Posts tagged "“Prevent Identity Theft”"

4th Day: Holiday Shopping Quiz – Is Credit or Debit Smarter?

Holiday Security Tips: On the fourth day of Christmas, the experts gave to me, 4 pay solutions!

True or False?

When you use a debit card, funds are more secure because they are drawn directly from your bank.

False.  While it’s true that funds are drawn directly from your bank, it actually makes it harder to get the money reimbursed while the issue is being resolved if fraud does occur.

 You can receive a reimbursement for debit card fraud up to a year later.

False.  Debit cards generally only reimburse fraudulent purchases if you catch them within 60 days.

 It is safer to use a credit card than a debit card.

True.  When you use a credit card, nothing is withdrawn from your bank account immediately. Pending transactions can take several days to clear. In addition, credit cards uniformly give you more protection than debit cards and your maximum liability is capped at $50.

Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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3rd Day: Stopping Hackers When You’re Shopping on Wi-Fi

Holiday Security Tips: On the third day of Christmas, the experts gave to me, 3 stymied hackers!

Although you may trust the baristas at your local coffee shop to make that perfect Gingerbread Latte, you can’t always trust the person sitting next to you. Hackers can easily tap into Wi-Fi connections at public hot spots to steal your identity information, including credit card and bank account numbers. This can be especially dangerous during the holiday season when “hotspot sniffers” come out of the woodwork using free monitoring apps like Firesheep.

Solution: Stop shopping online using free Wi-Fi hotspots.

If you must shop online while out in public, take the following precautions:

Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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2nd Day: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas- at the Mall!

Two Turtle DovesHoliday Security Tips: On the second day of Christmas, the experts gave to me, 2 shopping tips…

Black Friday  and Cyber Monday will be here before you can say “Man, I ate a lot of turkey!”  Malls, stores, restaurants and cafés are exceptionally busy places during the holidays. This breeds a perfect environment for data thieves to make off with your identity goodies while you shop, dine or relax. It only takes a second to steal a purse from a shopping cart, a briefcase from your car or a smartphone, iPad or laptop from an unattended café table. Solution: Lighten your load and leave excess identity at home. 

  • Consider taking only your mobile phone, driver’s license and one or two credit cards with you shopping to minimize the number of identity storage devices you might misplace. If you can fit the items in your pockets, your security increases. If you must have a purse, use one that zips and hangs in front of you, or consider using a backpack that stays on you at all times.

Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker .
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12 Days to a Safe Christmas: Prevent Holiday Identity Theft

Holiday Security Tips: On the first day of Christmas, my expert gave to me, the keys to secure my privacy.  

If I could give the world a gift this holiday season, it would be to make the world a safer place to trust. You deserve to know whether or not you can trust the politicians you elect, the advice you receive from your doctor and whether or not you can entrust your privacy to the websites and businesses you use every day.

Identity theft, cyber stalking, and “big data” surveillance—these byproducts of the information economy make it hard to rest easy. Every day in the news we hear about another scam, another breach of corporate data that victimizes more than 11 million Americans a year. But you don’t  have to be a statistic!

 Solution: Give yourself a gift by paying attention to prevention.

Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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WWBD? (What Would Bond Do?) Five Steps to Secure Your Business Data

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I finally got around to watching the latest 007 installment, Skyfall, and it appears even James Bond has entered into the world of Cyber Crime as he tries to protect a computer drive with a list of British agents from falling into the wrong hands.  And like the proverbial victims in a James Bond flick, you and your business data are under assault, even though it may not always be as obvious as getting thrown off a train.  Why?  Because your business data is profitable to would-be thieves. And for many of those thieves, that data is easy to get and the theft can be next to impossible to trace.

Sony PlayStation Network, Citigroup, Lockheed and several others have seen more than 100 million customer records breached, costing billions in recovery costs and reputation damage.  If it can happen to the big boys, it can happen to you.  If you don’t have Bond on your side fighting off the villains, take these steps to take to secure your business data:

Posted in Cyber Data Security, Digital Reputation & Trust, Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Check washing & check fraud can dirty your spring cleaning

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqSWxvsmczI?rel=0]

Check washing is so simple, you must learn to prevent check fraud

Are check fraud and check washing still relevant in the age of digital payments? If you’re like the average person, chances are you don’t write too many checks anymore. With the convenience of online payment options, nearly universal acceptance of credit and debit cards, and the proliferation of ATMs offering you easy access to money at every turn, why resort to the archaic, labor-intensive method of writing a check?

The simple answer—sometimes we have no other choice!  Some places still don’t accept credit cards (Costco if you don’t have an American Express), or they charge an extra fee for them.  Some retailers don’t offer online payment options.  And frankly, sometimes it’s just an old habit and we haven’t made the effort to find a safer option because we’re stuck in the mindset of “it’s never happened to me” when thinking about check fraud.

Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Stop Check Fraud with Security Checks

How to Stop Check Fraud and Check Washing

stop check fraudCheck washing, a highly common form of check fraud, is the practice of removing legitimate check information, especially the “Pay To” name and the amount, and replacing it with data beneficial to the criminal (his own name or a larger amount) through chemical or electronic means.  One of the many ways to protect yourself against check fraud is so important that it deserves its very own article.

A foolproof way to protect your checks from being altered, whether by washing or by electronic means, is to use security checks offered by most companies.

Here are some of the features to look for when you’re purchasing High Security Checks.  These features will safeguard you not only against check washing, but other high tech forms of check fraud as well:

  • Safety security paper (visible and invisible fluorescent fibers, chemical-sensitive)

Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Product Endorsements by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Last year there were 20 identity thefts per minute

Here's a pop quiz: how many incidents of identity theft do you think happened in 2012? How often do you think they occurred?

Maybe you're aware of threats to your personal information. Maybe you've already taken steps to prevent identity theft. But do you really know how common it is?

Ok, I know I kind of gave it away in the title of this post, but take a guess anyway.  A hundred thousand? Maybe a couple million?

The answer may shock you: there were 12.6 million cases last year, according to the 2012 Identity Theft Report by Javelin Strategy & Research. That breaks down to a new incident every three seconds, and it's higher than the year before. The total amount of money stolen through hacks and compromises was over $21 billion, and many victims of identity theft were targeted through their Social Security numbers. 

Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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FTC chairman resigns, but online privacy threats persist

Word broke last week that the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Jon Leibowitz, will step down from his post in mid-February.

During his four-year run, Leibowitz brought cases against two of the internet’s biggest companies – Google and Facebook – for violating their own privacy policies. He also spent time working on the expansion of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

An article in The New York Times cites several political figures with varying stances on his performance as the FTC’s chief. Most of the attention, however, has been focused on his actions to curb unfair competition practices in the United States.

While this is obviously the main focus of the FTC, it is frightening that online privacy is treated as the red-headed stepchild of the head of the FTC’s duties. As companies like Google, Facebook and Apple continue to grow in gargantuan leaps and bounds, their business practices are inextricably interwoven with online privacy rights.

Posted in Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker .
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