get the...

You can order it from the book's web site and get it signed by me as well as a free gift. I'll be at the Book Expo America on Sunday to sign copies of it for the media and reviewers. I am so excited! Here's the official press release: NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release For information contact: Rob Colding Information Today, Inc. (609) 654-6500, ext. 330 Net Crimes & Misdemeanors New Edition of Popular Book Helps Internet Users Outmaneuver Spammers, Stalkers, and Con Artists Author J. A. Hitchcock, a cybercrime expert tells her own story and many others; offers a wealth of easy-to-follow advice for staying safe online May 12, 2006, Medford, New Jersey—Information Today, Inc. (ITI) has announced the publication of Net Crimes & Misdemeanors: Outmaneuvering Web Spammers, Stalkers, and Con Artists, Second Edition, by author and cybercrime expert J. A. Hitchcock. In this revised and expanded edition of her popular 2002 book, Hitchcock provides practical, easy-to-fo...

Had to go to Virginia Beach to speak at a conference . I booked my air travel through Expedia back in February. I was flying out Mother's Day, so early that morning I checked my schedule to see if there were any changes, as we got a whole lotta rain in Maine and I was worried the flight would be delayed/canceled. I logged into my Expedia account to check the departure time of my first flight. There was no such flight. I panicked and double-checked my itinerary in my account at Expedia. It claimed the flight was the one I had input. So I called the airline directly, Delta. They told me the flight had been changed to one that was leaving 15 minutes earlier. I called the car service company and because of the rain, they were headed out to come get me right then and there. Some roads had been washed out, etc, so they wanted to make sure I'd make the flight. So I panicked, took a quick shower and was thankful I had packed the day before. I had to get Chris up to help me get my last ...

The rain is appropriate for today. Got this from my friend Faith's husband in my email this morning. I can't stop crying. With the deepest sadness, I regret to inform you of the passing of my wife and best friend Faith Marguerite Ingraham Allenegui On May 9th at 2:30 AM Faith was born in Monterey, California and graduated Valedictorian Window Rock High School, Class of 1981, Fort Defiance, Arizona. She was a member of the National Honor Society, Big Sisters and joined the United States Air Force in 1987. Early in her career, as a Radio and Satellite Communications Technician she was recognized as Airman of the year for all of Korea. She joined marches in the fight against AIDS, was active in the PTA, and was one of the first certified military counselors of Financial Peace University in Europe. As a Craftsman of Information Management, she gained respect as resident expert in Computer Security for NATO Regional Headquarters of Northern Europe. Brunssum, Netherlands. Her latest...

I guess I'll go with the stupid part first, because it's the shortest. I received a fax from a woman who has written a book about proms. Problem was that it was addressed to the Montel Williams Show. I emailed her and told her I was not affiliated with the show and asked where she saw the fax number so that I could make sure it was removed. I was afraid someone had posted it as media contact information for Montel's show. So she emails me back that she found in connection with my name on a page called "Media Information." Ding ding ding. Media Information is on my WHOA web site, which is about the media I've already been in, including Montel and how to contact *me.* Sigh. I emailed her back that she had to be careful about reading web sites and explained this was clearly on the WHOA web site and not affiliated with Montel in any way. You would think the following sentence would have been a huge clue: You can reach Jayne by emailing her, or calling WHOA's...

Got a very weird email from a guy with the same last name as me insisting we were related and offering to send me his DNA. Eee-yewww. Not to mention the fact that if he had read my web site closely, he would have seen that I am married and Hitchcock is not my birth name. Also, there are thousands of Hitchcocks in the USA alone. Then this sentence struck me as "tin foil hat time:" I was surprised to find out that I had siblings at age 30 (Iam now 50, 6/6/55) and have been surprised by what a dog my father was. Actually had a bank teller confront me in Pittsburgh with the surprise that she was my half sister. -------------- You think that wasn't weird enough? He sent me another email saying we should talk and sent his phone number, which has a Nevada area code. Did a reverse search on it and nothing came up. So either his number is unlisted, it's a scam or he's just a total nutcase. I go for number three. ------------- My hubby took a motorcycle training course th...

Well, I sent an email to the Asst DA basically telling him he lied to me. He replied today claiming that when he said the victims were going to hold a press conference it was when their proposed book was coming out. Guess what? He lied again. He expressly told me they were going to hold a press conference soon because of the advice I gave them. The he rolled out this piece of tripe: "Of course, I never said it was not a crime what happened to her husband, notwithstanding her obvious inaccurate interpretation of my various statements to her, her husband, and their attorney who was also present at our meeting, and who did not at any time disagree with anything I said and in fact concurred with much of what was said." Really? That's not you told me, you sack of lying -hit. He told me there was no crime that anyone could be charged with. Third lie. Then he wrote this: "If you want to support the (victims), that is your prerogative, but as a non-lawyer, you cannot give le...

Just got an email from the husband of a good friend. I'd met Faith on Okinawa when we lived there from 1992-1995. She went with me on a lot of my trips to investigate hauntings on Okinawa for research for my Ghosts of Okinawa book. She even went with me when I did some stories for a newspaper I wrote for, as company and for fun. We have a lot in common and she always made me laugh. When we drove cross country from LA to Maine in August of 1995, we stopped at their house in Las Vegas and spent time with them. It was a fun, relaxed time. Since then, it's been hit and miss with emails, holiday newsletters, the usual. I got an email from her husband a few months ago that Faith was in California being treated for cancer. It looked good at the time and the chemo seemed to be working. I sent her some flowers with a stuffed puppy (a toy, not a real one, ha ha) to cheer her up. Her husband has been good about updates since then. He just emailed me this afternoon. Faith only has 2-3 mont...

1) Why is it that people get so snotty when they see my car? Even though it's a 1999 Beemer, I still get nasty looks, people try to cut me off or race me and I had one guy give me the finger. Oy! 2) I have this case I took that is high profile. Long story short: Principal of high school has profiles forged on Myspace.com in his name; one claims he's a child molester and worse. One student owns up to a profile and is suspended for 10 days and put into an alternative learning class as punishment. The ACLU gets involved, calls a press conference and claims the kid had a first amendment right to forge the profile (or make a parody, as they claimed). Well, the local DA got involved with police and found that the IP addresses of the other forged profiles traced to houses where other students from the same school live. Do they file charges? No. They claim they can't prove who was on the computer on the date/time the profile(s) were forged. So I offer to talk with the DA or police ...

You should know you are a stupid reporter when. . . I sent an email to a reporter at The Daily World, a newspaper in Washington state. I was replying to an article he'd written about Myspace.com and the dangers of kids, etc. In it, I asked that he consider using me as an expert for future articles, then listed topics I could be used for, with my home office and cell phone number. I signed it "Jayne" with my signature file underneath, which had my full name and the WHOA and Net Crimes web sites listed. My return email address is "JA Hitchcock whoa@haltabuse.org." His initial reply to me: What's your full name? Where do you live? How old are you? Stuff like that would be important in a pitch letter like this. ---------- Um, hello? Don't you know how to read an email? Look at the signature and return address. How old am I? What do you need that for? Where do I live? Look at the area code in the phone number I gave you and gee whiz, Sherlock, do a search to ...