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Kim Kardashian’s Identity Theft Case cracked

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Never underestimate the brains of a young guy who still lives with his mother—at least not the case of 19-year-old Luis Flores, Jr., who was smart enough to steal the identities of Kim Kardashian and even the head of the FBI, and assume their financial accounts.

11DOf course, he wasn’t smart enough not to get caught.

Flores’ weapon was a flash drive loaded with private data from celebrities and politicians; he got into their credit card accounts and transferred thousands of their dollars to his bank account. He got nabbed finally.

Red flags raised when American Express reported some suspicious activity on a number of accounts, causing the Secret Service to investigate Flores and his mother.

Someone had phoned American Express claiming to be Kim Kardashian, knew her private information, then changed the account’s SSN to that of Flores’. The snail mail address was changed to Flores’ apartment’s. The caller then requested replacement cards.

The Secret Service questioned Flores and Kyah Green, his mother, about the cards but they didn’t cooperate. The Secret Service also discovered that Flores had a history of fraudulent behavior. Additionally, Flores had wired money from Kris Jenner’s account into his own.

It gets better: Authorities linked Flores to fraudulent activity involving Ashton Kutcher, Paris Hilton, U.S. Marshals Service Director Stacia Hylton and former FBI director Robert Mueller.

The flash drive was discovered in Flores’ apartment by the Secret Service. In it was the bank and credit card accounts, credit reports and SSNs of all the victims named prior, but also those of Bill Gates, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Beyoncé Knowles, plus other politicians.

How could Flores’ have gotten this sensitive information? A web site that was launched last year by hackers. It is believed the hackers got the data from legitimate sources such as information brokers who didn’t realize their clients were criminals.

The search of Flores’ apartment by agents didn’t stop him; he contacted American Express in an attempt to access the accounts of Gates, Kutcher and Tom Cruise.

Flores and his mother were charged federally; both pleaded guilty. This is one more reason to invest in identity theft protection or get a credit freeze.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

Consumers worried about Identity Theft over Privacy

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A recent poll of 1,000 Internet users reveals that they’re very concerned about security threats to their personal and financial information. Users also believe that the feds should step up more to protect them.2P

  • 80% are concerned that hackers will get into information they share.
  • 16% are on edge that businesses will use data they share online to send out unsolicited ads to them.
  • 75% are nervous their personal data will be hocked by hackers.
  • 54% worry their browsing history will be monitored for targeted advertising.
  • 57% have signed up for a two-step sign-in process.
  • 83% have required a password to unlock their devices at some point.

This small survey is indicative of the awareness that users have over security and their belief that the federal government needs to take more action.

Nevertheless, the respondents showed a proactive approach to protection, e.g., 73% don’t allow services to retain their credit card information; 65% set their browsers to disable cookies; 68% adjust privacy settings for online accounts; and 76% use a different password for different services.

But consumers give up privacy for “free”.

“The poll also shows that respondents have a lower level of concern about targeted online advertising as evidence by the fact that most would rather have a free Internet with targeted advertising than a paid service but with no advertising.  Twice as many say they prefer free online services supported by targeted ads (61%) over online services that they pay for but come with no targeted ads (33%)”

This is good news for companies providing free identity theft protection to their customers. On one hand customers want security; on the other hand they want “free”. So when offering up free identity theft protection, a consumer is getting their cake and eating it too!

CCIA

The Computer & Communications Industry Association is nonprofit and represents a large cross section of communications, computer and Internet industry businesses. CCIA promotes innovation and the preservation of fair competition throughout industry. Over 600,000 people are employed by CCIA, and yearly revenue exceeds $200 billion.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to AllClearID. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video. Disclosures.

Guarantee your Customers’ Identity Protection

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The AllClear Guarantee is designed to protect a business owner’s customers from identity theft. Your customers are assured:
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  • Six months of automatic protection once they complete their transaction. Each new purchase means extended coverage with any merchant who displays the Guarantee.
  • Protection wherever customers go. Customers are protected by the Guarantee beyond your site, no matter where they go or how ID theft happens.
  • If a customer’s ID is stolen, AllClear will fix everything: restoration of credit report, recovery of financial losses, etc.
  • Zero cost to customers. Participating merchants pay for the Guarantee.

These points are extremely important to the merchant. After all, according to Forrester (2012), 66% of customers are most worried about getting their identities stolen while they’re online. But what’s their greatest online concern? Edelman (2012) says that 90 percent of customers name sharing financial information online as being their greatest concern—as in, for example, using a credit card to make an online payment to a retailer.

How does guaranteed protection benefit the business owner?

  • Increased revenue. Your customers will have more confidence when they complete transactions and will feel more secure about giving accurate information.
  • Customer retention. When consumers feel safe online, they’re more likely to return time and again. The Guarantee will provide this secure feeling.
  • Reduced risk. You’ll be able to respond faster to a data breach, thanks to the Guarantee.

With the AllClear Guarantee, you won’t hope your clients are safe online; you’ll know they are.

  • Consumers should seek out websites that show the AllClear Guarantee
  • Every purchase gets automatic identity protection.
  • The Guarantee is covered by participating merchants.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to AllClearID. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video. Disclosures.

How do I protect Myself engaged in the Internet of Things?

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The Internet of Things—IoT—is a formal term referring to distinctly identifiable objects (cars, kitchen appliances, smartphones) and their cyber-representations on the Internet.

3DBy 2020, it’s projected by at least one expert that there will be over 30 billion “things” represented virtually. All of this gives rise to increased security risk that seems almost paranormal.

The virtual world seems to be closing in on the physical world. Gee, sensors that track food purchases, for instance, can reveal if someone’s on a diet or is of a particular religion.

The IoT is expected to evolve in the following ways:

  1. Making dumb objects smart. Imagine house keys that don’t need to be taken out of one’s purse or pocket to open a door, or a gadget that you can scan dairy products in your refrigerator for expiration dates, and the sensor will then remind you of these dates.

    Go one step further: A mouse that can click links—not controlled by hand movements, but by thought. Well, that may be a century off, but you get the idea.

  2. “Things” that make changes by sensing changes in the environment. Imagine a garage door that opens because a sensor in it “knows” that the homeowner is approaching from 100 feet away.

    These “things” will react according to data received about what those things are virtually connected to. But if this technology is centralized, imagine what a hacker can do: The whole town’s garage doors won’t open. A national centralization will even be worse.

  3. Devices with independent autonomy. This sounds fantastic: Technology won’t require an intermediary device (like a smartphone) to take action when it “senses” a change in the environment.

    Imagine a “thing” sensing a change in your body (via sensory technology and apps) and then responding by dispensing medication. But this also sounds frightening: Imagine what a malicious hacker can do with this technology.

Security Issues

  • Ownership of data. Passing the buck for security responsibility is a major issue. Who’s responsible if a device gets hacked? The maker of the device? The owner? The hacker? Who should have secured it? This type of responsibility needs to be defined.
  • Transfer of information. Vulnerabilities exist when data is enroute. Data may sit stored in a local data collation hub where it awaits uploading, but meantime can be stolen.
  • Sensitivity of data. Varying tiers of security are needed to correspond to varying kinds of data being transferred. For example, a data stream about the amount of humidity in a greenhouse doesn’t need security, while medical record information definitely does.
  • Death by hacker. With increasing advances in the realm of IoT, hacking can become a life-and-death matter, not just the nuisance of some baby monitor getting hacked and the hacker spewing out lewd comments for mommy to hear. For instance, it’s only a matter of time before a doctor, hundreds of miles away, remotely controls a patient’s implanted heart arrhythmia controller. What if a hacker gains access and demands ransom or else?
  • IT infrastructure. Cloud security concerns will only deepen as the IoT proliferates. Data access, ID and authentication, legislative boundary constraints and other issues must be considered. And should data be stored publically or privately, is another big question to answer.
  • Unprotected wireless. Making sure any wireless connections are protected by a VPN is essential. Hotspot Shield VPN is a great option and it’s free.

At this point, nobody really knows how all of this will pan out. Regulation and legislation will be very challenging. The IoT may very well leave legislation for data protection in the dust.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield VPN. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

10 Tips to Keep Your Data Private Online

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The Internet has become an essential tool for most of us and a part of our everyday lives. We rely on it to send/receive emails, post/share photos and messages on social networking sites, shop for clothes, search for information, etc. But how do all these online activities affect your privacy?

2PYour online privacy depends on your ability to control both the amount of personal information that you provide and who has access to that information. Unfortunately, some of us are too casual and careless with how we manage our personal information and activities online. This leaves us vulnerable to identity theft and invasion of our privacy, both from legitimate and illegitimate sources.

That’s because your personal information, including your email address, phone number and Social Security number and other personally identifiable information, is worth a lot of money. The bad guys will use it to steal from you and businesses want to know as much about you as possible so they can sell you more products and services or serve you ads that are highly relevant to your demographics and preferences.

So take these simple steps to protect your valuable personal information:

  1. Be careful what you share and post online. Remember, don’t post or share anything that you wouldn’t want shared publically, even if you think you’re just sending it to one person.
  2. Don’t freely give out personal information online any more than you would to a stranger on the street. Keep personal information (such as your hometown, birth date with year and phone number) off social networks.
  3. Don’t send any sensitive information when connecting over public Wi-Fi (e.g. don’t do banking or shop online)
  4. Use private browsing mode on your Internet browser or at least turn off your browser cookies.
  5. Never reply to spam or unknown messages, whether by email, text, IM or social networking posts from people you don’t know—especially if it’s for an offer that sounds too good to be true.
  6. Only friend or connect with people online you know in real life.
  7. Make sure when you’re providing any personal information online that the site uses encryption (look for https:// in the URL) and check to see how they are using your personal data in their privacy policy.
  8. Be aware of location services with your smartphone or tablet. Turn off the GPS on your mobile device’s camera and only allow
  9. Routinely update your social media privacy settings to ensure your profile is appropriately protected and also make sure to change your passwords on your accounts at least 3x a year.
  10. 10. Make sure all your devices are protected with comprehensive security, like McAfee LiveSafe™ service that provides not only antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, anti-spam and a firewall, but also protects your data and identity on your PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.

Why Should You Shop on Sites with Trustmarks?

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With the holiday season in full swing, this is a busy time for a lot of us with parties, gift buying and possibly even figuring out travel arrangements. With all there is to do, many of us will turn to online shopping to help beat the crowds, find deals and not have to worry about what time we shop.

mcaWhile online shopping may be convenient, we also need to exercise some caution. After all, there are websites that are set up to sell fake or pirated digital downloads that can carry viruses or malware along with the product you thought you purchased legally. But there are also a lot of honest people who run legitimate e-commerce sites and care about the privacy and security of their customers.

So, how can you tell if a site is safe and protects your personal information? Well, one indicator of a safe site is one that displays a trustmark. A trustmark is a seal, logo, insignia or other icon that is usually placed on the site (often on the checkout/cart page) to show that the merchant is making an effort to protect you from cybercriminals and online fraudsters who might be out to distribute malware or collect your personal and financial data for the purposes of identity theft. There are a wide variety of trustmarks that indicate various levels of protection.

To better understand trustmarks, and how to use them, follow these simple tips:

  • Don’t just trust it; verify it! Trustmark providers usually provide a live link with their trust seal or icon that allows you to verify the trustmark and whether it is up to date. Don’t just look at the icon and assume that it is legitimate—click to make sure
  • Not all protection is the same. It’s best to conduct your own research on a trustmark to find out what it really means.  Look for regular audits, recent updates and other indications that it provides protection and security for your personal data.
  • Universal protection doesn’t exist. No single trustmark can guarantee protection against anything and everything. Be skeptical and do additional research if you encounter this claim.
  •  Details, details, details. Read the fine print on both the merchant’s and the trustmark provider’s sites. Prominent placement of a privacy policy might look secure, but what level of security and privacy does that policy really offer you?

Legitimate trustmarks can be helpful tools that let you connect with confidence when shopping online. Just remember to take the time to learn a little about the trustmarks you come across so you can make informed decisions about which sites to do business with in the future. For more tips on safe shopping this holiday season, read this blog or download McAfee’s eguide.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.

Child Identities need more Legal Protection

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Identity theft can involve children. In fact, it’s a growing problem. The thief takes a child’s Social Security number and either uses their name or assigns it to a different name and always changes the date of birth. So 2 year old Sally is now 22 and has a Benz. The thief then uses this new identity for job applications, loans or government benefits.

1DThe unique disaster is that child identity theft could persist for years before the parents or victim when older figure it out. This delay makes it harder to restore the victim’s good name. Tens of thousands of children are victims of identity theft every year across the U.S.

In Florida, it’s estimated that 50,000 child identity theft cases occur every year. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and state Sen. Nancy Detert have proposed legislation to help prevent victimization.

A bill (SB 242) will permit parents to freeze a child’s credit records until they’re old enough to use them: the Keeping IDs Safe (KIDS) Act.

A broad coalition of groups (e.g., bankers, law enforcement and children’s advocates) backs this legislation. This includes the Florida Police Chiefs Association, Children’s Home Society and school superintendents.

The KIDS Act may protect up to 10,000 Florida kids from identity theft every year.

How it works:

Parents of kids under 16 or who are guardians of disabled adults can request that a credit agency create the credit record; then freeze it until the child/adult can use it. A fee of up to $10 can be charged by the agencies.

Though adults have already been able to freeze their credit records, they need to realize that child identity theft is a real and growing problem, and that freezing their records is a very viable guard against this crime.

Meanwhile identity theft protection in many cases will help prevent child identity theft. However not all services offer this option. The good news is that child identity theft protection is generally less than $50.00 a year per child when the parent invests in a family plan.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

100 Person Identity Theft Ring busted

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This year, one of the biggest identity theft rings originating from Minnesota was prosecuted—spanning 14 states and involving hundreds of victims. Total theft exceeded $2.5 million, and major retailers and banks were victimized.

1GJust who was part of this ring is mind boggling; the participants included a receptionist with the state Board of Psychology; and employees at the St. Paul Postal Credit Union, Wells Fargo Bank and other major companies. Insiders generally have direct access to client data and can do the most damage.

Victims of identity theft aren’t necessarily gullible and naïve. As just mentioned, one of the ring participants was the receptionist. She gave Social Security numbers of psychologists to the ring leaders.

One of those psychologists found out her identity had been stolen when a bank called her to report that a woman claiming to be her had attempted to get $4,000 cash back from a $6,800 check she tried to deposit. At another bank, the imposter tried again with a fake driver’s license in the victim’s name that had a photo of the imposter.

The imposter eventually confessed to cashing fraudulent checks and using fake checks and driver’s licenses with names of actual people. Her fraudulent purchases exceeded $154,500.

Basic Methods

  • Other participants purchased high-end products with fake checks printed from special equipment, then returned them for cash refunds or gift cards.
  • They also printed fake IDs and recruited about 10 people to enlist over 100 more to do the check cashing and product purchasing.
  • A ringleader would often sit in a car while their help cashed a fake check, then the proceeds would be split.
  • Thieves obtained personal information by breaking into homes, mailboxes, cars and businesses.
  • The scam even sucked in family and friends. One ringleader had his two sons in on it.

This goes to show you how susceptible the public is to a mastermind of an extensive identity theft ring. Makes you think you can’t even trust the receptionist of the company you work for.

All that being said, account takeover generally can’t be prevented when organized criminals get a hold of account numbers. However new account fraud, when thieves use your Social Security number, can mostly can be prevented with identity theft protection.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

6 Shredding Tips To Prevent Identity Theft

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Shredding is fun! Repeat that 10 times and you just might start believing it. Certainly shredding is a tad bit of work, but that’s what kids and interns are for!

4HShredding might be inconvenient, but it’s absolutely necessary—and it’s fundamental to protecting your identity and the identities of those who have entrusted you with their data. Shredding is like recycling, eating well and exercise: You may not always want to do it, but it’s good for you.

Here’s how to better manage your shredables:

  1. Primary documents: I shred everything that comes in the mail with my name on it and that I don’t need. Shred or destroy prescription bottles, CDs with data on them, and supporting tax documents older than three years (some say seven), including investment statements, bank statements, canceled checks and paystubs.
  2. Secondary documents: Documents like ATM receipts, credit card statements, utility bills and insurance policies should all be kept for two years. The only reason to keep these is in case you determine a mistake was made so you can go back and look. Otherwise, if you can access any of these documents online, shred them now. Homeowner-related documents should be kept as long as you own the home and maybe a year after you eventually sell it.
  3. Devices: Don’t forget to shred or destroy hard drives, SD cards, mobile phones, SIM cards and thumb drives. While reformatting and reinstalling an operating system will get rid of most of the data, it’s just better to kill the drive with a special shredder for non-paper files—also known as a sledgehammer.
  4. Reduce paper: One way to reduce all the stuff needing shredding is to turn off the paper. At this point, most, if not all, of your bank, credit card, utilities, mobile phone and other accounts allow (and in some cases, require) e-statements. This means every month you’ll get an email stating, “Your statement is ready!” But don’t click that link, as it could be a phish. Get access to your statements through a password manager or via your favorite menu.
  5. Shred-a-thons: Many banks now sponsor shred-a-thons where one of those crankin’, big shredding trucks shows up to the bank’s parking lot and you can watch boxes and boxes of your stuff get decimated right in front of you. Bring the kids!
  6. Burn it: Depending on the amount of stuff you have to shred and your local ordinances regarding conflagrations, you might want to box up all of your shredables and burn them the same time you might burn leaves, or when you have a backyard bonfire.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

Laptop theft leads to identity theft

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Ever lose a mobile device? Have one stolen? Know someone who has? Device loss and theft is a common issue when it comes to identity theft and results in data breaches. Some studies have shown as many as 2.5 million laptops are stolen annually, which equates to a laptop stolen every 12 seconds.

It used to be that laptops were stolen only because of their resale value. However, a laptop today can be purchased for under $500 and the resale value might be less than $100. Criminals know that depending on the data, a stolen laptop could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the right hands.

For example: SecurityInfoWatch reports, “The health information of 729,000 patients was compromised when thieves stole two laptops from an administration building of a San Gabriel Valley-based hospital group, officials said. The thieves swiped the laptops from a video-monitored sixth-floor office on a medical campus that officials said is ‘gated and patrolled by security.’ The suspects broke into the office and stole two password-protected laptops, they said.

“According to the hospital group, the computers contained data, including patients’ names, Medicare/insurance identification numbers, diagnosis/procedure codes and insurance/patient payment records. Some of the files contained the Social Security numbers of Medicare patients, officials said.”

What officials didn’t say is that this kind of laptop theft can result in a data breach that is the equivalent of a crook hitting the jackpot.

Consumers are at a significant disadvantage in these situations. Due to no fault of their own, brazen thieves got access to their data, and there’s nothing they can do about it. More than likely, the hospital will be saddled with providing the victims with some form of credit monitoring that will cost the hospital millions.

Chances are good that at some point this year or in the future, your data will be on a laptop that is either lost or stolen—and you may never even hear about it. My suggestion is to always be proactive. Today, make an investment in identity theft protection and double up on your protection by getting a credit freeze.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.