Security Breach Threatens Soldiers’ & Civilians’ Personal Information

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

Burglars tend to go after high ticket items that can be immediately turned into cash. They may include electronics such as TVs, computers, game consoles or various kinds of stereo equipment. Jewelry has always been the favorite of the thief, and they know most women keep their jewelry box on their dresser or in the top or bottom drawer.

What many are beginning to realize is that the information on the computers or laptops that are stolen is worth much more than the hardware itself. The money today is in the data that is stolen that can be used to commit identity theft.

In the past few years, numerous data breaches have occurred simply because a laptop or PC was stolen from someone’s home. A Veterans Administration employee’s home was broken into and his work PC was stolen which had almost 26.5 million Social Security numbers of veterans and their families. That’s almost 10% of the US population on one computer! That PC cost the VA maybe $1000.00 to purchase, but the data loss cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to mitigate.


“CNN reports The personal records of thousands of soldiers, employees and their families were potentially exposed after a laptop computer containing the information was stolen over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the military says.

The security breach happened where the rental apartment of an employee was. The computer contained “names and personally identifiable information for slightly more than 42,000 records including names, Social Security number, home address, date of birth, encrypted credit card information, personal e-mail address, personal telephone numbers, and family member information.”


A theft of this kind in your own home, whether it is your company’s computer or your own can have a devastating effect. The key is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

1. Always lock your doors and windows no matter what time of the year it is.

2. Make sure all exterior ladders are locked up to prevent someone from accessing an upper level window.

3. Install a home security system that calls you and the local police when tripped.

4. Make sure your computers are locked down too.  For desktops, it is a good idea to cable them to a desk or wall. For laptops they should be put in a safe.

5. Install encryption software on all PCs that makes the data unreadable and useless to the thief.


Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing stolen laptops on the Today Show. Disclosure

My Identity Thief Loves Me (PTI)

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

I have a very weird job. I explore aspects of society that people read about but would never consider exploring themselves. I go places where others may be led to because they didn’t know any better. And I like too expose the flaws in the system that make us vulnerable. Much of my “research” or “antics” as some would call it is prompted by my desire to learn more about the scumbags of society or predators that prey on other people.

My research has taken me down a dark seedy road into online dating scams, where some people are at their most emotionally vulnerable. The predators work a form of 419/advanced fee scam that always involved a money wire transfer.

There is something about people with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) that intrigues me. Antisocial personality disorder is a type of chronic mental illness in which your ways of thinking, perceiving situations and relating to others are dysfunctional. When you have antisocial personality disorder, you typically have no regard for right and wrong. You may often violate the law and the rights of others, landing yourself in frequent trouble or conflict. You may lie, behave violently, and have drug and alcohol problems. And you may not be able to fulfill responsibilities to your family, work or school. Some say at least a full 1 percent of the world has this.

I say 99 percent of all people have had ASPD for at least a day/week/month/year, except me 😉

My recent love affair was prompted by a call from a national television show producer who is newly divorced. She, like many millions of others, (about 40 million +) is subscribed to online dating services. She is in a circle of women who all are in their early 50’s, married young and now find themselves in a new chapter of their lives.

With this degree of transition and being single comes an unfair level of loneliness that is very difficult to overcome without support from others. At times in my life, early on, I experienced this can tell you first hand, loneliness often trumps common sense and facilitates bad decision making.

She and a dozen of her girlfriends all got together recently and discovered many of them were being courted, online by men from the UK. These men would say the nicest things to them. For example (and this is within 1 week):

In me sweetheart you are going to find the most passionate, loving and romantic man you have ever met. There are very few promises in life but this is one of them!. ROMANCE is the key to my happiness and to my heart and soul!. It is the single biggest reason I am single today is because I have yet to find a woman who will romance me with the passion of there heart and be a giver of there love, and not just a taker. I am a man who is very committed to the special woman I am sharing my heart and soul with. I totally dedicate and devote my life totally to this person 24/7, for her she’s my Queen and it is my belief that as long as she’s my Queen, I would treat her good and right, by putting her on a pedestal that is reserved only for a Queen and showing her with an endless amount of affection, attention, passion, and unconditional love. It is my duty as a follower of the word of God to be her provider, providing for her emotional, mental, and sexual needs. It is my responsibility as her King to take any problems and stress that she has in her life and put it on my shoulders to free her of it, for I am a man and her King!. My shoulders are bigger so it is my obligation to carry the burdens she might has in life off them, allowing her to have a healthy mind, body, and heart and soul at all times. I love and cherish this role sweetheart, and it is because I love it so much, that I feel God has a role for everyone in life, and his chosen role for me is to be that excellent lover, father, and family man, because of the way I live my life, and because of my passion to be a great lover and family man.

Dudes gotta be a great lover to have that roll off his tongue. Right? Eeesh. At first, none of this seemed all that odd to them. We all like nice things said to us, and while a bit hokey, this dudes dictation ain’t all that bad.  Further, when you are lonely, even a visit from one of those crazy religious sects can be soothing. This entire scene is a perfect opportunity for a predator to strike. To be continued on “My Identity Thief Loves Me (PTII)” where you can read the actual chats with the scammer.

Protect your identity:

  1. Get a credit freeze. Click on the preceding link 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.
  2. Go to my website and get my FREE ebook on how to protect yourself from the bad guy.
  3. Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing identity theft on Fox News

My Identity Thief Loves Me (PTII)

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

In “My Identity Thief Loves Me (PTI)” I brought you into my weird world of “research” into online dating scams. Here’s where I fell in love. I have been perused by “Kath Riss Green”. For whatever reason the scammers choose very WASPy names. But her picture was a hot Latina. She sent me a message via a social network I’m on. So I responded via a completely different profile I set up that had nothing to do with the original. And “she” didn’t seem to notice or care: I am “Ronn”.

1/17/10 Scammer: Hi,I saw your profile and wanted to say hello. Your very handsome and Id like to get to know you better.

1/18/10 Me: Hi back, you sent me an email on my profile. You look good to me. What is your name? Ronn.

1/19/10 Scammer: thanks for your email Ronn…..i’m kathline,i live and work in texas..i’m 30years,single and never with no kids,i love kids though.i would like to know more about you,where you from,what you do and many more…hope to read back from you, kathline

See the bad English and punctuation? The criminal hacker I wasted 4 hours with from Ghana wrote the exact same way.

1/19/10 Me: Hi Kath, I’m basically a nice guy… I want a woman to like me for who I am. I like eating pizza and I like to drink beer. I’m a little overweight.  I’m 5′ 2″ and 220 lbs, but my mom says Im handsome. What do you look like? Ronn

1/19/10 Scammer: Hello Ronn, How you doing an how was your day like?SO where you from?what do you do?are you married?got any kids?and what you ooking for?do you have any photo you can send to me?i would like you to tell me everything about yourself……….i’ve added you to my yahoo lit and hope to chat with you later on……attached are my pics.hope you will like them Kathline

1/19/10 Me: Wow, You’re very pretty! I’m from Massachusetts. My day was long I worked hard today. Gotta pay the bills! I work in an office as a word processor. Not married, one kid from when I was younger, his mom has him. Just looking for someone to love me like I love them. My camera dropped over the holidays and I need to get another one.  Do you have kids? Ronn

1/20/10 Scammer: Hi Ronn,sorry to hear about your day….wish i was there to keep your accompany….i’m also single,nerver maried with no kids..i love kids though,and i hope to have some with the right man someday..So tell me since when you’ve been doing online dating and how many woman have you meet online lately?what kind of relationship are you looking foir? Kathline

1/20/10 Me: No kids! Thats OK. Ive been doing the online dating thing for about 6 months. I just got a computer over the summer. i used to go to the library and use their computer, so Im new to this. All the women I have send messages to dont respond all that much. But you were nice to me first… Im looking for a relationship where the woman can be nice to me and treat me with respect, as I am nice to her and treat her with respect. I also wish that she can cook because I like to eat ALOT!!! LOL!!! Truly Ronn xoxoxox

I’m baiting

1/20/10: Hi Ronn,hhmmm….i guess i’m the one you’ve loking for all thiswhile…i’m someone who is loving,caring and God fearing,a down to earth type with great sense of humour..i love the out doors,i enjoy cooking,i like holding hands,kissing and cuddling….i wish things could ork out between us…..

It pisses me off when they weave the God thing in there. Heartless bastards!

1/22/10 Me: OMG THATs SO SWEET! You sound like my soul mate! Im sorry that I have not responded, I had to go away on business.  I would LOVE TO MEEET YOU!!!

1/22/10 Scammer: Ronn,I went to bed last night with a vision of you next to me. I slept like a baby all night, because I was not feeling alone.. When I awoke this morning to see if it was real or if it was a dream, realty hit me that it was only a dream. Very soon, I know that you will be right next me…i will also love to meet you for a weekend or so…..we can plan on meeting if you dont mind,i can come there but thaats if only we can both work the airfares together or what do you think?

Boom, 5 days into it and “airfare” comes up. I sound like a lonely desperate fool, I haven’t sent a picture, I’m built like a walrus. And Kath is dreaming about me. What a !@#$%^ SCUMBAG!

1/22/10 Me: Wow, this is wonderful! im flexible. I’ll do what you wish. Tell me what you would like to do.

1/23/10 Scammer: Jon said it will cost me 560$ to fly there and i cant afford it all…i dont know if you can make and half payment while i had up the rest..

Who the heck is Jon? I don’t even bother asking.

1/24/10 Me: Im happy to pay half. How do you want to do it? Ronn

1/24/10 Scammer: Awwww thanks then, i do appreciate that, just get the half down to jon so he can go ahead with the reservation, and you know we have to book in advance.. below is Jon Details for the payment. send it through western union, and get back to me with the MTCN, the name, of thw sender, and location of where money is sent. hope to read from you soon

Jon ***ardt

1325 ***pe dr,

Paris, TX 75462

One week, 2 idiots, 7 email exchanges, an opportunity to expose a complete azz@#%, PRICELESS.

Turns out, after further research “Jon” is a victim too. He is 54 and divorced. He has been duped by “Kath” as a money mule. So when the wired money goes to Jon, he sends to Kath.  Here is Kath kathlinegreen36@yahoo.com.

1/27/10 Me: Can I call you on the phone?

1/27/10 Scammer: Hello Ronn, WHy did it take you few days to get back to me?you just keep runing through my mind and my heart longfs to be with you….my phone got missing last weekend….so how you doing and how’s work being like?were you able to send the money..

Of course your “phone got missing last weekend” so how YOU doing? Jerk.

1/27/10 Me: Are you a complete scumbag scammer?

Then no more response. Was it something I said?

Protect your identity:

  1. Get a credit freeze. Click on the preceding link 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.
  2. Go to my website and get my FREE ebook on how to protect yourself from the bad guy.
  3. Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing identity theft on Fox News