Hello again,
It's that time again with the holidays near and we're really busy rushing around shopping and looking foward to spending time with family and friends. Just be aware the crooks are out shopping too!!
Here's the latest and best stop gap measure you can take to offer maximum protection.
Credit "Freeze": New Weapon Vs. I.D. Theft
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
A Good First Step? What Do You Think??
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan bill that would let victims of
identity theft seek restitution for money and time they spent repairing
their credit history was introduced on Tuesday in the Senate.
Read the whole article at
Id Theft Protection
identity theft seek restitution for money and time they spent repairing
their credit history was introduced on Tuesday in the Senate.
Read the whole article at
Id Theft Protection
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Warning You Have Been Datamined!
Hello,
The holidays are approaching and the scam and con artists are getting redy to go shoppin too! There is a need to protect ourselves but balancing this while protecting our right to privacy is like walking a tightrope. What do you think?
Hundreds of millions are affected each day with little or no control of their destiny.
Datamining Warning
The holidays are approaching and the scam and con artists are getting redy to go shoppin too! There is a need to protect ourselves but balancing this while protecting our right to privacy is like walking a tightrope. What do you think?
Hundreds of millions are affected each day with little or no control of their destiny.
Datamining Warning
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Beware Of The Frog!!??
Hello again,
This is hot news for you or anyone you know is online this is a must read before you login again!!
Beware of the frog11
This is hot news for you or anyone you know is online this is a must read before you login again!!
Beware of the frog11
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tips for Fake Check Scams from the National Fraud Information Center
Tips for Recognizing and Avoiding Fake Check Scams
If someone you don’t know wants to pay you by check but wants you to wire some of the money back, beware! It’s a scam that could cost you thousands of dollars.
Read More Here
If someone you don’t know wants to pay you by check but wants you to wire some of the money back, beware! It’s a scam that could cost you thousands of dollars.
Read More Here
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Veterans At Risk
Attention:
The risk is real and the cost is dire and I can truly feel the pain of eveyone exposed to this threat. However this is an unusual type of attack because it's like a boomerang or cancer it keeps coming back. In a few previous stories I mention the children. If their records are compromised they will endure problems for the next 60 or more yrs. This also includes prosecution,jail time, credit problems,court costs,litigation,investigation, bankruptcy all costing tax dollars and personal losses. Something must be done.
Veterans At Risk
The risk is real and the cost is dire and I can truly feel the pain of eveyone exposed to this threat. However this is an unusual type of attack because it's like a boomerang or cancer it keeps coming back. In a few previous stories I mention the children. If their records are compromised they will endure problems for the next 60 or more yrs. This also includes prosecution,jail time, credit problems,court costs,litigation,investigation, bankruptcy all costing tax dollars and personal losses. Something must be done.
Veterans At Risk
Friday, August 03, 2007
Immigration Bust at BMW-Seven Illegal Aliens Arrested
Hello, I have to get the word out on this was a local news story which will have a national reach and your children are in danger too!!
Read More Here
Read More Here
Monday, April 23, 2007
Watch Out For Credit Card Skimming
Most people would never hand over their credit cards to strangers, but many do every time they eat at a restaurant when they pay for their meal.
Find Out More Now!!
Find Out More Now!!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Microsoft Refunds XBox LIVE User for Fraudulent Activity
A number of people whose children use X-Box Live have had their back accounts violated.
Read More Here
Read More Here
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Saturday, April 07, 2007
New for 2007
Hi Again,
We do a number of posts during the year and reading them is fine . However there is an old saying a picture is worth a thousand words. So now from time to time we'll present scammers in action . Here is one sure to get your interest.
We do a number of posts during the year and reading them is fine . However there is an old saying a picture is worth a thousand words. So now from time to time we'll present scammers in action . Here is one sure to get your interest.
T.J. Maxx hack exposes consumer data
Hi Everyone,
This particular story has been flying low and under the radar for months now so please be aware.
Read More Now
This particular story has been flying low and under the radar for months now so please be aware.
Read More Now
Monday, December 11, 2006
Do You Have Children In School
Hello everyone,
I wrote about this problem awhile ago but the word is not getting out and here is a prime example that happened in the local area.If you have a child in school you need to check this out and help spread the word to your local school boards.
Schoolboard Snafu
I wrote about this problem awhile ago but the word is not getting out and here is a prime example that happened in the local area.If you have a child in school you need to check this out and help spread the word to your local school boards.
Schoolboard Snafu
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Beware of The Double Whammy!!
This particular brand of ID Theft can not only end up costing you money but can also place you in physical danger
Medical ID Theft
Medical ID Theft
Thursday, October 05, 2006
As I Predicted the Advent of New Technologies
The latest I saw is a double threat and also a bit amusing. Cellphone thefts are up dramatically and loosing one can be devestating with all the personal info they contain.
Stolen Phones Holler For Help
Stolen Phones Holler For Help
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Tips On How To Protect Your PC
Fast Facts
The Commerce Department found that since 2001 the department's 15 operating units had lost track of 1,137 laptop computers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read More ID Theft News Here
The Commerce Department found that since 2001 the department's 15 operating units had lost track of 1,137 laptop computers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read More ID Theft News Here
Friday, September 22, 2006
Protecting Your Personal Data
Hello,
I came across this great article from consumer reports which is really eye-opening.
October 2006
Your privacy for sale
CR Quick Take
Large data brokers have your numbers--Social Security, phone, and credit cards. They might also know about the drugs you take, what you buy, your political party, and your sexual orientation. When we investigated this secretive industry, we discovered:
• Data brokers are willing to sell even your most sensitive information to paying customers, some of them crooks.
• When CR staffers asked to see their own files, they received scant information. One report contained 31 errors.
• The federal government is a steady customer of the data collectors, but there’s no way to know what it collects or exactly how much it pays.
• Pretexters, who lie to get information about you and sell it to anybody, operate largely free of regulation.
Until Valentine’s Day weekend 2005, Elizabeth Rosen had never heard of ChoicePoint. But ChoicePoint, it turns out, knew plenty about her.
That’s when Rosen, a nurse, received a letter and found out that the Alpharetta, Ga., company had collected information about her. Among the sensitive items it had: her Social Security number, records of her insurance claims, her current and past addresses, and her employment history. Now ChoicePoint was informing her that it had inadvertently disclosed her information--and that of 165,000 other Americans--to a group of criminals. What galls Rosen more, she says, is that all along, ChoicePoint itself “was profiting by collecting and selling confidential information about me without my knowledge or consent.”
ChoicePoint, which has $1 billion in annual revenues, is only one entity in a vast and secretive data industry that feeds on private information about you and millions of other Americans. Its inhabitants include corporate mastodons with access to millions of public records; swarms of private investigators, some of whom lie to obtain confidential information; and hundreds of companies selling background checks, profiles, and address lists, all to meet the surging demand from business, law enforcement, and, increasingly since 9/11, the federal government.
The data collectors say that they’re not prying but speeding the retrieval of public records for both consumers and law enforcement, allowing businesses to cut their risks for fraud and helping marketers to zero in on customers who really want their products. “More than two-thirds of what we do is regulated by state and/or federal law,” says Chuck Jones, a spokesman for ChoicePoint.
Federal privacy and data-security laws such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act do guard some categories of data, including information used to determine eligibility for credit or insurance. But a 2006 investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that such protections are limited and that Congress should require information resellers to safeguard all sensitive personal information.
Indeed, CR’s three-month investigation found that the practices of the data collectors can rob you of your privacy, threaten you with ID theft, and profile you as, say, a deadbeat or a security risk. Worse, there’s no way to find out what they are telling others about you. When our reporters requested their own records, they were told that they could not see everything that was routinely sold to businesses. The meager information they did receive was punctuated with errors.
How CU uses your data
Like many other publishers, Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, engages in database marketing and has established policies to protect customer information. CU rents and exchanges its mailing list and currently pays data brokers to enhance its customer database with supplemental data to assist in marketing and fund-raising campaigns. Information shared excludes Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial account numbers, and credit- and debit-card information.
CU publicizes its opt-out policy in each issue of Consumer Reports, describing how readers may request that their names not be released to other mailers. And it adheres to guidelines for the use of customer names set forth by the Direct Marketing Association. CU uses information gathered from subscribers who respond to its surveys, polls, or questionnaires only in aggregated form as source material for Consumer Reports articles and never for marketing purposes.
For complete Ratings and recommendations on appliances, cars & trucks, electronic gear, and much more, subscribe today and have access to all of Consumer Reports
I came across this great article from consumer reports which is really eye-opening.
October 2006
Your privacy for sale
CR Quick Take
Large data brokers have your numbers--Social Security, phone, and credit cards. They might also know about the drugs you take, what you buy, your political party, and your sexual orientation. When we investigated this secretive industry, we discovered:
• Data brokers are willing to sell even your most sensitive information to paying customers, some of them crooks.
• When CR staffers asked to see their own files, they received scant information. One report contained 31 errors.
• The federal government is a steady customer of the data collectors, but there’s no way to know what it collects or exactly how much it pays.
• Pretexters, who lie to get information about you and sell it to anybody, operate largely free of regulation.
Until Valentine’s Day weekend 2005, Elizabeth Rosen had never heard of ChoicePoint. But ChoicePoint, it turns out, knew plenty about her.
That’s when Rosen, a nurse, received a letter and found out that the Alpharetta, Ga., company had collected information about her. Among the sensitive items it had: her Social Security number, records of her insurance claims, her current and past addresses, and her employment history. Now ChoicePoint was informing her that it had inadvertently disclosed her information--and that of 165,000 other Americans--to a group of criminals. What galls Rosen more, she says, is that all along, ChoicePoint itself “was profiting by collecting and selling confidential information about me without my knowledge or consent.”
ChoicePoint, which has $1 billion in annual revenues, is only one entity in a vast and secretive data industry that feeds on private information about you and millions of other Americans. Its inhabitants include corporate mastodons with access to millions of public records; swarms of private investigators, some of whom lie to obtain confidential information; and hundreds of companies selling background checks, profiles, and address lists, all to meet the surging demand from business, law enforcement, and, increasingly since 9/11, the federal government.
The data collectors say that they’re not prying but speeding the retrieval of public records for both consumers and law enforcement, allowing businesses to cut their risks for fraud and helping marketers to zero in on customers who really want their products. “More than two-thirds of what we do is regulated by state and/or federal law,” says Chuck Jones, a spokesman for ChoicePoint.
Federal privacy and data-security laws such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act do guard some categories of data, including information used to determine eligibility for credit or insurance. But a 2006 investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that such protections are limited and that Congress should require information resellers to safeguard all sensitive personal information.
Indeed, CR’s three-month investigation found that the practices of the data collectors can rob you of your privacy, threaten you with ID theft, and profile you as, say, a deadbeat or a security risk. Worse, there’s no way to find out what they are telling others about you. When our reporters requested their own records, they were told that they could not see everything that was routinely sold to businesses. The meager information they did receive was punctuated with errors.
How CU uses your data
Like many other publishers, Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, engages in database marketing and has established policies to protect customer information. CU rents and exchanges its mailing list and currently pays data brokers to enhance its customer database with supplemental data to assist in marketing and fund-raising campaigns. Information shared excludes Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial account numbers, and credit- and debit-card information.
CU publicizes its opt-out policy in each issue of Consumer Reports, describing how readers may request that their names not be released to other mailers. And it adheres to guidelines for the use of customer names set forth by the Direct Marketing Association. CU uses information gathered from subscribers who respond to its surveys, polls, or questionnaires only in aggregated form as source material for Consumer Reports articles and never for marketing purposes.
For complete Ratings and recommendations on appliances, cars & trucks, electronic gear, and much more, subscribe today and have access to all of Consumer Reports
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Don't Let Spyware Sneak Up On You
By: Howard Goff
You decide to make an online purchase from a reputable Internet site, so you add the items to your virtual shopping cart and head to the checkout. You enter your billing address, your credit card number, your card's expiration date, even your card's 3-digit authorization number. Without even knowing it, you could have provided an identity thief all of the information he or she needs to rack up charges on your account if your computer is infested with a type of spyware known as keyloggers.
Keylogger software keeps track of every letter, number, or symbol you type. Then, the information is transferred from your computer to a third-party. While keyloggers are bad enough, they are only one of over a dozen types of spyware being used by hackers and identity thieves today. What's worse is that your computer could be infected at this moment, and you may not even realize it. In October 2004, America Online and the National Cyber-Security Alliance conducted a survey about spyware. Eighty percent of respondents found spyware on their computers and 89% of those individuals never knew it was there.1
While some spyware is relatively harmless, other examples can leave you vulnerable. For example, in August 2005 Sunbelt Software discovered a spyware scheme using a program known as CoolWebSearch which was allowing information from a user's computer to be sent to a central collection point without his or her knowledge. The type of information collected included Internet activity, credit card numbers, instant message conversations, travel plans, and more. Thousands of people were potential victims of identity theft thanks to this one program.
Now how do you stop yourself from being sucked into a spyware scam? There are two answers to that question.
First, you should install anti-spyware software on your computer. This type of software can detect spyware and can help you eliminate it from your system. However, you need to realize that even the best anti-spyware software is not full-proof because identity thieves and hackers are always revising their spyware so it won't be detected. Keeping your anti-spyware software up-to-date can help reduce this risk.
Second, you need to practice safer Internet behavior. For example, only download programs from trustworthy web sites and never agree to install anything on your computer unless you know specifically what it is. Keeping your Internet Explorer updated is also a good idea because security weaknesses in the browser are often used by spyware to gain access to your personal online activities.
The bad news is that spyware is only one method of stealing your identity. If you want to learn how to protect yourself from spyware and other methods or if you've been a victim of identity theft and need to know what steps to take now, you need to read Identity Theft: A Resource Guide from PCSecurityNews.com. The ebook is available at http://www.PCSecurityNews.com.
You decide to make an online purchase from a reputable Internet site, so you add the items to your virtual shopping cart and head to the checkout. You enter your billing address, your credit card number, your card's expiration date, even your card's 3-digit authorization number. Without even knowing it, you could have provided an identity thief all of the information he or she needs to rack up charges on your account if your computer is infested with a type of spyware known as keyloggers.
Keylogger software keeps track of every letter, number, or symbol you type. Then, the information is transferred from your computer to a third-party. While keyloggers are bad enough, they are only one of over a dozen types of spyware being used by hackers and identity thieves today. What's worse is that your computer could be infected at this moment, and you may not even realize it. In October 2004, America Online and the National Cyber-Security Alliance conducted a survey about spyware. Eighty percent of respondents found spyware on their computers and 89% of those individuals never knew it was there.1
While some spyware is relatively harmless, other examples can leave you vulnerable. For example, in August 2005 Sunbelt Software discovered a spyware scheme using a program known as CoolWebSearch which was allowing information from a user's computer to be sent to a central collection point without his or her knowledge. The type of information collected included Internet activity, credit card numbers, instant message conversations, travel plans, and more. Thousands of people were potential victims of identity theft thanks to this one program.
Now how do you stop yourself from being sucked into a spyware scam? There are two answers to that question.
First, you should install anti-spyware software on your computer. This type of software can detect spyware and can help you eliminate it from your system. However, you need to realize that even the best anti-spyware software is not full-proof because identity thieves and hackers are always revising their spyware so it won't be detected. Keeping your anti-spyware software up-to-date can help reduce this risk.
Second, you need to practice safer Internet behavior. For example, only download programs from trustworthy web sites and never agree to install anything on your computer unless you know specifically what it is. Keeping your Internet Explorer updated is also a good idea because security weaknesses in the browser are often used by spyware to gain access to your personal online activities.
The bad news is that spyware is only one method of stealing your identity. If you want to learn how to protect yourself from spyware and other methods or if you've been a victim of identity theft and need to know what steps to take now, you need to read Identity Theft: A Resource Guide from PCSecurityNews.com. The ebook is available at http://www.PCSecurityNews.com.
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