If you want to get an idea of how safe or crime-ridden a town may be, do some casual observing including at night:
Are women walking or jogging alone at night?
Are people hanging out in the evening having a good time?
Are children mysteriously absent on a sunny weekend afternoon?
Are there a lot of “for sale” signs among the houses?
Do many houses have security signs in their yards?
Are there any other tell-tale signs that the town is safe—or seedy? Like many taverns and only one recreation center?
Before moving to a particular town, you should also chat with its residents. Maybe you shouldn’t reveal you’re thinking of moving there, as they may tell you things you want to hear. Pretend you’re a resident and strike up a conversation at the local diner or some place like that, a comment that would lure someone into giving information about the safety—or danger—of the town.
But of course, you can just be more upfront and honest and flat-out ask about the crime rate, safety, etc. Ask if it’s safe for children to walk to and from school by themselves (I don’t mean six-year-olds, of course).
Ask if there’s a neighborhood watch and why it was established. Inquire about safety measures the townsfolk are taking.
Safety also means the condition of roads and sidewalks, not just for motor vehicles but bicyclists and pedestrians. Are roads in good condition? Are intersections well lit? Are stop signs easily visible?
If your move is long-distance and you can’t in-person visit the town:
It’s time for some googling. Type in “city of (name of town)” to view its website and various stats such as “crime rate.”
Also visit the town’s police department’s website. See if it has a Facebook page. A lot of local buzz is reported on a police department’s Facebook page.
Read the town’s major online newspaper to see what’s usually cooking.
Find out what the town’s news station is and visit its site.
Are the sites laden with crime stories? Over time, have there been a lot of sexual assaults or home robberies?
Any continuous complaints about the schools?
For more comprehensive research, visit the following:
https://safr.me/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2H1.jpg231300Robert Sicilianohttps://safr.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/small-logo-safr-me-300x98.pngRobert Siciliano2016-02-19 05:00:312018-04-27 09:37:53How to figure out Crime Statistics in a Town
Just what kind of punishment should a 17-year-old get for making fraudulent 911 calls (a crime known as swatting)?
This happens more than you think. What’s outright astounding is how these teens could think they won’t be discovered. Have they been living in a cave all their lives, using a torch for light?
A 17-year-old boy in Ottawa, Canada, has made several fake 911 calls, including several in the U.S.
Told dispatcher his mother was lying in a pool of blood; pretended to follow the CPR instructions.
Pretended to be holding people hostage, demanding $100,000.
Threatened to blow up a school.
Arrested in May 2014, he faces 34 charges.
Evidence includes recordings of the phony calls found on the boy’s computer, plus Skype and Twitter logs.
So based on the evidence, it’s clear that this boy knows something about modern technology. Wow, he must be as dense as a box of bricks to think he couldn’t be traced.
Maybe if kids, perhaps starting in adolescence, were taught in school how easy it is for authorities to track down a swatter, there’d be a lot fewer swatters. Certainly there would be; it’s not a “maybe.”
It’s the parents’ job to raise good kids, but we know this happens only some of the time. The kid may still be a rotten apple (thanks to a dysfunctional home life), but at least if he’s educated in how simple it is for detectives to trace fraudulent 911 calls, there at least wouldn’t be all of these fake 911 calls that tie up staff while other people really need their help.
And while we’re on the topic of swatting, is there a name for the authentic 911 calls—but that deal with absurd complaints? People will call 911 to report lightning—simply in the sky. Other examples:
Caller couldn’t figure out how to exit a locked car.
Caller complained her husband was viewing porn.
Complaints about inadequate restaurant service.
Caller complained her boyfriend wouldn’t warm her cold feet.
Caller (drunk) complained a bouncer wouldn’t let him into a night club.
I say no jail time for these morons. Instead, make ‘em stand all day at a busy intersection wearing a sign that says, “I’m a stupo. Called 911 because (fill in the blank).
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 to something, and this will increase the chances they’ll follow through.
Robert Cialdini is a psychologist who studied influence for nearly 30 years, condensing his findings into six principles. In this post we will discuss 3 more principles of influences that tie it all together and make scammers experts at their craft.
Liking
If someone likes you they will more likely comply with you. Get more bees with honey as they say. We do business with those we know, like, and trust. When you see others rate a product high, you are more likely to buy it.
The liking could even result from noticing that you have a similar hairstyle or body mannerisms. This is why salespeople are taught to mimic the vocal patterns of their prospects.
A similar name, knowing the same people, finding common ground, a similar physical appearance, is all comforting.
Scammers do everything they can to appear as a likable trusted source. The scam email looks exactly like your bank because you must like your bank if you trust them with your money, so you click the link. This new person friends you on social and you see they are connected to 25 of your others friends and colleagues. They must be OK right? No.
Authority
Coming off with some authority increases one’s ability to influence people. This is why salespeople are taught to speak with downward inflections.
To seem more authoritative, wear dark clothing. Police officers and security guards dress in black or dark blue. So do ministers, judges and karate instructors. Attorneys in court, especially during closing arguments, usually wear dark. Imagine a cop in pink. Or SWAT in lavender.
But authority can also be white (doctor’s lab coat, nurse’s uniform). The bottom line is that when people perceive authority, they tend to comply.
This concept greatly pertains to social aggression: A man harassing a woman will usually back off if she suddenly squares up her shoulders, stares hard at him and speaks in a deep, primal voice, “Get out of my way, or else!” Dog are more effectively trained when the trainer uses a deeper voice.
Scammers pose as the government, law enforcement, the IRS, bill collectors, the security department from your credit card company, HR, accounting and more. Anytime an authoritive figure contacts you, be suspect.
Scarcity
Scarcity of an item makes it more appealing. Antique cars and rare old coins are worth more because there are few of them and a lot of people who want them.
This concept is used by marketers all the time. Ever hear “will soon be discontinued”? You suddenly buy a dozen of the product, even though you’ve hardly purchased it before. Ever hear “limited offer” and “but if you act now…”?
When there is a big storm/hurricane coming, people clear the shelves at the supermarket in fear they will not eat or drink.
Scammers understand scarcity is also associated with loss. They use the same principle when they tell you in a pop up if you don’t fix this, or in an email if you don’t act now, or over the phone if you don’t give up your username and password all your data/money etc will be gone, you won’t get paid next week etc. It’s limitless how they use scarcity.
I’ve said this before. Don’t be cattle. Don’t act like sheep. Most of the world functions based on the honor system. As long as everyone is honest, everything works seamlessly. The honor system is designed with the mindset that we are all sheep and there are no wolves. We know there are plenty of wolves.
https://safr.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/11D-300x228.jpg228300Robert Sicilianohttps://safr.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/small-logo-safr-me-300x98.pngRobert Siciliano2015-05-23 05:00:302018-04-27 09:42:413 More Ways Criminals use influence to steal
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 can be influenced as easy as a cow. Criminals understand this the same way sales people do. The derivative of “confidence” is con. All influence in some way is designed to gain your confidence and in some cases to trick you. That’s where “confidence trick” comes from. Robert Cialdini is a psychologist who studied influence for nearly 30 years, condensing his findings into six principles. I’ll bet every crime syndicate out there read his books.
Reciprocation
Do something nice for a person and they will feel obligated to return the favor. This concept is seen in doctors who promote a particular drug—the pharmaceutical company has just given him free notepads, pens and a coffee mug.
Want your children to show you respect? Show them respect. They’ll feel obligated to treat you the same. Mostly.
Scammers use this by offering something free in an emailed link. You might have to reciprocate and give up an email address or simply click a link. Clicking on the link installs a virus. You get a call from a colleague in tech support. They say “I need your password to fix this server” and “I’ll be there for you someday when you need help”. We want to help, we want to return the favor.
Social Proof
This is the “It’s okay if everyone else does it” approach. People have a tendency to check out what other people are doing when they’re not sure what course to take. Stand on a street corner in a busy city and look up at a skyscraper, then watch the crowed gather to see what you are looking at.
Why does the new treadmill user at the gym hold onto the rails while walking? Because they see everyone else in the gym doing it. What made you decide to buy that kitchen gadget? Because the TV ad said, “They’re going fast, everyone’s buying it, so order now!”
This concept also applies to emergency situations, such as people lined up at a third story window of a burning building, afraid to jump—until one person leaps. Suddenly, everyone else leaps.
Scammers will use social proof to trick you in a Ponzi investment scheme. If all kinds of people you trust are making the same investment, then why wouldn’t you?
Commitment and Consistency
Get someone to verbally or in writing commit to something, and this will increase the chances they’ll follow through. They are committed. Signing a contract means you are committed. Anything that comes out of that contract is your responsibility.
People want to do things by the book, they want to be civilized and play by the rules. This plays off of social proof to conform like others.
Scammers recognize most people are committed to “doing the right thing”, or being appropriate. So if you get a call or an email saying there is an issue with your account, you want to do the right thing and fix it. Getting things right may mean giving your data to a criminal.
Don’t be cattle. Don’t act like sheep. Most of the world functions based on the honor system. As long as everyone is honest, everything works seamlessly. The honor system is designed with the mindset that we are all sheep and there are no wolves. We know there are plenty of wolves. Don’t be sheep.
Mondays are the pits for many people, because this day starts their work week. Dwayne Yeager was no exception; so badly did he want to avoid going in to the job on Monday, that he did something really dumb to get out of it.
That’s because, according to deputies, his wife didn’t want him to miss work doing fabrication at a plant, which is actually what he did to avoid going into work: He fabricated a burglary of his house. Stupid.
Yeager, 31, called authorities a bit after 7 a.m. and said, “I need a sheriff in Brandon.” He told a dispatcher he’d been gone for a short while, then returned to see his door and windows open, TVs on the floor.
Deputies showed up to an apparently ransacked house, but saw no signs of forced entry. A neighbor reported that Yeager was gone from 6:30 to 7:15, went through the front door, opened the front bedroom window and lifted the blinds. Then he stepped outside and waited for deputies. The neighbor said there was no car on the property before Yeager returned.
Yeager admitted the lie to avoid going to work. He was arrested and charged with one count of giving false information to the police, then released later that day on $500 bail.
What a doofus. All he had to do was fabricate a stomach ache from the previous day’s “bad meat” or a migraine headache or something like that. But you didn’t hear it from me.
We all know and love Adobe products. Their PDFs have become as ubiquitous as .DOC, .TXT and .XLS. Most PCs include Adobe Reader as a bundled software. The Adobe Flash media player is the easiest most user friendly online video player on the planet and required for the most popular video site YouTube.
Brad Arkin, Adobe’s director for product security and privacy, recently commented, “We’re in the security spotlight right now. There’s no denying that the security community is really focused on ubiquitous third-party products like ours. We’re cross-platform, on all these different kinds of devices, so yes, we’re in the spotlight.”
Adobe, in response is doing everything a responsible software developer should do.
Adobe is the same boat today that Microsoft found itself in years ago. Ground zero. Hack central. Criminal hackers love it. Adobe’s software or files are used on almost every PC and across operating all systems. Every browser requires a program to open PDFs and many websites either have links with PDFs or incorporate Flash to play video or for aesthetic reasons. According to an estimate from McAfee, in the first quarter of this year, 28% of all exploit-carrying malware leveraged a Reader vulnerability.
While attention from the criminal hacking community has certainly been a burden to Adobe, the same attention is now being paid by the white hat hackers, the good guys. The security community is now actively involved in the reporting of bugs and vulnerabilities, which is helping Adobe tighten up. Fortunately, Adobe is learning from their current situation and is actively engaged in resolving these issues. They’ve created a better, more frequent software updating tool for each of their programs, including Flash and Adobe Reader. As difficult a situation as this may be, Adobe is handling it very well.
“Application security” is an often used term when, during the software development cycle, the software or application goes through a series of “penetration tests” designed to seek out vulnerabilities that could be exploited in the field. Adobe’s process now includes their Secure Product Lifecycle (SPLC) to seek out and squash those issues. It is important to understand that flaws, bugs, holes, vulnerabilities, or whatever you call them, are often detected after the launch of software. While both developers and criminals have many of the same tools, the bad guys seem to have an edge and are often able exploit those flaws before developers can find and fix them. Adobe however is beginning to turn the tide on the bad guys.
If you function in a Microsoft Windows environment, you should be aware of “Windows Update” and have it set to automatically download and update your operating system’s critical security patches. Updating Reader and Flash requires manual action, but Adobe’s built-in updater can also be set to automatic. I’d suggest that most users set this to automatic as well. If you have an older version of Reader, which may not include an automatic update option, you should head directly to Adobe.com to download the current software.
https://safr.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/small-logo-safr-me-300x98.png00Robert Sicilianohttps://safr.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/small-logo-safr-me-300x98.pngRobert Siciliano2010-07-14 16:40:332010-07-14 16:40:33Adobe a Target for Criminal Hackers
“I love that dirty water, oh Boston you’re my home.” Boston Legal, “Cheers,” Boston Bruins, Red Sox, Celtics, Chowda, Lobsta, Pahkin the Cah in Havad Yahd andhome to the second worst ranking of cyber crime in America. Lovely!Seems whatever advice I give in Boston media, means squat. After all, I am a Proper Bostonian. Boston missed first place by a lousy 11 points. I blame the college kids. Boston has the highest concentration of college students on the planet. It’s their fault. Seattle took first place. What’s your excuse Seattle? Microsoft?
1. Seattle
2. Boston
3. Washington, D.C.
4. San Francisco
5. Raleigh, N.C.
6. Atlanta
7. Minneapolis
8. Denver
9. Austin, Texas
10. Portland, Ore.
Cities with high concentrations of “spam zombies” placed the highest. Becoming a Zombie and part of a Botnet happens to PCs that aren’t properly secured, coupled with user behavior that invites attacks.
If you are surfing porn all day or gaming on distant websites in foreign countries then you are at a higher risk. Downloading files from P2P sites or seeking software cracks or pirated content is also risky. Remember frat boy, there is no honor among thieves.
The Boston Business Journal stated another factor is the Hub’s many unsecured WiFi hotspots — 53.6 per 100,000 residents — where cyber criminals may lurk, trolling for unwitting users. While high-profile or widespread computer attacks are relatively rare, small-scale attacks like these threaten even savvy computer users, the report noted.
Hey Top 10, pay attention:
Computers that are old and have outdated unsupported operating systems like Wind 95/98/2000 are extremely vulnerable.
Systems using older outdated browsers such as IE 5, 6 or older versions of Firefox are the path of least resistance.
Update your operating system to XP SP3 or Wind 7. Make sure to have automatic updates for anti-virus. Don’t engage in risky web-based behaviors.
Protect your identity.
1. Get acredit freeze and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.
ABC news and a bazillion other outlets report that a former informant for the Secret Service was one of three men charged with stealing credit and debit card information from 170 million accounts in the largest data breach in history. The former informant, Albert Gonzalez of Florida, A.K.A “Segvec”, “SoupNazi,” and “j4guar17,” whose motto was ”Get Rich or Die Tryin'” was alleged to have been the ringleader of the criminal hacking operation of a prolific network that spans over five years of serious criminal activity. Once a criminal, always a criminal.
Gonzalez and two other unidentified hackers believed to be from Russia have been charged with hacking into Heartland Payment Systems, 7-11 and Hannaford Brothers Company, Dave and Busters and TJX Corporation, which involved up to 45 million credit card numbers..
Gonzalez was originally arrested in 2003 by the U.S. Secret Service and began working with the agency as an informant. Federal investigators say they later learned that the hacker had been tipping off other hackers on how to evade detection of security and law enforcement worldwide.
Gonzalez provided “sniffer” software used to intercept the credit and debit card numbers for the Russian hackers. Sniffer software or “malware” malicious software, acts like a virus attaching itself to a network and often spreading. The software allows the criminal hacker backdoor access to all the data in the server and provides remote control functionality.
The NY Times reports according to the indictment, Gonzalez and his conspirators reviewed lists of Fortune 500 companies to decide which corporations to take aim at and visited their stores and used a technique called “wardriving” to monitor wireless networks. The online attacks took advantage of flaws in the SQL programming language, which is commonly used for databases.
Threat Level, by Wired magazine, reported that Gonzalez had lived a lavish lifestyle in Miami, once spending $75,000 on a birthday party for himself and complaining to friends that he had to manually count thousands of $20 bills when his counting machine broke.
Protect yourself;
1. You can’t prevent this type of credit card fraud from happening to you when the retailer isn’t protecting your data. Eventually credit card protection solutions will be available. For now, protecting yourself from account takeover is relatively easy. Simply pay attention to your statements every month and refute unauthorized charges immediately. I check my charges online once every two weeks. If I’m traveling extensively, especially out of the country, I let the credit card company know ahead of time, so they won’t shut down my card while I’m on the road.
2. Prevent new account fraud. Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.
3. Invest in Intelius Identity Theft Protection and Prevention. While not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, you can effectively manage your personal identifying information by knowing what’s buzzing out there in regards to YOU.
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing credit card data breaches and the sad state of cyber security on Fox News
https://safr.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/small-logo-safr-me-300x98.png00Robert Sicilianohttps://safr.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/small-logo-safr-me-300x98.pngRobert Siciliano2009-08-28 11:13:592009-08-28 11:13:59Big Time Identity Theft Hackers Indicted
Credit card fraud comes in two different flavors: account takeover and new account fraud. Account takeover occurs when the identity thief gains access to your credit or debit card number through criminal hacking, dumpster diving, ATM skimming, or perhaps you simply hand it over when paying at a store or restaurant. Technically, account takeover is the most prevalent form of identity theft. I’ve always viewed it as simple credit card fraud, rather than “identity theft” in its truest sense.
New account fraud, as it relates to credit cards, occurs when someone gains access to your personal identifying information, including your name, address and, most importantly, your Social Security number. With this data, a thief can open a new account and have the card sent to a different address. This is true identity theft. Once the identity thief receives the new card, he or she maxes it out and doesn’t pay the bill. Over time, the creditors track down the victim, blame him or her for the unpaid bills, and demand the owed funds. New account fraud destroys the victim’s credit and is a mess to clean up.
Victims of account takeover are likely to discover the fraud in numerous ways. They may notice suspicious charges on a credit card statement, or the credit card company may notice charges that seem unusual in the context of the victim’s established spending habits. Credit card companies have anomaly detection software that monitors credit card transactions for red flags. For example, if you hand your credit card to a gas station attendant in Boston at noon, and then a card present purchase is made from a tiny village in Romania one hour later, a red flag is raised. Common sense says you can’t possibly get from Boston to Romania in one hour. The software knows this.
Victims of account takeover only wind up paying the fraudulent charges if they don’t detect and report the crime within 60 days. A 6o day window covers two billing cycles, which should be enough for most account-conscious consumers who keep an eye on their spending. During that time, you are covered by a “zero liability policy,” which was invented by credit card companies to reduce fears of online fraud. Under this policy, the cardholder may be responsible for up to $50.00 in charges, but most banks extend the coverage to charges under $50.00. After 60 days, though, you are out of luck. So pay attention to your statements. As long as you do, account takeover should not hurt you financially.
But new account fraud is another story entirely – one that can and will hurt you if you don’t protect yourself. You may not be held financially responsible for the charges themselves, but you will pay in time, and time is money. In some cases you may pay lawyers or private investigators, or you may need to take time off from work, depending on how dire your credit situation becomes. Identity theft victims have been denied credit due to the unpaid debts in their names, and have missed opportunities to purchase homes as a result.
Protecting yourself from account takeover is relatively easy. Simply pay attention to your statements every month and refute unauthorized charges immediately. I check my charges online once every two weeks. If I’m traveling extensively, especially out of the country, I let the credit card company know ahead of time, so they won’t shut down my card while I’m on the road.
Protecting yourself from new account fraud requires more effort. You can attempt to protect your own identity, by getting yourself a credit freeze, or setting up your own fraud alerts. There are pros and cons to each.
Throughout the past week or so, scammers from Nigeria, Belgium and the UK have been coming after me in full force, via Craigslist. Unfortunately, the popular online classifieds website has become a launchpad for criminal activity. Everything from online affinity or advance fee scams to baby killers and the Craigslist killer have hampered the website’s reputation.
I use Craigslist to find renters for an apartment that I own. Last year, scammers copied my advertisement verbatim, except for the contact information, which they replaced with their own, and the price, which they reduced by half. The scammer, who claimed to be the property owner, informed potential renters that he was in Austria, and instructed them to drive by the apartment, and to send him a deposit check if they liked the look of the place. Fortunately, I happened to be present when a couple came by, per the scammer’s instructions. We discovered the ruse and contacted Craigslist. The fake ads continued popping up, but after numerous emails to Craigslist, they were all removed.
Last week I posted a new ad, and within minutes, I received the following email:
Subject: RENTAL INQUIRY!!hope to hear from you soon
Hello Robert,
Let me know if the room/apt you advertise on craigslist.com is still available and let me know if you can accept certified cashier check as mode of payment..And the last price for the space.
I’m presently in Belgium.I will be coming immediately the place is vacant for me to move in.But the issue is that because of the distance i wont be able to come to see the place.Meanwhile let me tell you a ill about myself..I don’t smoke and I don’t have boyfriend.Am Sarah Smith and my nick name is SERA and am 26years old i lost my dad some years back when i was young so my mom had to remarry so she married to Mr Scott Michael who is my step dad now..He has been the one who has been taking care of me all this while i believe he is a God sent to me cux i have never regretted moment with him..Things i like are as follows reading,swimming and chatting with people around me and also make them happy..I have always been thinking of how i will affect peoples life positively by making donations to the less privileges cus when i looked at my pass when i lost my dad from the story my mom told me..I noticed it is not easy for people that as no parent.Well i hope when we meet in person you will know more about me..Meanwhile my step dad will need the followings to make payment to you ASAP..
1.Your name and surname.
2.Address in full with the zip code..
3.I will need your phone number
I wait to have this information from you so that my step dad can make payment for the rental fee and security deposit in advance … I Await to hear from you….
Hope to hear from you pretty soon.
Thanks, SARAH
It’s easy to dissect this scam. The person who sent this email has two goals. First, the scammer wants to build a relationship with his or her mark. He or she provides a (horribly written) story in an attempt to establish trust. The victim is then more likely to fall for the scam, following the scammer’s instructions and conducting the necessary financial transactions. Many victims are foolish enough to provide account numbers or other personal identitifying information. Second, the scammer is setting up an affinity, or advance fee scam. In such a con, the scammer mails you a check. You deposit this check in your bank account, and it temporarily clears. In that limited window of time, the scammer will request that you return some or all of the money. He may claim to have changed his mind about renting or buying from you, or that he accidently made the original check out for more than the agreed upon sum. So you wire the money back. Within a day or two, the bank calls to let you know that the original check was counterfeit. So you’ve lost the money you wired to the scammer.
How can you protect yourself from scams like this, or other scams that take advantage of online classified ads? Use common sense, be smart, and pay attention. If you do that, you won’t fall for these types of cons.
When we were young, our parents told us not to talk to strangers. Strangers are not yet part of our trusted circle. So don’t trust them! There’s no benefit to paranoia, but being a little guarded can prevent you from stumbling into a vulnerable situation. Since predators use online classifieds to lure unsuspecting victims, you should find out as much as possible about strangers who contact you. Use Google or iSearch.com to investigate names and email addresses.
Whenever possible, deal locally. People who cannot meet you in your town are more likely to be scammers. And even when you do meet in person, you should be wary.
Never engage in online transactions involving credit cards, cashier’s checks, money orders, personal checks, Western Union, MoneyGram or cash, that require you to send money to a stranger in response to money they have sent you. This is an advance fee scam.
Be smart. Don’t disclose your financial information, including account or Social Security numbers, for any reason. Scammers will say anything in order to get this information.
Prevent check fraud. When sending checks in the mail, you want to prevent “check washing,” which occurs when they recipient alters the name of the payee and increases the dollar amount, draining your checking account. Something as simple and inexpensive as a select uni-ball pen can help. These pens contain specially formulated gel ink (trademarked Uni-Super Ink™) that is absorbed into the paper’s fibers and can never be washed out.
Secure your PC. Make sure your PC is protected with McAfee anti-virus software and all your critical security patches in your operating system are up to date.
Protect your identity. You can’t prevent all forms of identity theft. However you can significantly reduce your risk by making a small investment in your personal security by investing in Intelius Identity Protect or considering the options described in this blog post.
