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…
There are generally 2 types of financial identity theft. New account fraud and account takeover. New account fraud Identity theft can occur when someone opens a new credit card in your name, maxes it out, and doesn’t pay the bill. Account takeover Identity theft can also occur when a bad guy gets your information, uses…
Nearly three-quarters of Americans have never installed data protection applications or security software on their mobile devices to prevent data loss or defend against viruses and malware. 72% of us have unsecured smartphones, to be exact, even though we are using them more frequently in our digital lives. A recent survey shows that 44% of Americans…
For some, Valentines means they might be lonely. I’ve been there, and I know many who are there now. That loneliness can distort your perspective in a way that trumps common sense. This leads people to make badly considered decisions that only worsen their circumstances. Unfortunately, scammers use this raw emotion as leverage on online…
You may recall the story about Colton Harris Moore who as a teenager was busted for committing over 100 burglaries in the Pacific Northwest. He stole cars, speedboats and airplanes and is known as the “Barefoot Burglar” because he kicked off his shoes running from the police through the woods. Last summer he signed a…
