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How To Beat The Online Scammers
(A Wall Street Journal Excerpt by Jennifer Waters)
Your pet’s name is a fraudster’s best friend.
You may think you’re giving up precious little when you tell your Facebook friends that you’re dressing your pooch, Puddles, in your favorite color, red, for brunch at Grandma’s on Sunday. But you’ve actually just opened a Pandora’s box of risks.
The information consumers willingly, and oftentimes unwittingly, unleash on social-media websites sets off a feeding frenzy among fraudsters looking to steal everything from your flat-screen TV to your identity…
Too much information can hurt you in other ways. John Sileo, a Denver-based identify-theft expert, says your online chatter could equip an ex-spouse with ammunition for a court challenge. Future or current employers could have a problem with information about your personal life that they deem inappropriate for a member of their staff, he says. You also could be furnishing a would-be stalker with information about your whereabouts. Click Here to Continue Reading….
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Facebook, Facebook Safety, identity theft expert, John Sileo, Online Fruad, Online Safety, Online Scammers, Wall Street Journal
Identity theft is all about control. Who has control over your personal and financial information? Is it you, or the criminal on the other end of your computer using your information to apply for a credit card? Losing control of your personal information can be all too easy online. But by taking some precautions, you can maintain privacy while safely surfing the internet.
Here are 5 tips to protect your privacy online:
1. Adjust social-network privacy settings
Facebook has been working to simplify their privacy settings, but they can still be confusing to the average users. Spend about 10 minutes a month making sure that your privacy settings are what they should be and are actually protecting your privacy.
To get there, log in to Facebook, in the top right of your screen it should say “Account” when you scroll over or click on that tab you can see you Privacy Settings. Click here for a step by step process of how to adjust your privacy settings.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Facebook, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Prevention, John Sileo, Online Privacy Tips, Privacy, Privacy Means Profit
The many changes that Facebook has been making recently have users nervous. Nervous because they are lacking the control that they once had over their privacy on the social networking site. While Facebook has never been the mecca of privacy, the recent and swift changes they are making has created more of an issue for users. One by one they are voicing their concerns with the new features and why they feel Facebook is slowly revealing the end of your privacy.
Facebook and privacy issues go hand in hand.
Here are a few of the new features; although they are snazzy, they have many users concerned.
Posted in Cyber Data Security, Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Facebook, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Prevention, John Sileo, Online Safety, Privacy, social networking
With the meteoric rise in cyber-bullying, parents are desperate to find a way to shield their children. Unfortunately, most parents are far behind their child’s proficiency with technology. Many don’t text, aren’t on Facebook, and are oblivious to the many ways in which kids can taunt each other with technological ease. Although children may be quick and nimble with technology, they lack the maturity to understand its consequences.
A recent article in the New York Times on Digital Bullying (read the MSN version here) addressed these very issues and gave true and heart-wrenching accounts of how parents were left helpless at the hands of their children’s online bullies. “I’m not seeing signs that parents are getting more savvy with technology,” said Russell A. Sabella, former president of the American School Counselor Association. “They’re not taking the time and effort to educate themselves, and as a result, they’ve made it another responsibility for schools.”
Posted in Cyber Data Security, Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Bully, Bullying, Cyber, Cyber Bully, Cyber Bullying, Cyber Crime, Cyberbully, Cyberbullying, Digital, Facebook, Facebook Safety, identity theft expert, John Sileo, Online Bullying, online privacy, Online Safety, social networking safety, Social Networking Speaker, Teen Safety
Facebook wants a piece of every social interaction you have, which is why they are poised to offer you a free email account, just like Gmail or Hotmail.
Facebook’s newest features (email and eventually a built-in search engine) are aimed at making their website your one-stop shop for all things internet. Rumor has it that at 10:30am PT, Facebook will offer their existing users email addresses. And millions of existing users will take them up on their offer because it will be cool to have a Facebook email account and because we are all in short supply of email accounts to check 24/7. Other sources are saying that Facebook will soon be offering a search engine as well.
Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Facebook, Facebook Announcement, Facebook Email, Facebook Email Accounts, facebook privacy, Gmail, John Sileo, Privacy Expert, Safe Social Networking, Webmail
Can your Facebook status messages get you fired?
After a ruling on a current legal battle, they may! In a recent ground-breaking case involving social media usage by employees, specifically Facebook, one woman is challenging the cause of being fired. The National Labor Relations Board has brought a case against a Connecticut ambulance service, American Medical Response, for firing an employee after she used Facebook to vent her work frustrations. The employer accused the employee of violating their privacy policy by posting a disparaging remark that read, “love how the company allows a 17 to become a supervisor” – a 17 is the term they use for a psychiatric patient.
Posted in Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: American Medical Response, Employment, Facebook, Facebook Firing, Fired, NLRB
During a recent 60 Minutes interview, I was asked off camera to name the Achilles’ heel of an entire country’s data security perspective; what exactly were the country’s greatest weaknesses. The country happened to be New Zealand, a forward-thinking nation smart enough to take preventative steps to avoid the identity theft problems we face in the States. The question was revealing, as was the metaphor they applied to the discussion.
Achilles, an ancient Greek superhero — half human, half god — was in the business of war. His only human quality (and therefore his only exploitable weakness) was his heel, which when pierced by a Trojan arrow brought Achilles to the ground, defeated. From this Greek myth, the Achilles’ Heel has come to symbolize a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength; a weakness that can potentially lead to downfall. As I formulated my thoughts in regard to New Zealand, I realized that the same weaknesses are almost universal — applying equally well to nations, corporations and individuals.
Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy, Sileo In the News by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: "New Zealand", 60 Minutes, data, Facebook, financial crime, Financial Speaker, Fraud Training, Identity, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Speaker, information, John Sileo, Privacy, Security, Sileo, social engineering, Social Media Privacy, social networking, Theft
According to TIME Newsfeed, Facebook is taking on a new marketing giant – Groupon. Groupon.com has gained popularity extremely fast due to the huge discounts they offer users on a daily basis. Their average discount ranges from 50% to 80% off of food, services, shops and entertainment. They boast over 18 million subscribers and have sold over 12 million deals. It is no wonder that Facebook would want a piece of the action — when Groupon featured clothing giant GAP on their site, they sold 400,000 deals, making them $11 million.
But there is a catch: Facebook Deals only goes hand in hand with Facebook Places. In order to receive the promotions, you have to use their location sharing app and “check in” to get the deal. In other words, to gain the benefits offered by Facebook Deals, you have to sacrifice more privacy. Groupon only asks users for their city location in order to tailor deals to their area. To take advantage of a deal, you must share your address and billing information, and that is done on their secure checkout site.
Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Facebook Deals, Facebook Places, Groupon, Privacy, Sileo
According to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, if you are looking for more privacy, then you should move.
His callous remark came during a discussion on Google Maps Street View cars, which were found to be illegally collecting e-mails, passwords and surfing habits while photographing your neighborhood. Appearing on CNN’s Parker Spitzer a week ago, Schmidt made a bold statement that was eventually edited out of the broadcast. He said that said individuals who did not want the Street View cars to snap photos of their homes should “just move.” Schmidt then told The Hollywood Reporter, “As you can see from the unedited interview, my comments were made during a fairly long back and forth on privacy. I clearly misspoke. If you are worried about Street View and want your house removed please contact Google and we will remove it.” You can have your house removed from Google Maps Street View. Here’s how (see video):
Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Online Privacy, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: data collection, Eric Schmidt, Google, Google Maps, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Prevention, John Sileo, Privacy Expert, Street Cars, Street View
