Identity theft and social networking speaker John Sileo discusses what you should and should not reveal through Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other social networking sites while traveling. When you are away from home, identity creeps and other thieves can use this knowledge to take advantage of your home or office.
Be conscious of what you share on social networking sites and always remember that what you post is public, permanent and exploitable!
John Sileo became one of America’s leading Social Networking Speakers & sought after Identity Theft Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC. To learn more about having him speak at your next meeting or conference, contact him by email or on 800.258.8076.
John Sileo became America’s leading Identity Theft Speaker & Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC. To learn more about having him speak at your next meeting or conference, contact him by email or on 800.258.8076
That is the best way to Think Like A Spy and be alert of Social Engineers that are trying to manipulate you. With such a gloomy economy and many people without work, offers for fast cash and huge discounts become more and more attractive. Most of these Identity Theft cases use the technique of Social Engineering.
Social Engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information by playing on their human emotions. The term typically applies to deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victim. These days most thieves can nab your identity over the phone, mail, email, and through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
During a time when rules, laws and privacy settings are having trouble keeping up with technology, Facebook is having trouble keeping up with their ever growing population. Recently topping 350 million users, Facebook is scrambling to satisfy them all. Recently, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, posted an open letter on the website discussing changes to the Facebook privacy setting that they are implementing to help make their users data less public. Take a minute to read the full article and protect your profile.
John Sileo became America’s leading Identity Theft Speaker & Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC. To learn more about having him speak at your next meeting or conference, contact him by email or on 800.258.8076.
The reality is that unsecured, curbside mailboxes are prime targets for people who are intent on committing the crime of identity theft. Although I would suggest to stop using the mail to send and receive identity documents, this is not always possible. Therefore, here are alternative suggestions:
A few weeks ago, Javelin Safety & Research released its comprehensive survey on Identity Theft & Fraud for the fifth consecutive year.
Let me boil it down to the Top 5 Identity Theft Findings that impact you (and my comments and opinions in parentheses):
Overall Identity Fraud Incidents Increased in the United States (the problem is getting worse as the economy sinks and people turn to crime to pay their bills)
Costs to Consumers are Down (businesses are being forced to take greater responsibility for the liabilities and costs of identity theft – in other words, the burden is shifting from the consumer to corporate America)
Fraudsters are Moving Much More Quickly (the crime of identity theft is moving from garden variety criminals into the hands of organized crime)
I am starting to reconsider my opinion that online banking is safer than traditional banking. Primarily because I have been hearing horror stories during some of my identity theft seminars. But now I am seeing it in the mainstream media. Case in point: read this short article in this morning’s USA Today about Hackers Swarming Bank Accounts. I’m open to your opinions, but I feel like the thieves are starting to win. In a YouTube video post I did some time ago about online banking, I suggested that if your computer is well-protected, you are better to bank online.
But lately, it seems like the thieves are a step ahead. What are your thoughts? Have you had any troubles with identity being compromised because of the types of threats discussed in the article?
I spoke about an hour ago to the Airmen (and women) of Beale Air Force Base outside of Sacramento, California. The room was packed with incredibly inquisitive, highly dedicated members of our armed services. There was a General in the audience; obviously the base cares about their personnel and take their data security very seriously. They weren’t there just to see an identity theft speaker, they were there because part of protecting our country against aggressors means that they must also protect the flow of information that makes our nation so powerful. With military, corporate and industrial espionage on the rise, they are smart to be focusing on the proactive protection of knowledge assets.
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:
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