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Hack into a smart phone? It’s easy, security experts find.
In a new LA Times article security researchers Nick DePetrillo and Don Bailey have discovered a seven-digit numerical code that can unlock all kinds of secrets about you.
It’s your phone number.
Using relatively simple and some old-school techniques almost anyone can hack into your smart phone. With the new wave of cellphone applications and a lack in cell phone security, you are leaving your mobile device vulnerable to identity spies and thieves. Anyone, trustworthy or not, can create an iPhone application and with over 250,000 apps people are doing just that. How do you know that the application you are downloading and allowing to access your cellphone is legitimate? In most cases – you don’t.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: cell phone, cell phone security, cellular phones, identity theft expert, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, LA times
A New Study from the Ponemon Institute Reveals How Online Safety Behavior Leaves Consumers Vulnerable to Identity Theft.
Although more than 80% of study respondents expressed concern about their security while using social media, more than half of these same individuals admitted they do not take any steps to actively protect themselves. This data clearly demonstrates that while people may acknowledge that security is important, many do nothing to protect their information online.
Other key findings from the survey include the following:
- Approximately 65% of users do not set high privacy or security settings in their social media sites.
- More than 90% of users do not review a given Website’s privacy policy before engaging in use.
- Approximately 40% of all respondents share their physical home address through social media applications.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Facebook, Facebook Safety, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, Online Safety, online victims, Online/Social Media Privacy, parents help, Social Networking Expert
FTC Red Flags Rule Goes into Effect June 1st, 2010
The FTC will begin enforcing the Red Flag Rule on June 1st, which states that certain businesses and creditors must help fight identity theft as well as create an identity theft prevention plan. This applies to a very broad class of businesses: those defined as “financial institutions” and those that extend any type of credit to their customers.
In other words, if you don’t receive cash the moment you deliver your product or service to your customer, your business most likely falls under the umbrella of the Red Flags Rule. If you do any billing after the fact (i.e., accounts receivable), you are considered a creditor, and therefore in the group of companies governed by Red Flags.
This includes:
- Any Business that Extends Credit
- All Banks
- Most Brokerage Firms
- Credit Card Companies
Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Boot Camp, Business Identity Theft, Business Survival, Compliance, FTC, Identity Theft Prevention, John Sileo, Privacy Survival, Red Flag, Red Flags, Red Flags Rule
We need a Facebook Privacy Tool that isn’t written by Facebook. Currently, to effectively manage your privacy on Facebook, you’ve got to alter 50 settings with more than 170 options.
Maybe that is why Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg confessed on Monday that the quickly expanding social network had “missed the mark” when it comes to its complex privacy controls — and pledged to do better.
Can you imagine keeping up with all your Privacy Settings every time Facbook makes a change? Until Facebook figures it out, a new Privacy Awareness Group—ReclaimPrivacy.org, has developed a tool that scans your Facebook privacy settings to tell you how secure your personal information is. The tool comes in the form of a bookmark for your web browser. Start by dragging the bookmark from the website above to your bookmarks/favorites. Then, log into your Facebook account, go to the privacy settings screen and click on the bookmark. After the tool scans your privacy settings in six areas—Facebook’s Instant Personalization feature; your personal data; contact information; friends, tags, and connections; what your friends can share about you; and whether applications can leak your personal data—it tells you what areas are secure and where you may want to consider tweaking your settings.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Facebook, Facebook Privacy Tool, Identity Theft Prevention, John Sileo, Mark Zuckerberg, Privacy, Privacy Settings, ReclaimPrivacy.org, Social Networking Expert
Your business-class photocopier is essentially a computer that can be hacked. It has a hard drive and saves an image of everything you copy. Customer data, invoices, employee records, intellectual capital, personal identity. This is not new information – we’ve been writing about it for years. But the press is finally beginning to pay attention because they have seen for themselves the type of data that can be extracted from corporations by purchasing their used copiers (see the excellent CBS video to the left).
If you’ve attended on of my Privacy Survival Boot Camps or have seen me speak for your organization, you will recognize the spy terminology used below that I use to train on effectively evaluating privacy risks. Here is a brief primer to help you get started on protecting your business from this threat:
Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Hard Drives, Identity Theft Prevention, Information Privacy, Information Privacy Professional, John Sileo, Photo Copier, Photo Copiers, Photocopier, Photocopier Identity Theft, Photocopiers
The story about the Harvard student who fraudulently gained access into Harvard University is an excellent lesson in repelling fraud. Watching the video to the left, you will be struck by how many opportunities there were to catch him in the act of lying. But it didn’t happen for a long time. The underlying reason he didn’t get caught is the same for prestigious universities like Harvard, Fortune 500 Companies and small businesses alike:
No one verified his claims (until recently). Verification is a learned skill that is under-utilized and under-
trained in corporate America.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Adam Wheeler, Admissions, Fraud Training, Harvard, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, Scam
I found out a way to get yourself off spokeo.com!
Go to the website and look yourself up, then click on your name… once you have done that copy the URL in your web browser. Now, go to the bottom of the page. In small faded blue text, click privacy (third from the left). At the bottom of this page, you will find an “Opt Out form” link. Select that and then paste the URL link you copied from the page you found yourself on and enter your email and the “I’m not a robot” box. This is a case where I would use a second email account (your designated junk-email account), not your main email to avoid the build up of possible spam emails that follow. It will then send you an email confirmation where you must click the URL to confirm removal. Voila! You have been removed.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Identity Theft Prevention, Information Control, John Sileo, Online Safety, opt out, Spokeo
The number of identity theft victims rose 22% last year! Although it’s important to always protect your identity, tax season makes people more vulnerable to this crime and you should be especially cautious.
H&R Block identity Theft
A recent article in the New York Times uncovers an H&R Block office in the Bronx that was infiltrated by identity thieves (apparently it was not the only office affected).
Last year, Kevin Johns, a construction worker in the Bronx, did his taxes at the H&R Block store on Riverdale Avenue that he had used for the past 20 years or so. The next day, though, he got a call from the tax preparer: his return was rejected because he had already filed. Or at least, someone had filed in his name. That someone helped himself or herself to a $8,499 refund.
Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Data Protection, H & R Block, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, tax fraud, Tax Season
Identity Theft Prevention and Recovery Workbook
Order your copy Today to get our special introductory pricing!
The #1 recommendation to prevent Identity Theft is Education. Know what to look for and the steps to take to fight Identity Theft. If you have been a victim, learn which steps to take and in what order to recover your Identity quickly, accurately and safely!
Identity Theft is on the rise and according to Javelin Strategy & Research there were a staggering 11.1 MILLION Identity Fraud victims in 2009 alone. The cost of this handbook is well worth the price of protecting your most valuable asset, your Identity!
This 20 page Workbook includes:
Part I – Prevention
This 10 phase process of Preventing Identity Theft Includes:
- Protecting your credit.
- Knowing what is in your wallet.
Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Corporate Data Breach Expert, Identity Fraud, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Protection, Identity Theft Recovery Help, John Sileo, Theft, Workbook
