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Guest Blogger: Kathleen Keelan, Prevention Consultants, LLC
I have a hard time telling the parents of a cyber-bullied student that their school “has a policy.” I have a hard time explaining to a child that even though they feel like their whole existence is being shattered every day, all day and all night, that their school district really does care about them. It’s hard to explain to a cyber-bullied student and their parents that the school truly cares that they feel safe.
This I know for sure: the policy is only as good as the people who enforce it.
School officials are scrambling right now due to the “epidemic” of suicides from cyber bullying. Law enforcement is scrambling right now to define their role in this growing phenomenon. The National Crime Prevention Council is happy that physical bullying amongst children has declined. However, the rate of cyber bullying is increasing at an alarming rate. Right now the NCPS found that among teenagers, more than 43% are victims of cyber bullying.
Posted in Cyber Data Security, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Bullies, Bullying, children, Cyber, Cyber Bullies, Cyber Bullying, Cyber Safety, Kathleen Keelen, kids, Online, Prevention, safety, Schools, Sileo, Students, Tyler Clementi
Recent events have raised the serious issue of cyber bullying among children and teens. CNN.com just published this article on protecting your children from online bullies and it is a must read for any parent, teen, or internet user. Here is a partial reprint of the article – you can read it on CNN in it’s original format (see link below).
(CNN) — As cyber bullying emerges as a nasty and easy supplement to traditional schoolyard taunts, a raft of online tools have come on the market to help parents prevent it or respond to it.
But experts say common sense parenting and simple awareness about the potential for trouble might be some of the most valuable tools to prevent damaging electronic harassment.
The most simple way to start? Get involved in your child’s online life. Then stay out of the way.
Posted in Cyber Data Security by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Cyber Bullies, Cyber Bullying, Online Bullying, Sileo
Direct messages sent through Twitter can be easily exposed, thanks to a loophole in Twitter’s API, according to Gary-Adam Shannon at Search Engine Watch Reports. When a user logs into another site using their Twitter user name and password, the site can gain access to the private messages, says Shannon. He goes into technical detail, but essentially it’s just a small hack.
Shannon recommends you don’t ever log in to a site (other than Twitter.com, obviously) using your Twitter user name and password. Another writer at Search Engine Watch recommends that users erase their Direct Messages after viewing them. There has been no comment from Twitter, but we hope they are looking into the issue now that the problem has been made public.
Read more…
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Direct Messages, identity theft expert, John Sileo, Online/Social Media Privacy, Security, Social Media Privacy, social networking, twitter, Twitter Loophole, twitter privacy, Twitter Safety, Twitter Security
You and your business are worth a lot of money, whether your bank accounts show it or not. The goldmine lies in your data, and everyone wants it. Competitors want to hire the employee you just fired for the thumb drive full of confidential files they smuggled out. Data thieves salivate over your Facebook profile, which provides as a “how to” guide for exploiting your trust. Cyber criminals are digitally sniffing the wireless connection you use at Starbucks to make bank transfers and send “confidential” emails.
Every business is under assault by forces that want access to your valuable data: identity records, customer databases, employee files, intellectual property, and ultimately, your net worth. Research is screaming at us—more than 80% of businesses surveyed have already experienced at least one breach (average recovery cost: $6.75 million) and have no idea of how to stop a repeat performance. These are clear, profit-driven reasons to care about who controls your data.
Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: “business fraud”, data theft, Expert, Fraud, Hot Spots, Identity Theft Prevention, Information Hot Spots, Information Security, Inside Spies, mobile data, Prevention, Privacy, Protection, Sileo, social engineering, Speaker
Identity theft prevention has become more important than ever before. All over the country, budget cuts have forced many law enforcement agencies to lay-off a large number of employees. The Oakland Police Station cut 80 officers from their force of 687 last month alone. Such severe cuts leave the department ill-equipped to respond to calls involving burglary, vandalism and especially identity theft.
Non-violent crimes have sunk to the bottom of police stations agenda. With no funds to investigate these crimes and catch the criminals, identity theft rates will continue to rise. Criminals will see this as an opportunity to prey on victims and steal identity for financial gain without any consequences.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: identity theft expert, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Protection, Identity Theft Statistics, Identity Theft Victims, John Sileo, Law Enforcement, Police Stations
A new type of scam has surfaced that uses bullying tactics to get you to reveal identity information over the phone. Here is how it works:
The scammer calls claiming to work for the local court and states that you’ve failed to report for jury duty. They inform you that a warrant has been issued for your arrest. The victim will often rightly claim they never received the jury duty notification. The scammer then asks the victim for confidential information for “verification” purposes. Specifically, they ask for the victim’s Social Security number, birth date, and sometimes even for credit card numbers and other private information — exactly what the thief needs to commit identity theft!
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Email Scam, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Prevention, John Sileo, Jury Duty Scam, Online Scam. Fraud
On October 1, The Social Network, commonly referred to as The Facebook Movie, comes out in theaters. Screened at the New York Film Festival and reviewed by hundreds of journals, including the New York Times, it looks to be highly entertaining. So as you get ready to go spend a week’s salary to see The Social Network, I’d like you to take a question to The Facebook Movie with you.
Does Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, deserve to have his identity redefined by a storyline whose screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin, admits is fictionalized?
In other words, how would you feel if a movie were made about you that exaggerated the very best and worst traits of your character in order to bump ticket sales? Does Zuckerberg deserve to be re-defined because he is so wealthy and those of us who aren’t suffer acute closet-envy for the rich? Does it come with the territory he inhabits, so young, so smart, maybe ruthless and definitely powerful? Does he deserve it because he frequently comes off as a pompous ass?
Posted in Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Aaron Sorkin, Facebook Movie, Facebook Movie Trailer, Facebook Trailer, John Sileo, Mark Zuckerberg, Social Network Movie, Social Network Movie Trailer, Social Network Trailer
Latest Identity Theft Trend is Stealing Your Business’s Identity to Falsify Accounts
In the past two weeks, I have been contacted separately by two local business owners to share how their business identity has been stolen and used to set up accounts with various companies on which thousands of dollars are charged and they (the actual owners) are left to pay the bills. There are no identity theft statistics on this type of crime, but I am certain that it is just coming onto the trend radar. In further proof that this is becoming a major problem for corporations, the Denver Post ran an article this morning titled “Corporate ID Thieves Mining the Store“.
Here’s how this incredibly easy form of business identity theft works:
Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Business Identity Theft, Business Risk, Corporate Identity Theft, Corporate Privacy, data theft, Fraud Training, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Victim, TIN, Victim, Workplace ID Theft
According to as September 16th news release, the U.S. Department of Justice charged 53 individuals in connection with a widespread identity theft and fraud ring in New Jersey.
“The sheer scope of the fraud – and the organization that allegedly committed it – is remarkable,” U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, was quoted in a news release. “This type of crime puts all of us at risk, not just because of the cost to our financial institutions, but also because of the threat posed by fake identification documents.”
The release goes on to describe the crime ring.
Sang-Hyun Park, a resident of Palisades Park, N.J., was the leader of a criminal organization headquartered in Bergen County, N.J. Park and his co-conspirators (the “Park Criminal Enterprise”) obtained, brokered, and sold identity documents to customers that were used to commit credit card fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud, and other crimes. The 43 defendants charged in connection with the enterprise played various roles as Park’s staff, identity brokers, credit build-up team, and collusive merchants, as well as customers seeking fraudulent services. Members of the Park Criminal Enterprise obtained social security cards, most beginning with the prefix “586,” from various brokers.
Posted in Cyber Data Security, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Fraud, Identit Theft Expert, Identity Theft Prevention, John Sileo, New Jersey Crime Ring, Organized Crime, Prevention
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