I got this message in my emails today that told me my personal information was exposed on multiple sites. For a price, there’s a company that tells me I can get it removed.

These yahoos provided a list of my personal information that’s “out there.” Basically it was my name, age, home address, email address, wife’s name and son’s name.

Of course I’m not going to pay someone to take this information down. Most of it is in the phone book anyway. I’m probably the easiest man in town to find. They didn’t have where I work or my business address listed, so for anyone who thinks they need this, it’s 25 N. Main Street here in Moultrie — one block away from the courthouse. As well, my email is published in the newspaper every day. As for my age, I’m just a few days shy of 67. I don’t mind anyone knowing my age. Heck, I’m just glad to still be here. Yea, I know. I don’t look that old.

All in all, I guess I must lead a pretty boring life if this is all they’ve got on me. I go out every night and paint the town beige. I would have thought they might have information about me seining the creek, running gill nets for redhorse suckers, snitching a few watermelons, finding a liquor still and not reporting it, finding the liquor stash and sampling it, tying a slip knot in the Tarzan vine over the swimming hole, taking some city boys on a snipe hunt, picking up a fellow’s Volkswagen Beetle and putting blocks under it, and stuff like that. And I almost forgot, painting “Class of 66” on the town’s water tower.

To me when you say something is “exposed” it implies a great danger, an embarrassment of sorts, something illegal or maybe a combination of the above. In this offer they use the expression “privacy threats.” I think the expression “privacy threats” should carry with it some disclaimer or maybe an asterisk to note that we live in the world of “Twitter” and “Facebook.” And if you’ve ever read any of this stuff, you would agree with me that privacy has left the barn. It’s in the rearview mirror Bubba. People talk about everything in these venues — from boring to exotic to erotic.

It runs the gamut from someone voicing disgust over a bad cup of coffee to someone else hanging out their dirty laundry. I think it’s ironic that people complain about “Big Brother” watching them when they are offering up their information in mass communication on a regular basis. Why worry about “Big Brother” when “Little Brother” will tell it all?

I’ve thought a couple of times about putting some bogus information out there on myself just to see if the scammers will try to capitalize on it. And I mean bogus and harmless. I do love to yank chains when I feel people are trying to scam me. And of course it might make me look like I’m a more adventurous and exciting person.

As you know scammers have all sorts of illicit scenarios in their bags of tricks. Lately I’ve been getting calls on my I-phone that are rather weird. The number that shows up on my screen is 234-56 … only five digits. I never answer it. I figure if it’s important someone will leave me a voice message. But out of curiosity, I Googled this matter and apparently a lot of people are getting calls from this number. One person said no one was on the line when he called. Another said a man with a heavy accent advised him that he had computer problems that he could fix, but he would need access to his computer. He said he hung up on the spiel but before he did, he brayed like a jackass. I’m sure he wasn’t making a political party statement, but one of acute derision.

So folks beware, there are scammers behind every fence post. (Email: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com)