Well, it doesn't seem to have been my week, in any shape or form! Last week, I was sent a virus in an IM, which was supposedly from a friend, but he denied having sent it. The IM contained three links, sent at intervals; one at 0405, one at 0708 and the third at 0803. When I logged on, the offline messages popped up, as they do! The message asked me to click on a YouTube link, and rate this friend's video; the message also contained a clapping smiley at each end of each link, and the name, nice24, before the last smiley, on two of the links, which were, incidentally, the same.

I hadn't spoken on IM to this friend for six to eight months, but he had invited me to a blog site, so I took the rating request to be genuine and clicked. My Windows Defender popped up on my screen saying it was scanning for spyware, and it stayed, and stayed and stayed, until finally, two blank windows came up together, with a warning that a virus was trying to get in. The Defender popup stayed... would not clear the screen. This was around 10.30 a.m. on the Wednesday. I managed to contact my friend, via my 360 blog, who immediately IM'd me and said that he had sent me nothing. We both scanned for viruses, resulting in none being found but when he checked the link, he was told it was a trojan downloader. We both IM'd all on our Buddy List, with a warning not to open any links containing the words YouTube or nice24.

At 3.00 p.m., the weekly Pogo challenges were due to start and this is the only link I can make with the awful thing that happened both then, and today. I logged into Pogo to start my challenges, was immediately thrown out, and the window said that the page could not be reached as I was not connected to the internet. But, I could see the two little screens flashing on my browser and knew I was connected. Besides that, my Yahoo Messenger and other windows were intact. Then... one by one, in front of my eyes, each window went blank, and came up with the same message about not being connected to the internet. These were followed by Yahoo and MSN Live closing down, and my internet connection shutting off.

At this point, I decided I would have to restart my computer and hopefully, refresh everything. So, I logged out and back in again. A similar thing... nothing would boot up, apart from the connection to the net. There were just blank windows on my screen. After turning right off and back on three times to no avail, I tried to start in safe mode. No go; Windows couldn't be read and my internet connection couldn't either, so I couldn't even sign on. I tried to System Restore, but that couldn't be read either. I was frantic! I switched off the computer and picked up the phone.

Several calls later, to my ISP and Computer Supplier, and being told I had a virus, I had deleted all the information on the hard drive, losing a lot of my files. I reconfigured my drivers and Windows XP, under the instruction of a Dell expert, just leaving software to install and programmes to re-download. I phoned my ISP to reset my connection and finished somewhere around midnight on Friday, so that I was back online on Saturday. I was out all Saturday evening from 4.30, so wasn't even on the computer.

In fact, I hadn't logged into Pogo for my challenges, until Sunday afternoon, when I completed two of my challenges, leaving only my personal one, which I finished this afternoon. Just after I had finished, I received a Violation Notice from EA Sports, through Pogo, that I had used some really foul language in a Pogo Games Room, in the making of a hateful remark. I won't tell you what was said, because I abhor the words used; they make me cringe! Whaaaaaaaaaat????? I had been offline, and only got into Pogo because I used my son's computer. I do NOT use foul language like was used there, in any circumstances. I have disputed the incident. I even have proof that it wasn't me, if it happened whilst my computer was down, in the lengthy phone calls I had to make to Dell and my ISP. So what happened? My Pogo ID is the same as my Yahoo ID. Somebody has it in for a friend and I, and they've invaded his Yahoo account more than once, when I know he's in bed, asleep. Now, all this? Where is the security problem? Could it be Yahoo, or Pogo, or both? I don't know, but after a harrowing and depressing week, not to mention the cost, I was reduced to tears at the thought of somebody blackening my name on Pogo, and awarding me the threat of termination of my Pogo Account, which I renewed only about a month ago, at a cost of £30 approximately. I just broke down in tears!

I am devastated, not to mention disgusted and embarrassed at the thought of my name being dragged that low. I never use language that strong and certainly not in chat rooms. I almost died when I read it. What do these people get out of being so cruel and despicable to other users? Where do they get off?

I can only warn you all to be very careful with the links you open. It was partly my fault for not scanning them before clicking, but then, the IM was from a friend I trust, and I didn't even think about it! One click caused me all that heartache.