Showing posts with label identity theft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label identity theft. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
How to Protect Your Privacy - Keep Your Information Off the Internet












Your privacy is being lost every day. Your personal information is being shared without your consent or knowledge. Companies are making big money by gathering information about you, and then selling, distributing and publishing that private data on the internet for the world to see. Welcome to the new age, where your right to privacy is being lost without a fight.

Despite the high risk for identity theft, internet scams, and real world crime resulting from information found about you on the internet, companies and websites continue to blast your public records and private data all over the internet. Sites such as 123People, MyLife, Intelius and countless others sell your information on a daily basis to any person or company with an internet connection and credit card. Violating your privacy has become big business!

Why Privacy Matters

Hardworking, honest citizens are not the only ones using the internet. Criminals love the internet because it offers anonymity, and crimes can be hard to trace and detect. Law enforcement and private investigators agree, the less information found about you on the internet, the safer you are. The more information you have online, the more at risk you are for online and real world crime. If a criminal can find your photo, your full name, date of birth and address online, you are great target for a wide range of crime. Google Maps can even show criminals what your home looks like, and how to get there. The companies publishing your private information and public records know how valuable your privacy is. It’s time to fight back, fight for your right to privacy!

20 Steps to Protect Your Privacy


1. Share less online
The more you share online, the more you give your privacy away. Remember that what you share online may end up in the wrong hands. If you post something on the internet and later decide you want to remove it, know that it may not be possible. Think twice before sharing.

2. Use social networks responsibly
Are your 1000 “friends” on Facebook truly trustworthy? Do you even know them all? What about the 5000 people reading your tweets on Twitter? Review your contact list and ask yourself if it’s truly a good idea to be sharing information with everyone in your social circle.

3. Never post personal data
Never post your date of birth or address or vacation schedule on the internet for others to see. Criminals love to get this information, and take advantage of those who share it.

4. Check your browser settings
Check your privacy settings on your internet browser such as IE and Firefox. Disable or delete your cookies on a weekly basis to keep websites from learning more about you.

5. Adjust your privacy settings
Check your privacy settings on your social networking accounts such as Facebook, and be sure your information is only visible to trusted friends - and not visible to the entire world.

6. Use two email addresses
Keep your primary email address for your friends and family. Create a second email address to use when online shopping and giving out to people and companies you don’t know.

7. Put a password on it
Make sure you change your passwords at least once a year, and password protect your smart phones and computers so you’re the only person who can access your info.

8. Cash and carry
When possible, leave no paper trail. Pay in cash and be on your way when you can.

9. Clear your browser history
Once a week, clear your browser history on IE or Firefox, so websites can’t track your history.

10. Consider browsing anonymously
Take a look at Easy Hide IP or similar software to surf the web with an anonymous IP address.

11. Install anti-virus software
Make sure you have anti-virus software on your computer, such as AVG or similar.

12. Get a PO Box
Consider a PO box near your home to create public records at that address rather than at your home. This can keep you and your family safe, and stop nearly all of your junk mail!

13. Just say “no”
When companies or government agencies ask for your social security or address or email address, say you’re not comfortable sharing the information. If needed, provide false info.

14. Buy a shredder
Criminals still love to read your trash. Buy a shredder so sensitive documents like credit card and tax statements stay out of the hands of potential criminals. If you don’t have the money for a shredder, you can also consider burning your papers with sensitive information.

15. Keep your phone number private
Register your number on no call registries such as DoNotCall.gov to avoid solicitors. Contact your phone service provider and tell them you want your number private.

16. Let them all know
Contact all companies and accounts, such as credit cards and banks, and let them know you want to protect your privacy, and be sure they do not share or sell your information.

17. Look for privacy seals
When shopping online, look for websites with a clear privacy policy and trust seals such as Truste, McAfee and the Better Business Bureau before providing your information.

18. Consider a company like Reputation.com
Some companies are helping consumers fight back and keep their information private. These websites can be helpful in removing some of your data online, and prevent future leaks

19. Set a Google Alert for your name
Set up a Google alert on your name, to email you when anything new surfaces online.

20. Fight back, raise hell
For those companies and websites that choose to violate your privacy, and post your personal data and public records on the internet for sale to others, fight back! Call and email the company and website and tell them you do not approve, and you do not authorize them to share, sell or distribute your information. Let them know you are serious and if necessary, consult your attorney on options on how to force the website to cease and desist, if they continue to violate your privacy. If you're persistent, most sites will agree to take down your information.

You can also view the how to protect your privacy video on Youtube.

Best of luck,

A Hathaway
© 2012 A Hathaway


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Thursday, May 24, 2012
Romance Scam and Internet Fraud Infographic Reveals Risk

Are You Safe Online? The Statistics Tell the Story     

Internet Fraud and Scams
Click here for larger version

Romance scams and internet fraud are now impacting individuals and economies around the world. Law enforcement, governments and private enterprise have yet to find an effective way to combat the growing problem. As internet users become more aware of the risks, criminals become more savvy at scam techniques used to steal your money. Scam and fraud methods range from romance scams, investment scams, identity theft and business fraud. Some private investigators and fraud experts caution that the situation is spiraling out of control. What is certain, is that as more people connect and begin relationships online, there is greater risk for misrepresentation and fraud. Wymoo® International has released an important infographic revealing the global impact of this trend.

Below are just a few alarming statistics from the research:

These numbers represent only a small fraction of the actual numbers worldwide, as most victims do not report the crime to authorities because they feel too embarrassed.

There are over 200,000 romance scam victims each year in the U.K., from dating and social networking sites.

Identity theft costs the United Kingdom over $2.7 billion pounds a year, and results in over 1.8 million victims a year, according to the National Fraud Authority.

The Office of Fair Trading in the U.K. reports there are over 3 million British victims a year.

Annually, there are more than 10 million victims of identity fraud in the United States, resulting in financial losses of over $50 billion USD in the U.S. in 2011 alone.

The FBI sponsored website, IC3.gov, received complaints from romance scams reporting losses of over $50.4 million USD in 2011, and only a small percentage report the crime.

Most internet criminals make contact with victims through online dating sites and social networking sites, such as Match.com and Facebook and countless others worldwide.

One in three internet users worldwide regard the web as a good place to find a partner. However, an estimated 25% of all internet profiles contain false data or photos.

There are now over 1,500 online dating sites in the United States alone.

In Australia, there are over 800,000 scam and fraud victims annually. These crimes result in over $1 billion USD in losses each year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In Australia, government officials estimated that only 2.5% of all internet crimes are reported.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, only 5 percent of all victims report the crime.

Investigation companies like Wymoo and internet privacy advocates urge consumers to guard their private information and avoid posting personal information on the internet, whenever possible. Think twice before “sharing” personal data online, and know that no site is 100% immune from fraud and scams. The smaller your internet footprint the better, say investigators. Law enforcement agencies are increasingly working cases where the criminal obtained information about his victim via the internet. The more data a criminal can find about you, your age, date of birth, address and place of employment, the easier it is for you to be a victim. Stay safe. Know the risk, and when in doubt, consult a reputable private investigator for a discreet background check.

Stay skeptical and safe online.  Verify first, then decide.

Best of luck,

A Hathaway
© 2012 A Hathaway


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Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Online Dating Partners Should be Verified, Say Investigators


Living in the internet era has brought amazing advantages to people. Life can be more organized and easy, not so time consuming and you can even find friends and even love over the internet these days. But how do you know the person you have just made friends with or seems to be a good candidate as a dating partner is actually who he or she claims to be?

There are thousands of cases every month in which international detectives are verifying online relationships and helping consumers avoid fraud. As more and more relationships are started online, the higher the risk and greater the unknown. Around the world there are millions of people who have been victims of internet fraud out via an online dating relationship. The biggest problem, say investigators is that most consumers get an investigation once they suspect fraud, once the damage has been done. Experts urge online dating subscribers to consider a background check investigation early as a form of insurance, to avoid heartache and identity theft.

Romance scams are no longer making the news in mainstream media, as most feel it is old news and the risk is gone and people are educated on the topic. Nothing could be further from the truth. The number of romance scam victims continues to grow worldwide as criminals increase their effectiveness in scams. As consumers become more aware, criminal evolve.

Subscribers should know that although some sites are riskier than others, no site is completely immune from fraud. Even on sites like Match.com, there is no way for the dating site to effectively screen all of its members and subscribers. It is up to you to watch out for red flags..

There is nothing wrong with looking for love on the net. It is our busy and demanding life that has made millions of people look for the internet as a valid source to fall in love but there are things to know and watch out for once you have decided to find your partner in the cyberspace.

A red flag is when the person who contacts you has different profiles on different dating websites, or when photographs seem to be that of a model, or when the person immediately asks you to start communicating off the dating website. Never reveal your personal data such as date of birth or address until you know exactly who you’re dealing with, and have met the subject in person.

Most of the time scammers hide in fake profiles made up with former victims photos and data, even documents like passports and visas could have been obtained by stealing a victim’s identity. In some cases there simply is no way to know without hiring a professional private investigator to conduct a discreet dating background checks to see if the person on the other side of the screen is who he or she claims to be. Play it safe. Protect your private data, be skeptical, and when you find yourself in a potential meaningful relationship, have your potential partner verified.

International private investigators have seen everything when online dating comes as the main subject in a case. The list of felonies and threats seems endless and most of the times
Best of luck,

A Hathaway
© 2012 A Hathaway

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Friday, April 20, 2007
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How to Answer: Who sent me that email?

With roughly 2 billion Internet users at the start of 2007, it can be difficult to determine who is actually sending an email, and from what country. Spam operators often use sophisticated software, server misrepresentation and other techniques to conceal their identity. Companies that spam often hire a third party company to do their mass mailing, and receive all the complaints. Individuals or small groups of spammers use any means available to send bulk email to as many recipients as possible (millions) and not be identified. A recent trend of spammers is to use "zombie" PCs, which are virus-infected PCs, where an average Internet user unknowlingly sends spam from his own system. The latest estimates put email spam at over 90 billion emails being sent daily. This amounts to over 80% of all emails in the world on any given day. Others send less volume but single out their victims by emailing lottery emails, Nigeria 419 scams and prize offers. Many unsuspecting Internet users initiate contact with criminals via chat rooms and dating websites. Once the relationship scam starts, it can be difficult to know that the individual claiming to live in Paris is truly writing from Ghana. Below we offer some options and general advice.

1. If it's spam, don't reply.

If the email is plain spam, never reply to the sender. Sending an email asking to be taken off their list, or telling the spammer exactly what you think, will only verify your email account as active. The spammer will then send more spam, and may sell your address to other spammers resulting in an overload of spam.

2. Who sent that email, and from where?

Tracing the IP address and routing will usually provide some basic information on the sender, depending on what, if any, efforts are employed to conceal the sender's identity. Many sites offer this service. Perhaps one of the best is Visualware's Email Tracker Pro. The software offers a free 15 day trial to test the program. After the trial period the user has the option to buy a license $29.95. We found this program to be reliable and current, i.e. Visualware regularly updates global server information which helps tracking. To trace an email received, you will need the IP address of the email message, and to do that you will need to examine the Internet header of the mail message. For more information on how to view the header of an email message recieved, ReadNotify offers good visual instructions.

3. Knowing the Limitations

Tracing the IP address from an email received, even if using a reliable software such as Email Tracker Pro, and when the sender makes no attempt to conceal his identity, may not provide all the information you're looking for. Remember, IP addresses are from servers and servers can be and usually are physically apart from the Internet user. For example, an author of an email in Tennessee sending email via AOL, may be labeled as Virginia given the location of AOL's servers. In fact, the geographical distance can be much greater than that, at times, even in a different country. Some users in England, for example, use IP address from servers in France, therefore an IP trace could indicate the user is in a different country. A woman sending emails from rural Russia, 400 miles from Moscow, may still show up as being located in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Knowing the limitations enables the user to use the IP and email tracing tools available as tools, not as conclusive location data.

4. Professional Services Available

Depending on the importance of confirming a sender's location, some professional options are available. Some international background check companies employ some of the same software available to law enforcement and federal agencies determined to track the sender of an email message. Wymoo International is one firm that specializes in confirming physical location of individuals and businesses around the world. The background check group usually conducts traces on email samples provided by clients, but also can verify results with physical visits and public records.

Technology is changing rapidly. As technology makes it easier to trace the senders of email messages, so too does the technology to conceal a sender's identity. We'll return to this topic soon with the changing methods to see who is behind the email.

Best of luck,

A. Hathaway
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Wednesday, April 18, 2007
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Basics of security and protecting yourself online

Internet security, identity theft and fraud have become major issues recently as more people globally obtain access to the Internet. With the decrease in barriers to entry, i.e. lower webhosting costs, widespread highspeed and wireless Internet access, and website contruction software that truly enables anyone to create a website, the online players and number of new websites are increasing exponentially. With this increase comes a flood of new websites from countries around the world with various languages and business and regulatory environments. The question for the Internet user becomes, which of these websites can be trusted when making online purchases and revealing personal information to an unknown party?

Online fraud in auctions, advance fee fraud and romance scams, lottery and phishing emails, credit card and identity theft totalled well over $2B USD in 2006. The number is expected to increase in 2007 despite efforts to curb the trend. Criminals carry out the operations from countries all over the world, but many work from Internet cafes in corrupt countries like Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana. The truth is, however, nearly all countries in the world have criminals involved in this new crime. It is estimated that over 60% of all Internet users express privacy and trust concerns when shopping or providing personal information over the web, or over 1 billion people worldwide. How can you protect yourself from this growing crime? We provide some safety tips.

Search the Web for reviews, posts and information.

By searching Google and Yahoo for the company or website name, chances are excellent you can find reviews or at least comments from other users and customers. If not, try searching the Rip Off Report to see if the company has had a history of complaints. Sill no information? Try using Yahoo Answers to ask if anyone has any information on the site. If after these attempts little or no information is known about the site, chances are the website is new or a very small operation. In other words, the risk is higher as the company or website has yet to establish its brand and online reputation. Next, a look at the actual site.

Look for privacy policies and privacy associations.

The first step when judging an unknown website should be viewing its privacy policy. If the site has no privacy policy, consider it a questionable operation and move on. Reading the entire privacy policy and legal verbage isn't necessay, but do scan the document to see if the site or company appears to take privacy matters seriously. Truste is a non-profit group which offers its website seal to those sites which comply with their strict standards. If the website in question has this seal, chances are the website and or company takes the matter seriously with adequate steps to inform site visitors and protect your private information.

Check for security seals on the site like Hacker Safe.

If a website has a major security seal such as ScanAlert's Hacker Safe seal, visitors to that site know that the company or website has taken steps to protect users and customers from credit card fraud and identity theft. Although there are no guarantees, there is no comparison between a site with such a security seal and one without this safeguard. The Hacker Safe seal indicates the site is scanned daily to ensure the site meets strict security standards of secure website design and server applications.

Demand site encryption for personal information.

To protect personal information trasmission, such as credit card payments or home telephone and address data, a well designed and safe Internet website should have SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption of at least 128 bit. What does this mean? This indicates the website uses technology which ecrypts your personal data when being trasmitted from the website to its servers, and is therefore extremely difficult to intercept or steal. A major company offering this service is VeriSign and having the seal indicates that the site, or portions of the site are encrypted. There are many competitors, however, and as long as the yellow lock shows on the bottom right hand side of the browser, visitors to a website know that such a site page is being encrypted.

A website example of how it all looks and works.

Wymoo International makes a good case presentation of how all these elements come together to protect website visitors and customers. These same principles that a website is properly designed and maintained, however, can and should be applied to other websites when the choice is being made to do business via a website, or even to supply basic personal information. From viewing Wymoo's home page, we see on the bottom left hand corner the Hacker Safe and Truste seals. By clicking on either seal, visitors and potential customers can verify that the site is in current compliance with each online security group. On Wymoo's Free Quote page, visitors again see the Hacker Safe and Truste seals, but on the bottom right of the browser, there is the yellow lock indicating the page is encrypted. Also on the page are links to the privacy and data security policy. This is a good example of what to look for in quality e-commerce websites.

Lastly, there is no way to ensure 100% safety while shopping or providing personal information on the Internet. There are many steps you can take to judge whether or not the website is legitimate and offers protection from identity theft and credit card fraud. Research the company or website reputation on Yahoo and Google. Look for security and privacy seals such as HackerSafe and Truste. Check for website encryption (the yellow lock) on pages where you submit your private information. Lastly, make payments with a major credit card. In the event of fraud, your credit card company may reverse the charge.

Play it safe,

A. Hathaway
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