There will always be the person who lives on the Equator to whom you can sell an electric heater. As they say, there is a sucker born every minute. This is why cyber criminals will always have a field day, like the crook who posed as a tax man who got an elderly couple to…
Wired internet or wireless WiFi, the warnings are out there: Don’t visit any websites that you have important accounts with when using a public computer (hotel, airport, café, etc.). Visiting even a more trivial account, such as an online community for cheese lovers, could sink you—in that a cyber thief might get your username and…
Criminals use six basic principles to influence and steal. In the first post we discussed: Reciprocation: Do something nice for a person and they will feel obligated to return the favor. Social Proof: This is the “It’s okay if everyone else does it” approach. Commitment and Consistency: Get someone to verbally or in writing commit…
Criminals use six basic principles of Influence to steal. In this post we will discuss the first 3. The ability to influence boils down to science. By applying some science, anyone can learn to be more influential. It’s easy to influence sheep and cattle. It’s a bit more complicated to influence people. But many people…
Beware. This is tough to read. An expectant woman had spotted an ad on Craigslist asking for baby clothes, so she contacted the ad placer—a woman—then went to her Longmont, Colorado house alone. The woman stabbed the would-be seller and removed the seven-month-old fetus. The baby died but the victim survived. When police arrived, the…
Public Wi-Fi is the location where you can get online: airport, airplane, coffee house, hotel, motel and more. Many people don’t give this a second thought, unaware of how risky this really is. Public Wi-Fi is very non-secure, a goldmine for hackers who want to steal your identity and commit fraud, destroy your website, you…
It’s good to have a stash of cash for emergencies. If the grid goes down and the power goes out, an ATM or bank does you no good. But there are security issues too. Where do you put it? A safe is certainly a smart idea. You can get creative too. What burglar would not…
Unfortunately, cyberbullying is prevalent, and a growing threat in today’s always-connected world. Cyberbullying refers to bullying done via computers, or similar technologies, such as cell phones. This kind of bullying usually includes mean or threatening comments, or public posts through texts, emails, voice mails, social media posts, all intended to embarrass the victim. Cyberbullying can…
Tax ID Theft Three things in life are guaranteed: death, taxes and tax-related identity theft. Michael Kasper would agree. Someone registered Kasper’s IRS.gov account, requested the document for his 2013 tax return, then filed a 2014 tax return. The crook used a middleman—an innocent woman who answered his Craigslist ad for a moneymaking opportunity. He…
The next time you’re in a public place and glued to your smartphone or tablet — whether it’s at the gym, a coffee house, the airport, or just a park bench— know that someone might be peering over your shoulder to see what you’re doing. The snooper could just be curious, or they could be…
