Entries by Robert Siciliano

Toddler Used As Decoy in Burglaries

August 11, 2010 in , , , , /by

A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, hustle, scam, scheme, swindle or bamboozle) is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. The victim is known as the mark, the trickster is called a confidence man, con man, confidence trickster, or con artist, and any accomplices are known as shills. Confidence men or women exploit human characteristics such as greed and dishonesty, and have victimized individuals from all walks…

Summertime Scams and Identity Theft

August 10, 2010 in , , , /by

For everything in life, there is a corresponding scam. Scammers spend their energy trying to separate hardworking, law-abiding citizens from their money, and they’ll take advantage of any opportunity to do so. The four seasons provide various opportunities for scams. Summers “hottest” scams include: Stealing your mail. While you’re on vacation, your mailbox fills up…

Man lived under stolen identity for more than a decade

August 6, 2010 in , , , /by

Identity cloning generally encompasses all types of identity theft. In most cases, the thief is intentionally living and functioning as the victim. The thief’s motivation may be to hide from the law, evade child support, or skirt immigration. A man lived a quiet life with a steady job. But he wasn’t who he claimed to…

Police After Con-man Impersonating Cops

August 5, 2010 in , , , , /by

Our unending fascination with “Cops” must be due to the edgy dangerousness of their jobs. After all they are law enforcement officers who are often public bouncers and deal with the craziest of crazy situations. There’s also the whole “power of the badge” and the flickering blue lights that gives them authority over civilians. It’s…

100 Million Facebook Profiles Published via P2P

August 4, 2010 in , , /by

Personal information on 100 million Facebook users has been scraped from the social media site and is being shared and download as a single file via what is called a Bittorrent. BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing protocol used for distributing large amounts of data. Facebook  takes on the issue is the data that was scraped wasn’t private…

Apartments Likely Targets of Burglary

August 3, 2010 in , , , , , /by

According to the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), apartments are 85% more likely to be victimized by a burglary than any other form of housing. There are many reasons why apartments are targeted for burglaries. Here are a few: Problem: In an apartment setting the residents live among other people. One tenant in a complex…

Cops Encourage Burglary Prevention

July 30, 2010 in , , , , , /by

Let it be known and publicly stated right here and right now that I love law enforcement. Even though I’ve been pulled over for various vehicular infractions, but I’m not bitter. I’ve encountered officers of the law that may have taken themselves a bit too seriously, but I’ve meet plenty of flight attendants who fit…