Auction scams are messy. Consumers who are new to the world of online auctions are more likely to fall victim to deals that are too good to be true. Victims either get stuck with inferior or counterfeit goods, or they are charged and never receive the purchased item at all. My spouse used eBay to…
Chris Roberts is a hacker. But not a black hat hacker, like the bad guys you may associate with the term. He’s a white hat hacker, or an ethical hacker, and no, that isn’t an oxymoron. Chris is the kind of guy you definitely want on your team, because if he weren’t, he’d be your…
What do you do when you are picked up in a cab and the driver suspects your home will be vacant while you are gone? The Manchester Evening News reports “A BUNGLING burglar went to the same ATM more than 50 times – to try and guess the PIN numbers of bank cards he had…
Did you know there is a setting on LinkedIn where they will email your entire contact list in your behalf to let everyone know about a new position you have taken with a company? I didnt. Until I got all kinds of “Congratulations” in my inbox. Apparently there is a new setting that by default…
#1 Nigerian Scams: While these types of scams are generally understood to be Nigerian in nature and origin, and are in fact named after the 419 Nigerian code that made them illegal, advanced-fee scams happen right here in the good old USA by Americans presenting to offer jobs or may ask help to transfer money.…
Cybercrime is one of the most successful and lucrative industries of our time, growing by double digits year after year. Over the last decade, cyber crooks have developed new and sophisticated ways to prey on an explosion of Internet users, with little danger of being caught. Meanwhile, consumers face greater risks to their money and…
In July of 2007 on a hot summer night a serial killer was arrested after he broke into a 15-year-old girl’s room in Chelmsford Massachusetts in the middle of the night and tried to rape her. The girl’s father heard her scream and held the masked and gloved Lane in a headlock until police arrived,…
Contrary to what some might suggest, I’ve never thought it was a good idea to place your name on a “stop mail” list at the post office. Because some crack head postal employee now has a list of opportunities. It’s the same thing with stopping delivery of your newspaper. Once you are on that list,…
It is easier than ever to guess or predict an individual’s Social Security number, which puts us all at a greater risk for identity theft. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a reliable method for predicting Social Security numbers, using information from social networking sites, data brokers, voter registration lists, online white pages, and…
Cloning occurs when hackers scan the airwaves to obtain SIM card information, electronic serial numbers and mobile identification numbers, and then using that data on other phones. Cloning can happen anywhere, anytime that you’re using your phone. The bad guy simply uses an interceptor, hardware, and software to make a phone exactly like yours. A…
