'I know your password' sextortion scam my top story of 2018 (Donald who?)
And the top story of 2018 was:
There's been a lot of news this year. And it hasn't all been about politics. It's very hard as a reporter to break through all the noise coming out of Washington D.C. Still, I managed to do that a couple of times, as my list of 10 most popular stories reveals. A sextortion scam involving provocative emails with victims' real (stolen) passwords resonated most with readers in 2018. (It's still a problem). Stories from the Breach podcast captured their attention, too. As always, money headlines attract readers -- in fact, two of my top 10 involve money stories published before this year. And of course, the word "Trump" in any headline automatically triples the hits you'll get. I'm proud that only two of my top 10 "hitmakers" involve Trump.
Plenty more fresh headlines coming next year. Thanks for sticking with me through 2018. I'm not going to lie; it's been a very rough year for smaller sites like mine. Chaos at Facebook has crushed our social media referral traffic. Poli-tainment reporting sucks up all the oxygen, leaving precession little attention span for more important, but more subtle stories. Still, people like me press on, as journalists always do. Happy new year. Here's to even better stories in 2019.
Top stories of 2018 at BobSullivan.net
1. ‘I know your password…and much more’ sextortion scam spreads quickly 2. Trump, Mueller dispute over golf fees? It’s not funny, and it might lie at the heart of the Russia investigation 3. Starbucks picked an odd time to force Wi-Fi customers to cough up personal data 4. What do you see in that CNN-Trump presser video? You see confirmation bias. 5. 7 million Americans lost their homes during the recession. Are they ready to buy again? 6. ‘Safer than real sticks’ – the confusing world of pet safety 7. The next fraud wave: When banks cash the same check twice, you might have to pay 8. Retirement account ID theft soars, report says — what to do about it 9. Marissa Mayer’s big mistake after the Yahoo hack, and why she was yelling at a NYT reporter 10. Seven simple ways to be better with money in 2018