Identity Theft Secrets

Recently a huge story broke about a young girl named Katie that had her picture stolen to get Facebook “likes” and make money. What made this story even more notable was the fact that young Katie suffers from Down syndrome. These horrible crooks stole the picture, changed the girl’s name to Mallory and then used a sob story to gain nearly 3.5 million likes from unsuspecting folks looking to make the girl feel good.

Needless to say Katie’s family was infuriated as this latest cyber stealing crime has stooped to new lows. What is particularly scary is that it is remarkably easy for crooks to do this. All it really takes is a picture online to create a similar scam and dupe people based on their heart strings. The crooks put up a story about how “Mallory” was thinking she was not beautiful and that the likes would help her to feel otherwise.

What makes this particularly ridiculous is that Katie is indeed, beautiful. I feel rather certain that she knows this and that she needs no “likes” to discover this about herself.

Cyber impersonation is hardly something new. Read the rest of How to avoid cyber impersonation of your kids

We all have heard about the horror stories and a growing number of us have been touched by this growing nightmare personally…distracted driving. How many times per day do you see someone next to you talking on the cell phone or sending a text? After so many people have died, it is unbelievable that so many people still find it to be okay to do so. This is especially rampant among our teenagers. In response to this, a new app called “The Canary Project” has been released. Simply call it Big Brother for parents of teen drivers as it pretty much keeps tabs on what they do and where they go. Is this the way to go to truly make a difference? Let’s look at the good and bad:

What does Canary do?

Essentially it can tell the parents when the child is using the phone while driving. It might be that the child is texting or talking on the phone. If the child’s phone is unlocked and in use while a vehicle is going more than 12 mph, the parents will get a notification. It also can tell the parents where a teen might be in a given time period or if they go outside of certain parameters that are set by the parents geographically.

Why Canary might be a bad idea

The only people who would really be against this idea would be the teens themselves. On the surface it feels like a device that invades privacy. It tells parents when and where, but very little of the what. This means that kids will struggle to break curfew or go outside of certain boundaries without having to answer for it. Teens will no doubt be against such parental vision, but what rules and regulations are welcomed by teens?

Why Canary could be a great idea Read the rest of Distracted Driving: Is the Canary Project App Really A Good Idea?

What is Hacktivism and why should you care?

Infographic below:
Read the rest of Hacktivism Infographic

After the bombings in Boston, all of America is on high alert to say the least. We always have been on alert, but it seems that danger lurks all around us at times. On April 23rd, the group known as the Syria Electronic Army hacked into the AP’s twitter account. The reason? So that they could fool us into thinking that the White House had been bombed and President Obama had been injured. This is not the first time the SEA has allegedly used Twitter to cause panic. They also allegedly hacked into Twitter accounts of the BBC, Sepp Blatter and CBS. This is, of course, in addition to the various accounts that they use of their own until they are suspended. Once gone, they simply open up a new one.

While on the surface it might seem like only words, those words can have devastating effects. Imagine a relative of a White House employee seeing such a tweet from a respected agency like the AP. Anyone that saw that tweet before it was refuted would have been alarmed and looking over their shoulder. The stock markets were actually affected as they dropped by one hundred and thirty six billion dollars.

The bottom line is that terrorists operate in fear and they really don’t seem to care how they generate it. Using Twitter seems like a joke on the surface, but it is no joke at all. Social media is not immune to evil at all Read the rest of The Truth of Twitter: Is Twitter the Latest Way to Scare America?

Everyone that spends time on the Internet is familiar with the ideas of usernames and passwords. A recent investigation by the Verizon Data Breach Investigations team revealed that our passwords are not doing the job. In 2012, authentication-based attacks were the number one method used by a mile in breaches online. In fact, four of five breaches were accomplished in this manner. What does this mean to us as surfers? Actually, it means quite a bit.

It means we are giving our permission without being aware of it

Most people realize that they should not give out their personal information, but they keep on doing it anyway. In fact, the criminals are counting on it. If we give our authorization to breach our information, what could be easier for an online, anonymous criminal? Phishing emails, asking for your information directly, false websites and countless other methods are out there. Once the password or username is secured, you would be shocked at the damage they can do.

Why change what is not broken?

That is almost certainly what the criminals are thinking. For the last several years the data has not changed hardly at all. By far, the easiest way for criminals to get your information is to ask for it…..and they do. Because we are not forcing a change, they simply keep on doing the same thing.

How do we force change?

The best way is to educate ourselves. You have to understand that any company that asks for password or username in an unsolicited email is fake. No company is going to do this in our modern online world without them having an ulterior motive. Never click a link you are uncertain about. Never visit a website with a bad reputation. You can see this by checking it with your anti-virus and other online tools. Most of all, we need to change how we pick our passwords.

How can we get a great password?

The easiest way to do this is to use a system like Roboform to store your passwords after you create them.  A website like strongpassword generator can help you create a great one if you have problems making something that will be hard to crack. This is a very easy way to come up with one that won’t be discovered. Of course, many will want to do it themselves and that is fine. Just don’t use anything that is obvious like a pet name or variation of your name. The criminals are very good at discovering your information. Use a letter, number and capitalization mixture for the best results.

It appears that our online criminal element has become a bit more sophisticated than one might expect. Certainly there have always been smart criminals out there, but this latest finding really boggles the mind. Thomas Holt, a criminologist from Michigan State University, has discovered that some criminals are using an online marketplace to market stolen credit card information.  This group would use an online forum to ask for criminal help such as money laundering or even data. They would then send and receive money electronically.

These criminals were clearly advanced according to Holt, as it showed the capabilities of advanced criminal thinking. This was not a bunch of kids trying to hack sites.

Have you ever gotten emails from someone asking about email, username or password information? This is called phishing and it is what criminals like this depend on. These criminals will steal information from major retailers, banks or other sources. Once they have this information, they will then send out these emails posing as your bank or website retailer.

These criminals are very good at looking realistic Read the rest of Crime Network Shows Sophistication According to Study

There was a time when credit cards had to be slid through a funky machine and stamped. This left your personal information fairly insecure or at least at the mercy of the retail establishment’s security procedures. Now credit cards are so fancy you can simply walk by and tap them to pay for your bill. Would it surprise you to know that your credit card could be even more at risk today despite the jump in technology? A CBC News investigation is saying that a simple Smartphone app is capable of swiping your information right through your wallet. In about one second, they were able to use a Samsung Galaxy SIII and an app that shall remain nameless to do the deed. Information like the card number, expiration date and name was quickly stolen with a simple walk by.

That is alarming news to those of us that use PayPass or payWave from MasterCard and Visa collectively. Both appear to be susceptible to the app and the smartphone despite what is said by those with Visa or MasterCard. Both companies say that their products are safe and that you are not responsible for unauthorized purchases anyway. For me, the proof is in the doing. They were able to take a card’s information with a simple walk by, and then use it to purchase a Coke. That shows me that it is possible despite claims to the contrary.

This is a natural progression that one should expect to see when new technologies are being formed. If you come up with a new way to do things where paying and money is concerned, someone, somewhere is going to try to exploit it. It is the unfortunate way of the world. Once they have been caught a few times, then the technology will Read the rest of Can Smartphones Steal Our Credit Card Information?

Reverse Email Lookup: What, Why, and How?

When it comes to communicating with people these days, asking for an email address is as common as asking for a phone number, if not more so. With the increasing prevalence of smart phones, people can access their email accounts whenever and wherever they like. Unlike making some calls, using email is basically free, so it’s a great way to stay in contact with friends and family as life moves us in different directions.

On the downside, there’s nothing more frustrating than finding a random email address scribbled on a piece of paper with no other information, or getting a message from email addresses you don’t recognize. The great news is that now a reverse email lookup can be conducted on these unknown email addresses, helping you protect yourself from spam, viruses, or even identity theft. Similar to doing a reverse phone lookup, reverse email searches can now be performed with the click of a button.

What is a Reverse Email Lookup?

One way of trying to determine who an email address belongs to is to type it into a search engine, like Google or Bing. Of course, this is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. In some cases, pages and pages of results can be returned that may or may not be useful. Also, many sites do not allow email information to be indexed in search engines, making it impossible to gather information from basic searches. In both of these situations, using a search engine to find information about an email address is fruitless. This is where reverse email lookup services come into play.

There are many different websites available that provide users with a means of finding information based solely on an email address. Using the email address, the reverse email lookup service sifts through thousands of records until they locate the name, address, phone number, and any other information about the person associated with that email address. The amount of information provided by the site can vary, depending on the authority of the site and whether membership with the site is required.

How to Conduct a Reverse Email Lookup

To conduct a reverse email lookup, you can begin by typing “reverse email lookup” into your search engine of choice. You can also skip this step altogether, and navigate directly to an authoritative site that offers this service, such as PeopleFinders or USA People Search. Once you are on one of these sites, enter the email address into the reverse email lookup search box. Almost instantly, you will be redirected to a new page, filled with information about the email address provided. It’s important to note that the search may be limited geographically to a single country, such as the United States, so keep that in mind as you conduct your search.

Conducting a reverse email lookup is easier than ever. Using these simple steps, you’ll find all the information available online about that random, scribbled email address in no time – and you won’t have to worry about the possibility of identity theft the next time you receive an email from an unknown sender.

Gone are the days of having to be tied down to a computer to process a payment in the world of small business. Thanks to a wonderful little idea called a Pay Anywhere card reader, you can actually accept payments anywhere that you can carry a smart phone.  Pay Anywhere is certainly not the only player in the game where card readers are concerned, but they are the most respected. Despite the great reviews for this product, however, there are a handful of concerns as well. Here is a look at the pros and cons of Pay Anywhere:

Pros of Pay Anywhere card readers

The primary positive for these little card readers would be the fact that you can get paid anywhere. Just being able to whip out the little thing and swipe a credit card on the spot will give you great freedom as a small business owner. It provides convenience to the customer and at the same time gives you the flexibility to do business anywhere.

Another great reason to go with Pay Anywhere card readers is because it has the lowest transaction fees in the business. It is cheaper than any other credit card processor, thereby saving you and the customer  money once again.

You can feel great confidence in the accuracy of this fine product, simply because it has been around longer than any other card reader service. It started way back in 1992 and continues to this day. That type of longevity can go a long way towards giving you confidence.

Finally, Pay Anywhere has a dedicated customer service line that can help you when you need it. Whether it is a technical problem or a customer service issue, Pay Anywhere is there to talk it over and work it out.

Cons of Pay Anywhere card readers Read the rest of The Pros and Cons of Using Pay Anywhere Card Readers

When you think of fraud, you generally think about some scum hiding behind a keyboard somewhere in a dark basement. The last thing that would come to mind would be your insurance company. State Farm Insurance has been charged with fraud in a case out of Mississippi. In the wake of horrible Hurricane Katrina, State Farm is accused of burying, modifying and hiding damage reports to keep from having to pay.

The whole idea of insurance in a hurricane becomes difficult to sort through. The general idea is that an insurance company is often on the hook for wind damage whereas the water damage is paid out federally. In this case, the National Flood Insurance Program was to be reimbursed a quarter of a million dollars due to the accused fraud.

How tough must that be? How in the world do you separate wind and water damage in a storm the size of Katrina? Some houses were blown away while others were ripped from their foundations by rising tide waters. The insurance companies had plenty of motives to aim the destruction towards the waters. They knew they were facing huge debts regardless so a culture of deception is not really all that surprising. In a world where looters take advantage of people whose homes are devastated, nothing really surprises us anymore.

It was first brought to light in 06 when ABC News spoke with two sisters that accused the company of an entire culture of fraud around the locations in Biloxi and Gulfport. They accused Read the rest of State Farm Charged in Hurricane Katrina Claim Fraud Case