Identity Thieves and 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, be cautious. Scam I: Charity Phishing Scams Hackers take advantage of citizens’ generosity by sending e-mails that appear to be from legitimate charitable organizations. Scam II: Fake…
Typosquatting, or URL hijacking, is a form of cybersquatting that targets Internet users who accidentally type a website address into their web browser incorrectly. When users make a typographical error while entering the website address, they may be led to an alternative website owned by a cybersquatter or criminal hacker. In a new twist, some typosquatters…
The FBI reports a burglary occurs in the United States every 15.4 seconds. That’s almost 4 property crimes a minute. Wow! A burglary can be in a home, park, car, parking lot, gym or place of work. They state: Most burglaries occur during the day when everyone’s at work or school. Unlocked, unoccupied homes that…
A “fly by night” business is one that quickly appears and disappears, without concern for the quality of their product or service, or for legal regulations. These untrustworthy businesses often operate fraudulently. On the Internet, a fly by night business is called a “phantom website.” Phantom websites exist to collect personal and credit card information.…
Shopping online is unquestionably more convenient and efficient than traditional commerce. But is it safer? We face risk everywhere we go. We risk car accidents on the way to the mall. Muggers and thieves present a risk. Heck, you risk catching a cold from a sniffling salesclerk! Similarly, shopping online creates another set of pitfalls,…
A close friend called to tell me a man knocked on her door to sell her on repaving her driveway. In the process, he requested she invite him in to discuss it further and go over different options. The man was persistent and if my friend was anyone else, he may have gotten in. However,…
In Greek mythology, Zeus is the father of all gods and men. Today in the tech world, Zeus is the father of all computer viruses. The Zeus Trojan virus, which has been around since 2007, has been described as one of the most powerful, sophisticated, and evasive viruses ever. Many antivirus programs have had difficulty…
Here are 11 tips to have a safe online shopping experience during the holiday season: Avoid spoofed websites. Common sense says any time you receive an offer via an e-mail automatically be suspicious. The same goes with offers via tweets and messages received in any social media site. Don’t click the links in e-mails. Especially…
Electronic funds transfers at the point of sale (or EFTPOS) skimming is a relatively new scam that has become more prevalent over the past few years. This form of skimming involves swapping out the self-swipe point of sale terminals at cash registers, and replacing them with devices that record credit and debit card data. Fast…
Robbery as defined in Wikipedia is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear. Robbery differs from simple theft, a break-in or burglary on its use…
