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As the economy continues to decline, people are finding creative ways to increase how much they make. Unfortunately, dishonest people often turn to dishonest means, such as identity theft, to increase their net worth.
It seems that home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) are the latest in a series of financial devices that identity thieves are using to undermine your net worth. As Jay MacDonald of Bankrate.com points out in a CNBC article:
…now that the door to subprime lending has slammed shut, thieves have set their sights on those with good credit and substantial equity in their homes — deep pools of cash that can be easily tapped via a HELOC.
Sharks in deep pools
The FBI says HELOC thieves typically use stolen identification to apply online for a line of credit in your name. Then they instruct the bank to wire the funds to their accounts, providing their own contact information in place of yours. That way, the bank unwittingly contacts the thief to verify the electronic funds transfer.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: HELOC, id theft, identity theft; home equity
You’ve probably seen in the news that a hacker gained access into Sarah Palin’s Yahoo.com email account. The hacker used a simple scheme and basic social engineering tools (research on Google and Wikipedia, common-sense guessing) to reset the password on the account and assume ownership of her email. [For a full account of how a professor, Herbert H. Thompson, used these tools to steal a friends identity (with their permission), visit his recent and extremely interesting article, How I Stole Someone’s Identity and the companion radio interview.]
In addition to denying Governor Palin access to her own account, the hacker had full control to:
- Read every saved and current email in her account (hopefully she never sent her Social Security Number, passwords or account numbers via email, not to mention correspondence pertaining to her role as candidate for Vice President of the U.S.)
- Steal the email addresses and any other sensitive information stored in her contacts (John McCain might want to change his email address)
- Send out emails as if the hacker were Sarah Palin, or worse yet, send out official emails as Alaskan Governor, Sarah Palin
The potential for abuse is mind boggling. Sarah Palin should take immediate steps to protect her stolen identity and to secure her future privacy. Here are a sampling of the steps I would recommend:
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Expert, governor palin, id theft, Identity Theft Prevention, palin, sarah palin, social engineering, Speaker, yahoo email
I just finished giving an identity theft prevention and data privacy speech for Pfizer and one of the questions I received was how to protect your laptop, passports, client files, etc. when you leave them behind in your hotel room. I’ve blogged on this before, but thought that I would post a quick video reminder on protecting your identity in a hotel room. We are at such a greater risk of identity theft when we are traveling that it is worth taking a second look at your habits.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O4NLYOX8m0[/youtube]
For more tips of this type, please visit my YouTube Identity Theft Expert Video Channel at www.YouTube.com/JohnSileo. It is relatively new, but my office is working diligently to add content every week. Some people like to read, some like to watch, so I will continue to add blogs of both types. Travel wisely this summer.
John Sileo
Motivational Identity Theft Speaker
Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Identity Theft Prevention, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: computer, data, hotel, id theft, Identity, john, laptop, notebook, Prevention, Privacy, protect, Protection, Sileo, Theft
If you receive my newsletter, you’ve already seen this article on identity theft during tax season, but I thought I would re-post it here.
Tax time is like Christmas for identity thieves. Our personal information sits out on desks (ours and our tax preparer’s), is mailed improperly, emailed incorrectly and stored unsafely. And to top it all off,
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: id theft, tax fraud, tax time identity theft, taxes
“Might I have another lump of coal for the fire, Mr. Scrooge?”
-Bob Cratchit (Dickens’ A Christmas Carol)
What in the world do we have to learn from Ebenezer Scrooge about protecting our identities during the busy holiday season?
Plenty!
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: holiday, holidays, id theft, Identity Theft Prevention, safety
I’ve just visited the fountain of youth. Have you ever had one of those experiences where you meet a person or a group of people that renews your faith in all that’s good in the world? I delivered a speech on identity theft prevention to AARP South Carolina (a chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons – an amazing organization that you should be part of if you are over 50) yesterday morning, and met a group that actually makes me look forward to growing up. Doris, Barb, Leigh Ann, Patrick, Lynda, Bill, Ridge, Charlie, Emily (I could name 50 more)… these are the people that greeted me like I was part of their family and treated me like someone special. They are some of the youngest spirits I’ve ever met. And I learned a great deal from them…
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Death, Deceased, id theft, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Prevention
Your financial advisor has your portfolio performing well. You consider your risk to be minimal because your assets are well balanced. But have they really protected the portfolio from all types of risk, including identity theft? How would you feel if you took a 100% investment loss overnight because a thief obtained your personal information?
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Financial Advisors, id theft, Identity Theft Prevention, Prevention
