McAfee and Ponemon Institute recently released “The Lost Smartphone Problem,” a study that attempts to determine how many employees’ smartphones are lost or stolen, and the consequences of these lost cell phones on various organizations. Among the 439 sample organizations, the number of missing smartphones is significant: 142,708 in one year. Approximately 62% of smartphones…
I’ve seen lots and lots of scams over the years and many of them involve penny stocks, contractor scams, cash gifting, investment scams, black money and the list goes on. And with each scam you see the question is always asked “How is it that someone could fall for that?” And with some scams it…
Insurance is intended to have your back in the event that something goes wrong, but some individuals have found loopholes in the system, effectively turning insurance companies into their own personal banks. These scammers have long been known to engage in “slip and falls,” claiming “whiplash,” and engaging in elaborate scams that can take years…
Privacy is really -and only- what you say or do within your own home with the shades down that is (generally legal) and between you and your love-ones that is not being communicated, recorded, broadcasted or reproduced in any way online or in a public forum. In the past 5 years we have learned that…
Insurance companies, like banks and retailers, are forced to deal with a wide spectrum of fraud, which costs the industry and its customers billions of dollars each year. According to the Insurance Fraud Bureau, “Undetected general insurance claims fraud total £1.9billion a year adding on average £44 to the annual costs individual policyholders face, on…
Police are warning elderly and those who have elderly parents that not all scams are done online. Some are executed using good ole’ snail mail and the telephone. An “80-year-old woman received a letter in the mail claiming she had been awarded a large amount of money, but was required to pay fees and complete…
A scammer typically contacts a target and strives to project an image of someone who has it all together financially and socially, claiming to be a successful entrepreneur or something similar. Or scammers may claim to be facing adversity, claiming they are widowed, down on their luck, or, like many, simply lonely. This is a…
To my dismay, every time I buy something from a new online retailer, I have to register to create yet another user account, which means yet another password, and yet another company that may lose or sell my data or send me spam. Fortunately, there are steps we can take in order to stay secure…
Wi-Fi: freedom to connect wherever and whenever. And there is no better Wi-Fi than free Wi-Fi, unless we are talking “secure Wi-Fi” which usually isn’t free. Wi-Fi is great for bringing in customers and it’s a great promotional tool that creates customer loyalty. Merchants such as hotels, coffee shops, burger joints and just about anyplace…
Massachusetts has one of the most stringent data protection laws on the books. Businesses are required to disclose data breaches, and companies are now reporting when even a single individual’s information has been compromised. Despite strict laws and security requirements, companies are continually being hacked in record numbers. And if major businesses still being hacked…
