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Watching the stars can be an interesting hobby, but let's make sure some of the brightest stars in Hollywood don't blind us through identity theft.

Jessica Biel has stirred up controversy and made headlines before but this time Biel isn't being reported on for her semi-nude photos or starring movie roles. Jessica Biel has landed on the top of an A-list of stars including Brad Pitt, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Anniston and Beyonce. A new movie? A new drama series? A new reality TV show? No, Jessica Biel has made the top of a "most dangerous" list. You won't see Jessica Biel's photo hanging in the post office or flashed on America's Most Wanted. The real criminals are in the cyber world trying to cash in on Jessica Biel's popularity.

"Cybercriminals are star watchers too - they latch onto popular celebrities to encourage the download of malicious software in disguise," according internet security company McAfee's Jeff Green.

For the third year, McAfee has released a list of the top most risky star web searches. Past winners were Paris Hilton in 2007 and Brad Pitt in 2008.

What are the chances? And what are the dangers?

According to McAfee, there's a one in five chance that Jessica Biel internet searches will land on a risky website. These websites put visitors at risk for computer threats including spyware, spam, phsihing, viruses and adware.

Others Stars on the McAfee List:

For the second year, Beyonce came in second. The recent sentencing of her former boyfriend Chris Brown that has kept in her the news has also kept her a target of internet hackers. Even searching for "Beyonce ringtones" can lead to adware and spyware threats.

Jennifer Anniston was third on the list. Is this a theme for her or what? Over 40% of Google search hits for "Jennifer Anniston screensavers" contain threatening viruses.

Miley Cirus, Ashley Tisdale, Lindsay Lohan also made the top ten and newlyweds Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen came in at fourth and sixth.

Angelina Jolie has to share number eight on the list with Megan Fox. Wherever there's Angelina can Brad Pitt be far behind? This year he dropped from 1st to 10th on the risky web search ranking.

Is President Barack Obama safe?

According to McAfee, President Barack Obama ranked only 34th in the list of risky web searches and first lady Michelle Obama ranked 39th.

(Safe) Jennifer Biel Scoop:
We'll save you some trouble and some risky online activity and give you the low down on Jennifer Biel here.

Biel played Mary Camden, on the popular WB drama "7th Heaven" starting in 1996.

She hit the big screen 2003 with "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and again in 2004 in "Blade: Trinity." She followed up in 2006 opposite Edward Norton in "The Illusionist."

In 1999 she made People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" and Esquire magazine's "Sexiest Woman Alive" in 2005.

In 2000 Biel posed semi-nude for a cover and photos in Gear magazine.

The 27 year old most recently appeared in "Easy Virtue."

Curiosity is blamed for killing the cat but be aware of these risky online star searches that can kill your computer. Even nine lives won't outlast spyware, spam, adware and viruses.

Were you aware of some of the more questionable practices by credit card issuers? I was surprised to find out what every credit card holder should know and even more surprised to find out what the new laws regarding credit cards do to protect consumers.

Credit card practices have long been labeled as unfair and even deceptive. President Obama has signed into law the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 and the new credit card laws are now in effect.

"With this new law, consumers will have the strong and reliable protections they deserve. We will continue to press for reform that is built on transparency, accountability, and mutual responsibility - values fundamental to the new foundation we seek to build for our economy," President Obama said.

What do the new credit laws mean to you?

-Credit cards users will avoid retroactive rate increasing on existing balances and there will be limited interest rate hikes allowed, including when a promotional rate ends, there is a variable rate or if the cardholder makes a late payment.

-Interest rates on new transactions can increase only after a year.

-Significant changes in terms require 45 days notice instead of the industry practice of 15 days notice. If consumers don't' agree to the new rate, they can cancel the credit card and pay it off at the existing rate.

-Consumers will get more time to pay credit card bills with a reasonable amount of time being considered at least 21 days after the bills are mailed. Consumers who complained about due dates changing or being moved up and increasing the likelihood of late fees have been heard.

-One trick credit card issuers have used in the past is to have an early morning due time on the due date. Under the new law, a due time earlier than 5:00 will be illegal. Payments due on weekends or holidays would not incur late fees.

-No more universal defaults. What is universal default? Universal default is the practice of raising interest rates on cardholders based on their payment records with other credit issuers. In other words, if you paid your utility bill late, your credit card company could raise your credit card interest rate but no more.

-Under the new credit card laws any payments over the minimum due must go toward the purchases with the highest interest rates. For example, some consumers have accounts that offer different services for different products such as ATM withdrawals, cash advances, regular purchases or balance transfers. In the past, credit card issuers have been applying payments to the lowest interest rate products first.

-Consumers also have an option to avoid over the limit fees. Consumers can "opt" to have the option and pay the fee or "opt out" and have the transactions rejected and avoid the over the limit fees.

-Double cycle billing will be a thing of the passed. Charges on outstanding credit card balances would be calculated based on purchases made in the current cycle rather than going back to the previous billing cycle to calculate interest charges. The double cycle, or two-cycle billing penalizes consumers who pay off their balances, because they are hit with finance charges from the previous cycle even though they have paid the bill in full.

-Consumers who get subprime credit cards and are charged account-opening fees that use up their available balances would get some protection under the new credit card law. These upfront fees cannot exceed 25 % of the available credit limit in the first year of the card.

-Credit card issuers will now be required to make consumers aware of the consequences of making only minimum payments each month and how long it would take to pay off the entire balance with only minimum monthly payments. Issuers must also provide information on how much consumers must pay each month if they want to pay off their balances within 12, 24 or 36 months.

It all sounds good doesn't it? Is there a catch? Consumers advocates have been all for it. Credit card issuers and credit industry analyst say the new credit card laws will end up making credit cards more costly to consumers and less accessible for low-income families. They've argued that at a time when the country needs Americans to spend more to stimulate the economy that credit cards will be used less.

Credit card companies and credit card issuing banks, including American Express Company and Citigroup Inc., are already making changes to counter the new laws in their favor. Credit card companies are raising interest rates and fees across the board and have already started mailing warnings to consumers about fee and interest rate increases.

More clauses of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 will come into effect in 2010.

What are you seeing in your mailbox? Have you already received a rate increase notice from your credit card company?

Medical identity theft can be one of the hardest to find you have been a victim of, especially for those that rarely have to go to the doctor. It can also be one of the hardest crimes to correct, a situation that could be made even worse by national health care that requires electronic medical records and certain HIPPA rules.

Imagine that you are getting ready to get married and buy your very first home. It is a happy time but a busy time too. Before you apply for a mortgage you request a copy of your credit report. Now imagine that your credit report shows that you owe thousands of dollars in emergency services related medical bills including a $19,000 bill for a Life Flight air ambulance. Imagine the surprise, confusion and fear you'd feel if you'd never really had any health problems and had never even been admitted to an emergency room.

This is what really happened to Texas resident, Brandon Sharp. The 37 year-old oil and gas company manager wasn't suffering from memory loss. He was in fact a victim of medical identity theft, a crime that affects an estimated 250,000 Americans every year.

Pam Dixon, executive director of the nonprofit World Privacy Forum and author of medical identity theft reports, says that number is most likely low as there has been an increase in the use of electronic medical records systems that don't yet have "extensive safeguards." Another reason Dixon believes the estimates are low is because of the number of people who don't yet know that they are victims and won't learn until, like Brandon Sharp, they get a copy of their credit report.

According to Sharp, "I had emergency room bills from places like Bowling Green, Kan., where I've never even visited. I'm still cleaning up the mess."

How did this happen?

In this case someone obtained Mr. Sharp's name and social security number and used them to receive medical treatment. Many hospitals are obliged to provide medical treatment whether or not a person has medical insurance. In this case, the criminals didn't have (or try to use) Sharp's insurance information so the charges went straight to Sharp. If criminals use a phony address then victims like Sharp won't even get a bill or know that charges are being applied to their credit report. The perpetrator or perpetrators of this particular medical identity theft crime have yet to be identified.

Many medical identity theft crimes involve stealing and using personal medical insurance, which is why keeping your card number, and insurance information protected is so important. If someone has an insurance member identification number, they can impersonate you and obtain routine physicals, major surgeries, medications and medical supplies. One medical identity theft even helped herself to breast enhancements. (Link???)

In addition to individual medical identity thefts, unfortunately there are also cases of insider medical identity theft when medical identities are stolen by insiders at medical offices or billing companies. Thieves may use the information personally or sell it on the black market.

In addition to checking your credit report annually, be sure to open and read ALL of those statements from your insurance company to be someone else isn't using your insurance for an Life Air helicopter ride or even a cosmetic surgery.

Medical identity can be dangerous. In addition to ruining your credit, medical identity theft changes your medical records and puts you at risk when you seek treatment for yourself. Imagine being treated in the emergency room and doctors have bogus blood type, allergy, medical history or prescription information.

What about HIPPA? Does it protect you from or make medical identity theft worse?

Well, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act entitles you to a copy of your medical records but that doesn't mean that you won't have to pay a hefty fee to get them. Unfortunately, HIPPA laws can actually work against victims' of identity theft because they make it harder to disentangle the misinformation and even the thief's medical information is protected.

It's Back to School time, and not just for the young ones. Many of us have children going to college this fall, learning new life skills and having the time of their life. With these 7 tips you can help them make sure that it's "their life" having all the fun and not just their identity.

Parents who are sending their kids off to college have enough to worry about- grades, drinking, oh yeah, and then there's paying for college. Unfortunately parents also need be concerned about identity theft crimes against their favorite college students.

You're sending your kids off to college hoping that they will get a good education and not have to learn all of their lessons in life the hard way. The good news is that education is also the key to preventing identity theft.

College life is a unique time and The U.S. Department of Education acknowledges that students are at an increased risk for two main reasons: "the availability of personal data and the way many students handle this data."

1. Shred Credit Card Applications

Many college students recently applied for credit for the first time and you will begin to get credit card offers in the mail every week. Not only do these pre-approved credit cards usually offer horrible interest rates, the applications themselves make it too easy for someone to fill out, do a change of address and get a credit card in your name.

2. Reconcile Banking and Credit Statements

Research has shown that over a third of college students rarely, if ever, reconcile their credit card statements and or checking account balances. This is an important life skill every college student needs to make a habit now.

3. Demand No Social Security Numbers for Posting Grades

Recent
research at Carnegie Mellon University
has shown how easy it is to "guess" at least the first five numbers of someone's social security numbers.. Posting grades even by the last four digits of a social security is unsafe and unacceptable.

4. Demand No Social Security Numbers as College IDs

After a rash of computer losses and computer thefts that have exposed college students social security numbers, many colleges and universities are changing the way they identity college students so that the social security number isn't used. Absolutely insist that your social is not used for a college id and exposed to faculty, staff and yes, hundreds of college interns.

5. Be Smart on Social Networking Sites

College students who have grown up on the technology wave are so comfortable with social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook that they are often are just not smart. A tad bit of personal information here and another morsel than can offer a complete picture for an identity thief. Is it really worth it to get a Happy Birthday message from your 300 closest friends, if your are offering up the key to unlocking your identity to millions of people?

6. Make Sure Your Passwords Can Pass the Test

Sure college students have a lot of things to remember including a new class schedule ever semester. It's tempting to go easy on yourself with passwords but this isn't the place to skimp. Don't use your birthday, your girlfriends or boyfriends name, your favorite team or any passion that is easy to identity. Always use a combination of letters and numbers and yes, you need different passwords for banking or other online accounts.

7. Beware of Phishing Texts

You never know just who might be texting you these days. It could be your Grandma but you can be sure that a legitimate credit card company or bank will not text you and ask you for login, password or account information.

So along with studying hard, college students need to make sure that they get enough sleep, eat healthy, protect their personal information and oh yeah, call your Mom.

Be careful who you hire and who you fire - from regular employees to temps, who you let have access to data can turn into an identity theft nightmare for your customers and clients.

In July 2009 a temporary employee of a Chicago area AT&T office was indicted for identity theft. Apparently she and two other women were using stolen, confidential data acquired through her employment at AT&T and using that information along with random photos to create an identity. The trio was able to steal approximately $70,000.00 through "payday loans" before being caught.

How did they make money temporarily?

After stealing personal data from some 2,100 employees of AT&T, random photos were used to create fake driver's licenses. Then individual bank accounts were established for the alleged 130 victims and payday loan request were made through the internet. The money was transferred into the bank accounts. Victims became aware of the scam when they were contacted by collection agencies when the loans were not paid back.

Penalties for wire fraud and identity theft are anything but "temporary"

If convicted, these women will have to forfeit the $70,000.00 and their computer equipment. They could be sentenced to time in a federal prison, since wire fraud is one of the included crimes. Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.

Temporary Employee at a Doctor's office exposes patients to identity theft

Normally you think that a visit to the doctor's office for a flu shot is to help you remain safe and healthy. Not so for some patients of a doctor in Charleston, West Virginia. Patients there had their personal information included, names, and date of birth, social security number and credit card information stolen by a temporary employee "helping" out during flu season. The Charleston Gazette reported,
"The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department is sending 1,000 letters to people who received flu shots from the agency between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, warning them that their personal information might have been stolen by a former department temporary worker. Jameelah Jossiah, 24, a former flu clinic medical billing clerk, was charged with computer fraud after allegedly making a $400 purchase at the South Charleston Wal-Mart with a credit card obtained illegally under the name of a woman who received a flu shot from the Health Department last fall."

Temporary employees aren't the only ones who are cashing in on access to data while they work. In May, 2009, 18 people were indicted for identity theft and bank fraud after "harvesting" data from unscrupulous bank tellers regarding approximately 500 intended victims. Through a bank tellers willing assistance from several Manhattan area banks, information such as names, social security numbers, bank account numbers and bank balances. This information was used to create counterfeit checks and checking accounts and then accomplices to this ring of thieves would cash the counterfeit check and split the money between them.

In a recent survey by Symantec and Poneman Institute, 59% of the 945 people surveyed admitted to stealing data and information from their employer when leaving employment, whether willingly or through termination. According to this survey email lists and contacts were those most susceptible to theft. The survey also found that far too often companies were "slow" to revoke an ex-employees access to the computer systems.

In an interview with SC Magazine, Mike Spinney, senior privacy analyst at the Ponemon Institute, told SCMagazineUS.com Tuesday in an email that the economic crisis plays a role in these findings.

"As news reports and rumors swirl related to a falling economy and job-loss anxiety grows, people feel greater pressure to make rash decisions based on a fear of finding themselves in dire financial circumstances," Spinney said.

In times of economic hardship, people are tempted to do things they normally wouldn't do, and that includes stealing confidential data, Phil Neray, vice president of strategy for database security company Guardium, told SCMagazineUS.com Tuesday.

Protect your clients and customers through; examining boxes before they leave the office, they may contain more than your employees personal information, and provide data protection by revoking access immediately to computer systems, and carefully deciding which employees have access to what information.
These instances of identity theft just go to show you can't be too careful who you hire, and who you fire.

Before you download or view your next video about Erin Andrews, find out what it can do to your computer.

Who is Erin Andrews?

Certainly Erin Andrews, the ESPN sports reporter, had some fans. But many even devoted sports fans couldn't put together a name with the face until the news broke that there was a video of Erin Andrews naked, taken through a peephole, floating around the web.

Wait! Don't Get Infected

Before you are tempted to go Google "Erin Andrews naked peephole video," beware.
Curiosity may have killed a lot of cats but it has also killed a lot of computers.

Internet scammers pay attention to hot Google trends to set up web sites that may appear to be legit but will leave you with a computer virus. It's like a one nightstand with someone you didn't know at all. You could leave with a virus.

"Hackers are no slacks when it comes to taking advantage of a hot internet search trend, and they have been quick to set up bogus WebPages claiming to contain the video footage of Ms Andrews in her hotel room," said Graham Cluley of Sophos.

The video has been removed from YouTube. "Erin Andrew peephole video" searchers are more likely to be infected with malware than to actually see the video.

How do these malware scams work?

First scammers bait internet searchers with a hot topic like Erin Andrews. Pages may even appear to look like a page from a legit site like CNN. Then it may say something like LIVE VIDEO PLAYER BLOCKED.

So what is a curious and disappointed web user to do to view the video? "To view your video, please launch the LIVE VIDEO PLAYER below."- gotcha! You've just downloaded malicious malware.

Apple Mac and Windows users have both been infected by these viruses so beware where you click. Yes, there are an infinitesimal amount of Mac infections compared to Windows but that doesn't mean that owners of the new Mac Notebooks should feel immune. There have been cases of Mac malware in which viewers are promised pornographic photos if they install an ActiveX component. In fact, the viewers are rewarding with a Trojan horse and have turned over control of their computer to hacker.

The Erin Andrews Peephole Video that's Just Not Worth It:

The video appears to have been taken with some sort of spy cam through a hotel room peephole.. It has been speculated that the video was either taken in Alabama or Portland. The video appears to have first been published on Dailymotion.com by a username Goblazers1. Lawyers for Erin Andrews threatened to prosecute any one linking to or showing the video which of just increased the search for the video and made it a computer hacker hot button.

It is such an obvious invasion of privacy that even TMZ declared no intention of purchasing or publishing it.

Reportedly the video was both grainy and mundane, showing Andrews doing her hair and talking on the phone. It's not worth a computer virus folks. The attention of the Erin Andrews peephole may help you out in the long it if brings you the message about avoiding bogus sites that just want to crash your computer or steal your identity.