A new year means a new time to take stock of where you’ve been and where you’re going. One of the things you can do is take a life inventory and see how well you are protecting yourself from identity theft. Are you taking all of the following actions?
1. Checking your credit report at least three times a year? Using annualcreditreport.com, you can get a free report from each of the bureaus; TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. If you request one from one of the bureaus every four months, you get a good look at your file fairly regularly at no cost. The reports should be similar if not identical, since the bureaus are supposed to share information with one another.
2. Using the right ink to sign your checks? A lot of people don’t know this, but it’s a lot easier for thieves to “wash checks,” which means using a solvent to dissolve the ink on them and writing in a new name and amount, if you write them with dye based ink. If you’re worried about your checks falling into the wrong hands sign them with pigment based ink instead. It permeates the paper instead of sitting on its surface.
3. Shredding catalogs with identifying information on them? You probably
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Device reputation spots online evildoers by examining the computer, smartphone, or tablet they are using to connect to any website. If a device is recognized as having previously committed some type of unwanted behavior, the website has the opportunity to reject the transaction, preventing damage before it occurs.
In the physical world, as the saying goes, “You are only as good as your word.” And when somebody says one thing and does another, we no longer trust them.
Online, people say and do things they never would in the real world. Internet anonymity fuels bad behavior. Websites’ comments sections are filled with vitriol that you’d never hear real people utter. Pedophiles who’d never approach a child on the street contact kids over the Internet. Sex offenders avoid the stigma of their label on dating sites and social media. Scammers create accounts in order to con people and businesses into forking over money. And identity thieves use your personal information to fill out online applications for credit.
All of this is made possible by the anonymity of the Internet.
As fraudsters develop more sophisticated schemes and collaborate in elaborate fraud rings, the threat of cybercrime increases. Online bu
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There is no such thing as one size fits all. Today, we have more variety and choice than in the first 1950 years of modernity combined. Why? Because we want it! Transportation fueled by oil and gasoline along with big box retailers and suburbia all transformed life as we know it and choice became an option.
My ADT Pulse system is no different. When the sales person showed me my options, it was like I was 10 years old and he was Santa and I was able to go right in his big red bag of tricks and pick out all the stuff that had been on my list since I was 5!
You wouldn’t think one would get all giddy about a home security system but this is not just home security. It’s home automation that secures your home. We walked through my home and he asked me all kinds of pertinent questions about our comings and goings to help decide on what options would suit us and secure us best.
We discussed all the light switches that I’d want replaced with home automation to be able to turn on remotely and have set to go on when we came home or timed to give the impression we were home when we weren’t.
Next was all the areas of the home I wanted to install surveillance cameras that would allow me to record and drop in on sections of the house while I’m traveling or even home.
Most importantly, we went through a whole process of thinking like a burglar and determined all the vulnerable areas of the home that needed sensors on doors and windows such as motion and glass break. For me, t
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Sources say an identity theft crime ring fraudulently purchased roughly $1 million dollars’ worth of merchandise from Apple Stores. Stolen credit card numbers were allegedly used to produce phony credit cards that were used to purchase iPhones, iPads, Macbooks and other products.
On Tuesday eight defendants have reportedly been arraigned. The arrests are expected to include members from all levels of the organization, including the alleged ringleader, 28-year-old Shaheed “Sha” Bilal, who coordinated the conspiracy from jail over the course of a year and a half.
The investigation was launched by Vance’s Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau, which was created in March last year to pursue these kinds of cases. Investigating cybercrime has a top priority for his office, said Vance. Other cybercrime cases invested by Vance’s office in recent months include an identity-theft ring targeting foreign students in the U.S. on visitor visas and an operation that used a computer virus, the “Zeus Trojan,” to steal banking information.
If you have a home security system, you know the pain associated with false alarms. I have set this thing off at least a 100 times and then I have to run like a gazelle to the keypad to shut it off then wait for alarm central to call me so I can give them a PIN.
Many, if not all of us are guilty of setting off our alarms accidentally. Sometimes we open a door or window that sets it off, other times we mess up the secret code. The result of this mishap is usually a very loud siren and the attention of your neighbors. If you don’t call to cancel in time, then it results in law enforcement showing up.
In many counties, towns, cities and states there are laws and ordinances that impose a fine for false alarms.
1. Have your service provider set up your home alarm system to call your mobile phone first, then your home phone second. If you don’t answer the phone, then, they will call the police.
2. Program your mobile phone with your alarm service provider’s number and call them the second you falsely set off your alarm. Memorize your PIN so you aren’t fumbling for it.
3. Don’t carry your PIN in your wallet. If your wallet is lost or stolen, your address and alarm PIN is in the hands of a stranger.
4. Whenever
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A California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would update the state’s current data breach notification law, SB-1386. The new bill would include additional requirements for organizations that lose sensitive data. This is the third time the bill has been proposed.
The proposal, introduced Thursday by Democratic state Senator Joe Simitian would require breach notification letters contain specifics of the incident. This would include the type of personal information exposed, a description of what happened, and advice on steps to take to protect oneself from identity theft. The new law would also require organizations suffering a breach affecting 500 or more people to submit a copy of the alert letter to the state attorney general’s office.
The proposed bill has gone to former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger twice now, but both times was vetoed.
Simitian said in a news release that he hopes the new administration, led by Governor Jerry Brown, “will give this issue a fresh look.”
“This new measure makes modest but helpful changes for consumers,” Simitian said. “By requiring n
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