{"id":6328,"date":"2015-09-23T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2015-09-23T11:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewritelife.com\/?p=6328"},"modified":"2015-09-18T11:08:55","modified_gmt":"2015-09-18T16:08:55","slug":"how-to-protect-your-freelance-writing-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/?p=6328","title":{"rendered":"Beware of Byline Snatchers: How to Protect Your Freelance Writing Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Freelance writers and bloggers, beware. At the deepest pits of the internet, unscrupulous internet spammers lie in wait. <\/span><\/p>\n

I recently received a tweet from a website I\u2019ve contributed to in the past, tagged as the writer of their most recent article. I didn\u2019t remember writing that article, but to be sure my mind hadn\u2019t eliminiated the article from my data banks I triple-checked my email and computer for any traces of the piece. Nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

I clicked through to read the article, and found sub-par writing and a few obvious commercial links. A fake Samantha Staf stole my name and photo to build links for his or her clients.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not cool. I couldn\u2019t help thinking, \u201cWhy steal my face and name?\u201d I worked hard to build my authority. I didn\u2019t need a lazy writer destroying everything I built.<\/span><\/p>\n

Identity theft is the <\/span>most common type of cybercrime<\/span>. But here\u2019s the mind-boggling part: very little can be done legally unless the impersonating individual has committed a crime with your name or face. Right now very few states — <\/span>New York, California, and Texas<\/span><\/a> are among this enlightened group — have laws that protect their citizens from online impersonation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Otherwise, you\u2019re on our own. And that means writers need to take measures to prevent and stop individuals who want to profit from your name, pictures, and credentials.<\/b><\/p>\n

How to protect your online identity<\/span><\/h2>\n

As a writer, you\u2019re constantly flirting with the possibility of identity theft. Why? <\/span><\/p>\n

Because to be a freelance writer or blogger, you must ignore the best protection against identity theft there is: not posting your picture, personal information, and articles on the internet. <\/b><\/p>\n

But these personal details are what you use to build a professional reputation online. Since many writers are self-employed, your instinct to protect ourselves can be overpowered by your <\/span>instinct to promote<\/span><\/a> your work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this very fatal flaw in your online protection, you can still take measures to protect our name. Create complicated passwords for your email and other online accounts. Change the passwords for these accounts every month or so. Then, create a second layer of authentication (typically a security code sent to your mobile phone) to those online accounts to prevent others from changing your password. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having a password that\u2019s easy to remember is nice, but having one that\u2019s secure is powerful.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an uncomfortable truth: <\/b>there is very little you can do to prevent an unscrupulous individuals from hijacking your authority.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fake Samantha Stauf created their own email address, with just a single letter different than mine, to reach out to editors under my name. <\/span><\/p>\n

There was nothing I could do about the theft until after it had taken place.<\/span><\/p>\n

How to stop authority snatchers after they\u2019ve stolen your identity <\/span><\/h2>\n

Mitigating authorship identity theft requires constant vigilance. I caught the spammer five hours after the article was published. By the sixth hour, I had already started to ensure the individual would not be able to continue to use my name. <\/span><\/p>\n

How can you stop these name thieves in their tracks?<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Spot identity theft by:<\/span><\/p>\n