The latest scams to steal your personal information are scarily simple—and effective. Learn how to protect yourself.
You thought shredding documents was enough to protect you from having your identity stolen, but thieves have found new ways to rip you off. No wonder 9 million Americans fell prey to them in 2010, according to the most recent data from the Federal Trade Commission. The average out-of-pocket cost to the victim? About $3,000! Here’s how to safeguard your identity—and your cash—from the three newest scams.
Identity Theft Expert John Sileo discusses the rapid increase in Child Identity Theft with Gerri Willis, host of Fox Business’ The Willis Report. Sileo talks about how to detect and prevent your children from becoming victims of identity theft, including:
Beware what you share
Talk to your child about protecting their information
Consider identity theft monitoring for your child
Write your Congressperson and ask them to enact Child Identity Freezes like the state of Maryland
John Sileois an award-winning author andinternational speakeron the dark art of deception (identity theft, data privacy, social media manipulation) and its polar opposite, the powerful use of trust, to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply performance by building a culture of deep trust. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer, the FDIC, and Homeland Security. Sample his Keynote Presentation (he shares how he lost $300,000, 2 years and his business to data breach) or watch him on Anderson Cooper, 60 Minutes or Fox Business. 1.800.258.8076.
Allowing our children the innocence of their childhood is paramount to us as parents. Because our children are pretty much the center of our universe, we want to do everything in our power to keep them safe and to safeguard their futures. In this information age, identity theft has become global in its reach and can have devastating consequences for our children’s futures if we’re not vigilant from the day they acquire a Social Security number.
Why are our kids, the very people we most want to protect, so vulnerable? Because they have unused, unblemished credit profiles. Richard Power, Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Mellon CyLab, recently published the first ever child identity theft report based on identity protection scans of over 40,000 U.S. children. It is extremely alarming that 10.2% of the children in the report had someone else using their Social Security numbers. That figure is 51 times higher than the rate for adults of the same population.
You and I have come to think of our Smartphones as indispensable tools. Flaws recently discovered in mobile apps for Facebook, Linkedin and Dropbox could turn our tools into weapons by exposing us to data theft at many levels, including personal identity theft and corporate data loss.
Taking extra precautions now will protect not only your Smartphone but other devices, too, as the flaw may well be present in other mobile applications including many iOS games.
Apparently, Facebook’s iOS and Android apps don’t encrypt their users’ login credentials. These flaws expose users to identity theft by saving user authentication keys (usernames and passwords) in easily accessible, plain text files. These unencrypted files may be stolen, transferred to another device in a matter of minutes, and used to access the victim’s accounts without ever having to enter any user login credentials.
America’s top Privacy & Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo has appeared on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, Fox & in front of audiences including the Department of Defense, Pfizer, Homeland Security and hundreds of corporations and associations of all sizes. His high-content, humorous, audience-interactive style delivers all of the expertise with lots of entertainment. Come ready to laugh and learn about this mission-critical, bottom-line enhancing topic.
John Sileo is an award-winning author and keynote speaker on the dark art of deception (identity theft, fraud training, data privacy, social media manipulation) and its polar opposite, the powerful use of trust, to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply performance by building a culture of deep trust.
For years, Apple Mac users have been able to smugly preach security supremacy over fellow Windows users. Apple computers were less susceptible to viruses because they accounted for such a small share of hack-able devices. With the explosive growth of Mac laptops, iPads and iPhones, that honeymoon is all but a nostalgic memory. Apple’s Mac OS X no longer has impunity from virus infection. For the second time in the last year, Apple’s OS X has been successfully breached by malware. Here are the details, and steps you MUST take to protect yourself:
Flashback Trojan Facts:
The Flashback Trojan has currently infected more than 600,000 Macs.
Flashback is a ‘drive-by’ virus, meaning users only have to visit a site that exploits the flaw; you don’t have to download anything to be at risk.
Fraud Training Expert John Sileo has appeared recently on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, Fox Business, Fox & Friends and in Newsweek and USA Today. He speaks around the world on the dark art of deception (identity theft, social engineering, fraud detection, manipulation defense, data breach, social media privacy) and the powerful use of trust. His satisfied clients include the Pentagon, FDIC, Pfizer, FTC, Blue Cross, among hundreds of others. Learn more about protecting your bottom line by training your organization on proactive fraud detection. Watch John perform a humorous but effective fraud training in front of an audience of thousands.
Have you experienced that clutch of fear that makes your heart skip a beat when you all of a sudden discover your wallet is missing? Your first reaction might be a cuss word for carrying all that critical information in the first place. Your second is to try to slow your mind as it frantically scans for solutions. Knowing what to do if you lose vital information and knowing your rights if you become a victim of identity theft will save you time, money and a ton of stress.
A consumer survey conducted by the Federal Trade Commission reveals, in a new report, that many identity theft victims do not understand their rights. Following is a summary of what you should know if you become the unfortunate victim of identity theft.
None of us wants to be part of a scam that allows links to be forwarded as if from a friend, invading their privacy and endangering their sensitive information. It’s not always easy to avoid bad sites but by just being aware of the problem, you can become more adept. The following article is a summary of an original post By Rob Spiegel, E-Commerce Times.
In its on-going effort to mitigate spam activity, Facebook filed a lawsuit against a company that allegedly ran a “likejacking” operation. “We’re hopeful that this kind of pressure will deter large scale spammers and scammers,” said Facebook spokesperson Andrew Noyes. The state of Washington is also applying pressure, having mounted a similar lawsuit against the same company. Both suits were filed citing violation of the CAN-SPAM Act, which prohibits the sending of misleading electronic communications. Facebook and Washington state filed federal lawsuits on Thursday against Adscend Media for “clickjacking,” a form of spamming that fools users into visiting advertising sites and divulging personal information.
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