The holidays are approaching and with it the busiest time of the year for families, people and businesses. How can you get all your shopping done in time for the holidays? By shopping on-line! But how can you stay save while getting more accomplished faster? Check out these tips and ask these questions before you buy.

- - - - - - - Drive By Pharming: Symantec Free Video Shows You What Drive By Pharming is

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There's (yet again) another threat you should really be aware of.

It's called drive-by pharming.

Symantec has put together a great video on drive-by pharming, which I've posted below, so you don't really need me to explain to you how drive-by pharming works.

But, what you might want to know is how to protect yourself from this new type of drive-by.

The simplest thing you can do to protect yourself is change the default password on your home wireless router. A quick Google search yielded the following pages for changing this password on three of the more popular home wireless routers:

D-Link

Linksys

NETGEAR

If you aren't using one of these routers, just do a Google search for how to change the password on your router at home.

Also, just do the stuff we generally talk to you about here at IdentityTheftSecrets. Basically, work only with Web sites that you know to be at least reasonably trustworthy. (And definitely only click links in emails from people you know, and even then, stay away from any link that looks sort of funny... You may or may not end up installing something simply by clicking on a link. In many cases, as in the case of drive-by pharming, that is all it takes for this attack to do its damage.)

Watch Symantec's video below.

- - - - - - - Dateline NBC's To Catch an ID Thief: Identity Theft Episode 2

This is the second installment in what is a brilliant piece of journalism - To Catch an Identity Thief.

You can also see the first half of "To Catch an Identity Thief".

- - - - - - - Sticky Security: Smart Cards Versus Magnetic Stripe Credit Cards

In this video, MSNBC does a great job detaining some of the problems with Smart Cards.

(VIDEO COMING SOON)

It's likely that you have seen a smart card, either using a smart card yourself or via watching someone else use one.

- - - - - - - To Catch An Identity Thief - Dateline NBC

To catch an identity thief is a dateline NBC special that ran about a week ago. Dateline went out using Dan Clements' (from Card Cops) help, the help of a few credit card companies, and the use of their programmers, to create an entire world in order to ensnare an identity thief.

What they show in these videos is a lot of what we show you here on IdentityTheftSecrets.com, so it's good that they're contributing to educating people. We've taked a lot on IdentityTheftSecrets about phishing and we've even shown you Cardersmarket.com, where people's information is actually being bought and sold, still to this day.

What's so amazing and scary about this series of videos (that Dateline did such an excellent job with) is that these people are being duped into thinking that what they're doing is actually a good thing. They believe that they actually have some sort of business, and that the person they're working with is actually a real legitimate person.

In fact, what's actually happening is that they're committing a crime. They don't even know that they're committing a crime, but when it comes down to it they could be charged for being an accessory. Ignorance of laws is never a defense.

The other thing that could happen to these people who have been duped. Is that they can actually be sued by the people whose credit card numbers were used to purchase this merchandise. The credit card companies could also sue these people. Even though they aren't the ones using the credit card. They are the ones accepting the merchandise.

One of the things that is really sad about an identity thief preying on this sort of a person. Is it that what they're preying on is these people's insecurities about themselves.

You'll see here in these videos that these are people who are looking for a husband or a wife, or that they are lacking something in their current relationships. And what this identity thief (or identity Theft Ring) is providing, in addition to a source of income, is a boost to these people's egos. The thief is also providing for these people a sense of companionship that these individuals have likely not had in their lives, (at least from the looks of things not recently in their lives).

- - - - - - - How an ATM Card Switch Scheme Works

This type of fraud scheme is less likely to happen to someone bscause it requires physical interaction with a victim, and requires the people committing the crime to actually be caught by the ATM's video camera.

However, it is very interesting to see how an ATM Card Switch scheme works in real life.

Watch the video below to see what I mean.

- - - - - - - DIY Identity Theft versus having someone do it for you

When you become a victim of Identity Theft, there are two basic paths you can choose to take. Work hard to try and restore your identity yourself, or have a company that does actual restoration take over the Identity theft restoration for you.

I have talked before about the only solution I feel is a viable solution for having someone else do it for you, and why, I think, you should have someone else do it for you.

When you become a victim of Identity Theft, it's like having your vehicle break down in the middle of the highway.

Some people like to fix their own cars. Me? Unless it's a little issue, I would much rather take it to someone else and let them fix my car.

Same goes with my identity.

My bias is clearly toward having someone else fix it for you. Even with as much as I know about Identity Theft, (especially with as much as I know about Identity Theft) I still make sure that I have a plan to have an attorney and a restoration specialist when I'm going through the process of restoring my name.

The Federal Trade Commission offers some good tips in the deter section of this video below. Even though I've never seen any conclusive studies that show shredding your documents will prevent Identity Theft, it's still just a good idea.

The Federal Trade Commission is now into the full swing of their deter, detect, and defend program. The FTC's bias seems to lean toward having people restore their own identities.

If you're in that camp, then the Windows Media video below, from the Federal Trade Commission, explains some good ideas if you want to try to restore your own identity.

Visit the FTC online at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft

Or take a look at what I feel is the real problem of losing your information and the real solution to Identity Theft for individuals.

- - - - - - - Citibank Identity Theft Commercials

Someone posted these online, so I thought I would share with you here.

Please make sure to leave your comments below!

In my opinion, Citibank's product won't protect your identity (their protection won't charge you to protect your own cards through CIti, but it doesn't help with your credit identity, your social security identity, your medical identity, etc., unless you pay extra). However, their marketing department is really, really brilliant.

Don't take my word for it with regard to their "Identity Theft" service, check it out for yourself. If you think that the Citi Identity Theft plan is a complete solution for Identity Theft, then it is recommended that you really understand what you're getting.

But please, do enjoy the Identity Theft videos, courtesy Citi marketing.

- - - - - - - The IRS offers you tips on figting Identity Theft

While the IRS has put together this video to help potential future victims of Identity Theft protect themselves, it's really rather ridiculous...

- - - - - - - More ebay Phishing - check out the tips!

Ebay Phishing!

Hello Identity Theft Secrets Super Sleuths! Here's another ebay phishing email that you mgiht find helpful!

http://www.identitytheftsecrets.com/videos/ebay-phishing-tips-1-24-06/ebay-phishing-tips-1-24-06.html