September is National Campus Safety Awareness Month. I helped Uni-Ball conduct a survey of 1,000 college students and 1,000 parents. The survey revealed that while about 74% of parents believe students are at a moderate to high risk for identity theft, and 30% of all identity theft victims are between 18 and 29, only 21% of…
Technology is meant to make life easier, safer and in some cases fun-er. Geolocation is supposed to make you save a few bucks on discounts when you “check in” at participating retail stores and gather “points”. It is also supposed to tell your friends and followers via geo-tagging that you just snapped a photo somewhere. …
iTunes users all over the world are being hooked in a possible phishing scam that siphons cash out of their PayPal accounts. Phishing scams, of course, consist of emails that appear to be coming from a legitimate, trusted business. These emails are often designed to trick the victim into revealing login credentials. Once the phishers…
There are 437,000,000 debit cards in circulation, and their use is on the rise. Criminal hackers are paying attention. Credit cards offer some measure of protection when it comes to “zero liability policies,” as long as the cardholder refutes the charges within 60 days. But when a debit card is compromised, the stolen money is…
When most people think about a virus, they think of a fever, chills, and maybe a potential pandemic. But when they think about a computer virus, they think of a headache, or worse, identity theft. Unusually, one report claims that a computer virus played a role in the deadliest air disaster in Spanish history. Others refute this…
A report issued by the FTC finds that customers in the process of withdrawing cash from ATMs are more likely to be victims of ATM fraud than a direct, physical crime, and skimmer devices have recently been found on gas pumps and ATMs throughout Northern California. ATM skimming occurs when a device is placed on…
New reports confirm what we’ve been seeing in the news; organized criminals have upped the ante. Global web mobs are tearing up corporations’ and financial institutions’ networks. According to a new Verizon report, a staggering 900 million records have been compromised in the past six years. Up to 85% of the breaches were blamed on organized…
Everyone’s job spills into their personal life is some way. I’m sure if your job is to clean offices all day, your home is probably clean. If you are a computer technician, your family bothers you every day to fix stuff. My guess is if you are a nurse, your kids are probably well taken…
I’m not one to dish on celebs, although I did just meet Mario Lopez on the set of EXTRA. Cool dude took a pic with me. Celebs are no different than you and I. They are fallible and vulnerable humans, who just get lots more attention. With one big exception; they are much bigger targets…
There have been many articles written about scammers who pose as representatives of government agencies. But perhaps the most inventive are the scams that appear to originate from the IRS. It makes perfect sense for the IRS to reach out regarding your finances. And regardless of the season, the IRS is really always in business.…
