Handwritten Signature is Stupid Authorization

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

Ever forge your husband’s signature? Wife’s? Parent’s? Client’s? Do you think the clerk behind the counter at Walmart is skilled in handwriting analysis? I’ve always viewed a signature as a totally ridiculous form of authentication and a total waste of my time. Signing my name has always been burden and a frustrating task.

Nobody seems to know when a handwritten signature became a form of authorization. From what I can gather, it seems the modern signature was born when kings signed declarations. Eventually, villagers began signing their names to acknowledge accountability. So the signature was born during a time when we had kings and queens, moats, wizards, and dragons. And we continue to rely on this today. Not too smart.

My signature has evolved from a time intensive, physically demanding, well thought out, legible spelling of my first name, middle initial, and last name, to a first initial, middle initial and last name, then to a quick scribe of what might look like an R, and S, and a squiggly line in place of my last name. Today, my signature tends to be a straight line. Who the heck came up with electronic signature pads? Stupid!

Between my driver’s license, credit cards, checks, e-signature pads, and whatever contracts I fill out on a yearly basis, my signature is completely different on each document. Total inconsistency.

I spoke with Robert Baier, a forensic document examiner and handwriting analysis expert, and told him about my inconsistent signatures. Between his facial expression, shaking head and other body language, and his verbal response, I got the message that this is a bad thing. Bob is what I call the “Document Whisperer.” He has savant-like talents and can size a person up by their signature. Which means I probably disturb Bob.

I don’t really care about a signature. I don’t know if it’s because I find handwritten signatures so ridiculous or because I’m lazy with this task. The fact is, a handwritten signature provides zero proactive security. The way I see it, signing your name to any document ultimately assigns liability. If someone signs your name to a check and you call the bank and say it wasn’t you, they look at the signature and determine whether it’s yours or not. From there they assign liability. That’s dumb.

Other than at the teller line, most banks don’t actually view signature cards until there’s a problem. Same with credit card issuers etc. There are a few companies that actually have given validity to the handwritten signature. One such company is Orbograph, an image-based fraud detection company north of Boston that actually looks at previous signatures and recognizes potential document fraud before loss occurs. If we are going to rely on signatures, this type of technology needs to be implemented everywhere.

Many smaller credit card purchases no longer require a hand written signature. Visa recently announced it would mandate a move to chip and PIN technology for all Australian Visa cardholders over the next four years, with signatures no longer accepted at the check-out by 2013. This means all card holders will have a password, as opposed to a signature.

Even though passwords aren’t all that secure to begin with, a signature is even less secure, unless of course we provide the signature some credibility by implementing image-based fraud detection system-wide, or putting guys like Bob in a booth in every business district on the planet to review the legitimacy of the signature. That ain’t happening. Yet we have plenty of coffee shops on every corner. Seems like our priorities are a bit skewed.

Because the system is insecure, you must protect your identity.

Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. “Disclosures”

Robert Siciliano identity theft expert discussing all kinds of security issues on TBS Movie and a Makeover

The Twelve Scams of Christmas,” or Popular Online Attacks This Holiday Season Pt IV of IV

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Robert Siciliano identity theft expert

Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information

As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday season. According to Consumer Reports’ 2009 State of the Net Survey, cybercriminals have bilked $8 billion from consumers in the past two years, and McAfee warns consumers not to fall victim to the top scams this year.

Being that I’m on McAfee’s Consumer Advisory Board, I’m advising you to adhere to the following:

Previous first 3 of Twelve Scams of Christmas here. McAfee’s 3 more of Twelve Scams of Christmas below.

Scam X: Password Stealing Scams

Password theft is rampant during the holidays, as thieves use low-cost tools to uncover a person’s password and send out malware to record keystrokes, called keylogging. Once criminals have access to one or more passwords, they gain vast access to consumers’ bank and credit card details and clean out accounts within minutes. They also commonly send out spam from a user’s account to their contacts.

Scam XI: E-Mail Banking Scams

Cybercriminals trick consumers into divulging their bank details by sending official-looking e-mails from financial institutions. They ask users to confirm their account information, including a user name and password, with a warning that their account will become invalid if they do not comply. Then they often sell this information through an underground online black market.

McAfee Labs believes cybercriminals are more actively scamming consumers with this tactic during the holidays since people are monitoring their purchases closely.

Scam XII: Your Files for Ransom – Ransomware Scams

Hackers gain control of people’s computers through several of these holiday scams. They then act as virtual kidnappers to hijack computer files and encrypt them, making them unreadable and inaccessible. The scammer holds the user’s files ransom by demanding payment in exchange for getting them back.

McAfee advises Internet users to follow these five tips to protect their computers and personal information:

1. Never Click on Links in E-Mails: Go directly to a company or charity’s Web site by typing in the address or using a search engine. Never click on a link in an e-mail.

2. Use Updated Security Software: Protect your computer from malware, spyware, viruses and other threats with updated security suites. McAfee® Total Protection software provides fully-featured protection from current and emerging threats. It also comes built in with McAfee SiteAdvisor® technology, a safe search toolbar to warn consumers of a Web site’s safety rating as well as phishing protection. It uses intuitive red, yellow and green checkmarks to rate potentially dangerous Web sites when searched on Google, Yahoo! or Bing.

3. Shop and Bank on Secure Networks: Only check bank accounts or shop online on secure networks at home or work, wired or wireless. Wi-Fi networks should always be password-protected so hackers cannot gain access to them and spy on online activity.

Also, remember to only shop on Web sites that begin with https://, instead of http://, and seek out Web sites with security trustmarks, like McAfee SECURE™.

4. Use Different Passwords: Never use the same passwords for several online accounts. Diversify passwords and use a complex combination of letters, numbers and symbols.

5. Use Common Sense: If you are ever in doubt that an offer or product is not legitimate, do not click on it. Cybercriminals are behind many of the seemingly “good” deals on the Web, so exercise caution when searching and buying.

If you think you may be a victim of cybercrime, visit McAfee’s Cybercrime Response Unit to assess your risks and learn what to do next at www.mcafee.com/cru.

Get a credit freeze. Go online now and search “credit freeze” or “security freeze” and go to consumersunion.org and follow the steps for the state you live in. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes the SSN useless to the thief.

Invest in Intelius Identity Theft Protection and Protection. While not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, you can effectively manage your personal identifying information by knowing what’s buzzing out there in regards to YOU.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses Cyber Monday on Mike and Juliet

The Twelve Scams of Christmas,” or Popular Online Attacks This Holiday Season Pt III of IV

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Robert Siciliano identity theft expert

Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information

As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday season. According to Consumer Reports’ 2009 State of the Net Survey, cybercriminals have bilked $8 billion from consumers in the past two years, and McAfee warns consumers not to fall victim to the top scams this year.

Being that I’m on McAfee’s Consumer Advisory Board, I’m advising you to adhere to the following:

Previous first 3 of Twelve Scams of Christmas here. McAfee’s 3 more of Twelve Scams of Christmas below.

Scam VII: Christmas Carol Lyrics Can Be Dangerous – Risky Holiday Searches

During the holidays, hackers create fraudulent holiday-related Web sites for people searching for a holiday ringtone or wallpaper, Christmas carol lyrics or a festive screensaver. Downloading holiday-themed files may infect one’s computer with spyware, adware or other malware. McAfee found one Christmas carol download site that led searchers to adware, spyware and other potentially unwanted programs.

Scam VIII: Out of Work – Job-Related E-mail Scams

The U.S. unemployment rate recently spiked to 10.2 per cent, the highest level since 1983. Scammers are preying on desperate job-seekers in the poor economy, with the promise of high-paying jobs and work-from-home moneymaking opportunities. Once interested persons submit their information and pay their “set-up” fee, hackers steal their money instead of following through on the promised employment opportunity.

Scam IX: Outbidding for Crime – Auction Site Fraud

Scammers often lurk on auction sites during the holiday season. Buyers should beware of auction deals that appear too good to be true, because often times these purchases never reach their new owner.

Stay tuned to part IV.

Get a credit freeze. Go online now and search “credit freeze” or “security freeze” and go to consumersunion.org and follow the steps for the state you live in. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes the SSN useless to the thief.

Invest in Intelius Identity Theft Protection and Protection. While not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, you can effectively manage your personal identifying information by knowing what’s buzzing out there in regards to YOU.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses Viruses in Christmas Gifts on FOX News

The Twelve Scams of Christmas,” or Popular Online Attacks This Holiday Season Pt I of IV

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Robert Siciliano identity theft expert

Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information

As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday season. According to Consumer Reports’ 2009 State of the Net Survey, cybercriminals have bilked $8 billion from consumers in the past two years, and McAfee warns consumers not to fall victim to the top scams this year.

“Cybercriminals’ use their best schemes during the holidays to steal people’s money, credit card information, social security number and identity,” said Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. “These thieves follow seasonal trends and create holiday-related Web sites, scams and other convincing e-mails that can trick even the most cautious users.”

Being that I’m on McAfee’s Consumer Advisory Board, I’m advising you to adhere to the following:

McAfee’s 3 of Twelve Scams of Christmas

Scam I: Charity Phishing Scams – Be Careful Who You Give To

During the holiday season, hackers take advantage of citizens’ generosity by sending e-mails that appear to be from legitimate charitable organizations. In reality, they are fake Web sites designed to steal donations, credit card information and the identities of donors.

Scam II: Fake Invoices from Delivery Services to Steal Your Money

During the holidays, cybercriminals often send fake invoices and delivery notifications appearing to be from Federal Express, UPS or the U.S. Customs Service. They e-mail consumers asking for credit card details to credit back the account, or require users to open an online invoice or customs form to receive the package. Once completed, the person’s information is stolen or malware is automatically installed on their computer.

Scam III: Social Networking – A Cybercriminal “Wants to be Your Friend”

Cybercriminals take advantage of this social time of the year by sending authentic-looking “New Friend Request” e-mails from social networking sites. Internet users should beware that clicking on links in these e-mails can automatically install malware on computers and steal personal information.

Stay tuned to parts II, III & IV.

Get a credit freeze. Go online now and search “credit freeze” or “security freeze” and go to consumersunion.org and follow the steps for the state you live in. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes the SSN useless to the thief.

Invest in Intelius Identity Theft Protection and Protection. While not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, you can effectively manage your personal identifying information by knowing what’s buzzing out there in regards to YOU.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses Christmas Holiday Scams on Mike and Juliet.

The Twelve Scams of Christmas,” or Popular Online Attacks This Holiday Season Pt II of IV

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Robert Siciliano identity theft expert

Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information

As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday season. According to Consumer Reports’ 2009 State of the Net Survey, cybercriminals have bilked $8 billion from consumers in the past two years, and McAfee warns consumers not to fall victim to the top scams this year.

Being that I’m on McAfee’s Consumer Advisory Board, I’m advising you to adhere to the following:

Previous first 3 of Twelve Scams of Christmas here. McAfee’s 3 more of Twelve Scams of Christmas below.

Scam IV: The Dangers of Holiday E-Cards

Cyber thieves cash in on consumers who send holiday e-cards in an effort to be environmentally conscious. Last holiday season, McAfee Labs discovered a worm masked as Hallmark e-cards and McDonald’s and Coca-Cola holiday promotions. Holiday-themed PowerPoint e-mail attachments are also popular among cybercriminals. Be careful what you click on.

Scam V: “Luxury” Holiday Jewelry Comes at a High Price

McAfee Labs recently uncovered a new holiday campaign that leads shoppers to malware-ridden sites offering “discounted” luxury gifts from Cartier, Gucci, and Tag Heuer. Cybercriminals even use fraudulent logos of the Better Business Bureau to trick shoppers into buying products they never receive.

Scam VI: Practice Safe Holiday Shopping – Online Identity Theft on the Rise

Forrester Research Inc. predicts online holiday sales will increase this year, as more bargain hunters turn to the Web for deals. While users shop and surf on open hotspots, hackers can spy on their activity in an attempt to steal their personal information. McAfee tells users never to shop online from a public computer or on an open Wi-Fi network.

Stay tuned to parts III & IV.

Get a credit freeze. Go online now and search “credit freeze” or “security freeze” and go to consumersunion.org and follow the steps for the state you live in. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes the SSN useless to the thief.

Invest in Intelius Identity Theft Protection and Protection. While not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, you can effectively manage your personal identifying information by knowing what’s buzzing out there in regards to YOU.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses Black Friday and Cyber Monday on FOX Boston

SWATting, Using Technology To Hurt

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

Swatting is making prank calls to emergency services. In the field of information security, swatting is an attempt to trick an emergency service (such as a 911 operator) to dispatch an emergency response team, generally a SWAT team. SWAT is (Special Weapons and Tactics).

Caller ID spoofing technologies are used to send law officers on bogus calls along with, social engineering, and phone phreaking techniques combined. 911 systems (including telephony and human operators) have been tricked by calls placed from cities hundreds of miles away.

Caller ID spoofing is the practice of causing the telephone network to display a number on the recipient’s caller ID display which is not that of the actual originating caller. Similar to e-mail spoofing which can make it appear that a message came from any e-mail address the sender chooses, caller ID spoofing can make a call appear to have come from any phone number. Most people trust caller ID and are unaware of caller ID spoofing. This is obviously a flawed system ripe for fraud.

MSNBC reports Doug Bates and his wife, Stacey, were in bed around 10 p.m., their 2-year-old daughters asleep in a nearby room. Suddenly they were shaken awake by the wail of police sirens and the rumble of a helicopter above their suburban Southern California home. A criminal must be on the loose, they thought.

Doug Bates got up to lock the doors and grabbed a knife. A beam from a flashlight hit him. He peeked into the backyard. A swarm of police, assault rifles drawn, ordered him out of the house. Bates emerged, frightened and with the knife in his hand, as his wife frantically dialed 911. They were handcuffed and ordered to the ground while officers stormed the house.

They were victims of swatting that exploits a weakness in the way the 911 system handles calls from Internet-based phone services.

Dallas News reports a group of people met on telephone chat lines who harassed people through swatting. They would pick a target and their caller ID information to make it appear they were calling from that person’s house.

They would phone that person’s local police and pretend they were about to go on a killing spree, triggering a SWAT or patrol officer response. The group pulled this scam across the country.

There were some reports of injuries by police storming houses of innocent, unsuspecting people whom police thought were holding hostages at gunpoint.

This is difficult to prevent. Unlisting your home phone number can help. Not having a home phone number and being mobile based is even better. In the off chance you are ever selected to be swatted, the best response is to “show your hands”. Law enforcements concern is a weapon.

While completely unrelated, protect your identity too.

Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. “Disclosures”

Hackers Indicted for Jacking Comcast

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Robert Siciliano identity theft expert

A single hacked email address led to the defacement of Comcast’s homepage. When the hackers called Comcast’s technical contact to let him know that the Comcast homepage and all 200 Comcast domain names were vulnerable, he hung up on them.

It has not been disclosed how the email was compromised, but there are many ways it could be. According to the indictment, the hackers got control of the domain with two phone calls, and an email was sent to the company’s domain registrar, Network Solutions, from a hacked Comcast email account. That gave them entry to the Network Solutions control panel for Comcast’s 200 domains.

The hackers, 19 and 20 at the time, known as Defiant and EBK from a group calling themselves Kryogeniks, scrawled, “KRYOGENIKS EBK and DEFIANT RoXed COMCAST sHouTz To VIRUS Warlock elul21 coll1er seven” across Comcast’s homepage after they were rebuffed by Comcast’s technical administrator. Their one mistake was changing the contact information for the Comcast.net domain to Defiant’s email address. Not a smart move from these brilliant hackers.

One method of compromising email accounts is simply going to the “forgot password” section of your email provider’s website and responding to a preselected personal question that you answered when signing up for the account. With a little research, the hacker has a good shot at finding the correct answer. Some of the current questions could be answered using information found on a user’s social networking profile, or through a website like Ancestry.com or Genealogy.com

I suggest that you check out the “forgot password” section on your own web-based email account, to see your current personal question. If it’s easy to answer, or would only require a little research to solve, update the question with one that you create based on opinion, as opposed to fact.

You should also beef up your password. Combine uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as numbers. Don’t use consecutive numbers, and never use names of pets, family members, or close friends.

1. Get a credit freeze. Go online now and search “credit freeze” or “security freeze” and go to consumersunion.org and follow the steps for the state you live in. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes the SSN useless to the thief.

2. Invest in Intelius Identity Theft Protection and Protection. While not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, you can effectively manage your personal identifying information by knowing what’s buzzing out there in regards to YOU.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses hacked email on FOX & Friends.

Money Mules Facilitate Identity Theft and Fraud

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

Mules are relatively unaware people who get hooked into a “small business” or employment that is a function of a criminal enterprise. The mules often respond to “help wanted” ads from online job placement sites. Shipping scams are a common tactic criminals use in which they employ mules to receive goods bought with stolen credit card numbers, who then ship to people who buy them in online auctions. The mules in this process are essentially facilitating selling hot goods and money laundering.

An RSA study revealed laptops, iPods, iPhones, Nokia smartphones, digital cameras, Sony PlayStation 3 devices, and DJ equipment were among the items shipped to addresses in Russia and Belarus. RSA estimates that more than $36,000 worth of merchandise was cashed out every month before one scam ended earlier this year.

These scams generally have a virtual store front posing as a shipping company, giving the ruse a legitimate appearance. The efficiency of money mule operations has increased due to the amount of money being generated from data breaches and scams.

There have been dozens of significant data breaches over the past few years, in which millions of credit card numbers have been compromised. Once the data is in the hands of a criminal, they scheme to turn it into cash.

Credit card numbers are often bought and sold by “carders” who sell thousands of cards numbers for pennies each. In many cases when a PIN is present the criminal hacker will use the card number as a debit card at any ATM.

But when turning the data into cash isn’t so easy, they will burn the data to a white card and make in store purchases using mules. That can sometimes be a slow and riskier process. Recently, fake shipping scams have proven to be a profitable model that involves leveraging hundreds of naive people.

The mules are often baited into setting up bank accounts that the criminal controls. These bank accounts will be set up under the name of the mule to avoid detection and generally programmed to transfer money overseas in increments of less than $10,000 to avoid detection.

Most mules end up pulling money out of their pockets to front shipping costs with the promise of a big payoff. In the end the mule is often bilked and ends up with an empty bank account.

These scams hurt a lot of people. The banks and retailers lose because money and goods go out the door. The mules often end up losing thousands. And worse, many organized criminals are associated with terrorists groups who use the money to fund violence.

If the credit card companies and banks would adopt widely available technologies that make the data useless to the thief in the form of effective authentication of the user, then none of this would be happening. But until industry changes what I think is “its evil and selfish ways” then they will keep tossing fuel on the fire.

Generally my readers don’t need to be told the following, but maybe someone you know is naive enough to fall for one of these ruses. So keep in mind, if you are looking for a job online and see “shipping manager” or “buy and sell products on eBay with no inventory or money” or anything involving virtual transactions that involves shipping any thing overseas, then chances are it’s a scam. Also, never be suckered into opening a bank account that you don’t control. That’s just plain dumb.

And, protect your identity.

Invest in Intelius Identity Theft Protection. While not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, you can effectively manage your personal identifying information by knowing what’s buzzing out there in regards to YOU. “Disclosures”

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing money mules on Fox News

I Bought an ATM off Craigslist for $750 w/1000 CC#s on it. Yup.

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

After the Vegas DEFCON ATM debacle where hackers hacked hackers by setting up a fake ATM in front of the facilities security office, I needed to see how stupid easy it was to buy and ATM and just set it up anywhere. So my search began.

I started looking on e-bay and found plenty of new and used ATMs ranging from $500-2500 but quickly determined I didn’t want to pay $300 for shipping. Next was Craigslist, where anyone can rent out an apartment, buy a boat, get an erotic massage and buy an ATM.

I quickly found an ad from a bar north of Boston. They were selling pool tables, Budweiser neon signs and an ATM. I took my hacker with me and met Bob. Bob rented a room above the bar and was doing the deed for the owner. The bar was an old relic that was closing and liquidating its grungy assets. The ATM was sitting right next to the bar covered in 5 years of beer. Thank heavens they were smart enough to cover the keypad in clear plastic. While Bob was explaining the ATMs operation and providing us its history, he farted.

Needless to say I wanted to unbolt this thing as quickly as possible, get out of there and douse myself head to toe in pure alcohol hand sanitizer. After my hacker played with the manual, got it working and determined it was worth the financial risk, we loaded it on my trailer, paid $750 (down from a grand) and brought it home and put it in my garage.

There’s something about having an ATM in your garage that makes for a restless night of sleep, kind of like the next day is Christmas.  The next day, like 5 am, I used an entire bottle of Windex and a whole roll of paper towels and went through 4 pairs of rubber gloves and gave this thing an enema.

My hacker comes over to my garage, manual in hand, all giggly, like hackers sometimes do and says “Watch this”. He punches the master codes to access the machines data on a device called an eprom and hundreds of credit and debit card numbers just start falling all over the floor.

A few days later a TV producer friend of mine came over and we devised an evil plan to scam millions of $$ from unsuspecting suckers and then spend the rest of our lives hopping from island to island and buying a villa in Sicily. But my wife said “NO”.

Here’s the first of a few upcoming videos of what happened next. I’ll share more of my ATM adventures as they occur. There’s a lot more to this story, so stay tuned!I’ll talk more about my ATM adventures as they roll out.

You can protect yourself from these types of scams by paying attention to your statements. Refute unauthorized transactions within 60 days. Consider never using a debit card again, since credit cards are safer. When using an ATM, pay close attention to details, and look for anything that seems out of place. If your card gets stuck in the machine or you notice anything odd about the appearance of the machine, such as wires, double sided tape, error messages, a missing security camera, or the machine seems unusually old and run down, don’t use it. Don’t use just any ATM. Instead, look for ATMs in more secure locations. Cover your pin!!

And invest in McAfee Identity Protection includes proactive identity surveillance to monitor subscribers’ credit and personal information and access to live fraud resolution agents who can help subscribers work through the process of resolving identity theft issues. For additional tips, please visit http://www.counteridentitytheft.com

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker rolling an ATM around on Fox and on Extra with Mario Lopez.

Twitter Phish Identity Theft Scam

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

I’ve been getting the same “direct message” from several of my Twitter followers. Apparently, their accounts have been hacked, because it’s a phishing message that says, “ROFL this you?” and contains a shortened URL.

twitter scam 1

The link leads to a page that resembles Twitter’s log in page. The web address is /videos.twitter.zoltykatalogfirm/. Don’t go there.

twitterscam

Your account will only get hacked if you enter your account information on this spoofed page. Warn your friends. Retweet this.

How to protect yourself:

1. Don’t just click on any link no matter where it’s coming from. Attackers understand a person is more likely to click a link from someone they know, like and trust. If someone direct messages you requesting you click something, their account may be in control of a criminal.
2. Before you click on shortened URLs, find out where they lead by pasting them into a URL lengthening service like TinyURL Decoder or Untiny.
3. Install McAfee anti-virus protection and keep it updated.
4. Change up your passwords. Don’t use the same passwords for social media as you do for financial accounts.
5. Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.
6. Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. “Disclosures”

Robert Siciliano identity theft speaker discussing hacked accounts on Fox News