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Hacking and Ways to Protect Ourselves

Hacking information from computers is a broad way of gaining information illegally. Some of us may not be familiar with the term hacker. A hacker is a computer expert who’s main goal is to find ways to break into other computer systems and gain information. They can then steal information and cause problems for the system. In today’s high tech world, these hackers are becoming more of a dangerous nuisance.

Recently the Wall Street Journal came out with a new article discussing the detection of a new hacking attack. A computer-security company discovered a breach of information in 2,411 companies and government agencies where large amounts of personal and corporate information were stolen, ranging from credit card transactions to databases and email account access. Apparently it had been a coordinated global hacking attack that had taken place over the past 18 months in both Europe and China. It’s still unclear how far the damage spreads. Sometimes these criminal groups have even stolen information of employees’ criminal involvement and used it for extortion. So how was this done? Spyware was used to control computers remotely. These attacks are not blocked by the standard antivirus software. Obviously, there are some weaknesses in the security of cyberspace (Read the full article here).

What lesson do we need to learn from this? Almost everyone uses a computer whether it’s to write emails or purchase products or store information. We need to understand how our machine or network can be attacked and then educate ourselves on how to best protect ourselves from these hackers. Here’s a little more information on how hackers can control computers remotely. There are scanner programs that ping IP addresses of networked systems to see if the system is running. Firewall software can show these repeated pings when reviewing the log. Weaknesses can be revealed through some of these scanning programs and hackers can spy on the information passing between the machines. These hackers can then use the internet to share lists of exposed IP addresses where there are security breaches. Sometimes the owner has no idea that this is occurring.

How can we protect ourselves?

• Firewall. When hackers are probing to see which systems are up, a firewall will mask this so it appears as if your system is not up.


• Antivirus Software, including anti Trojan software. A Trojan virus installs other software on your computer system. Run it every week so that you can detect any new viruses.


• Anti-Spyware Software. Spyware installs on your computer without your knowledge. These software programs can track your activity and even cause pop-ups on your computer. Sometimes several anti-spyware software programs will have to be used to rid the variety of spyware programs out there.


• Caution with Emails and use Passwords. Nowadays I routinely get emails from strangers claiming they’ve inherited a fortune and they really need my help in spending it. Don’t ever give personal information away to strangers in emails and never open email attachments with executable files unless you can trust the sender. There are always new upcoming scams when it comes to emails. But follow these two rules to protect yourself.


• Routinely backup Important Material. This will protect you if you ever were to lose sensitive files, documents or photos.


• Use Identity Theft Protection Services. This enables us to monitor our personal information -- credit scores, new accounts opened -- so in the worse-case scenario, if our information has been compromised, we will know immediately.

Important Financial Steps when a Loved One Dies

Identity thieves are becoming craftier. No longer do they merely steal from the living, but now they’re targeting even the dead. There’s a familiar saying don’t kick ‘em when they’re down. That’s exactly what these thieves are doing to the family of the deceased.

We’ve all dealt with death and depending on our connection to the deceased, the emotional stress varies. The emotional stress is what these thieves exploit when they take advantage of the delay when family members don’t immediately do the necessary paperwork. There are also bureaucratic delays and this lag is exactly what the thief needs to accomplish his goal. And on a side note, if financial institutions aren’t notified of the death then the accounts of the dead can stay active for up to 10 years.

So what do these thieves then do? They may search the obituaries in the newspapers or steal death certificates or they may even seek out the numerous websites that enable them to check the social security death index. Whatever the case, they could end up with a real social security number and a name that goes with it. Both the obituaries and the social security index will have information on the deceased. At this point they may either sell the information to other crooks or keep the information to apply for loans, access more credit and therefore make more money. There are some guidelines that we can follow as family members of the deceased to protect both ourselves and our loved one’s name.

• When writing an obituary, don’t share unneeded information such as the date of birth or the address of the deceased.


• Obtain at least 10 copies of the official birth certificate. This will provide the needed proof to the financial institutions, such as credit bureaus and banks and any other establishments, even the motor vehicle department.


• Now with the official birth certificate, you can begin to personally notify stock brokers, banks, loan holders, mortgage companies, financial institutions, credit card companies and any other establishment where the deceased had an account. When notifying, include name and SSN of the deceased, last 5 years of addresses, including the last known, and the dates of birth and death. Any outstanding balances will have to be transferred and then close all accounts with a note that the account holder is deceased. This is added protection so that no new accounts will be opened in the deceased’s name. Keep copies of any communication with these businesses.


• The death should be reported to all three credit bureaus as soon as possible. Put a deceased alert on the credit file. Request a credit report with any active joint accounts. These may potentially have to be closed. After about 2 months, request a copy of the credit report of the deceased person from all three credit bureaus. This will ensure that the death was reported on the credit file and no other transactions have occurred since then.


• Contact the social security management and inform them about the death. Do this as soon as possible.


• Contact the motor vehicles department, requesting the cancellation of the driver’s license.


• Shred any important documents which hold the deceased person’s name such as utility bills, credit card bills, bank statements and any other similar papers.

Identity Theft Victims: Guilty until Proven Innocent

You'd think as a victim of identity theft, you'd have people bending over backwards to help you in your crisis. Just the opposite it seems, at least when it comes to creditors. The thieves can be idiots, even misspelling your name when signing as you, but you however have to be faultless, proving your innocence via your perfection. Because if not, those creditors will continue to harass, assuming you’re a lazy deadbeat and unwilling to pay your bills. Obviously the best scenario is to prevent such a situation: Take all the steps to protect your identity such as not carrying your social security card in your wallet, having a lock on your mailbox, using caution when using credit cards (ie. Stay with the card when paying at a restaurant), travel with limited credit cards -- even prepaid cards -- and be guarded when giving out personal information. Another crucial precaution is to routinely check your credit score and even better; be enrolled in an identity theft protection program. In this way, you'll be alerted when suspicious purchases are made on your credit card and if your credit score changes drastically and even if you've opened up new accounts. Being enrolled in such a program is the best prevention and also provides current information on identity theft resources. We need to be continually updated on the new scams as identity thieves are getting sneakier and more creative. There's even a recent trend of stealing children's identity, demonstrating that these crooks will stoop to any level.

Just before Christmas, a story came out in Spartanburg, South Carolina where a mother learned that someone was using the social security number of her deceased son. Imagine a Christmas present that consisted of the IRS sending you a letter informing you that someone had filed a tax return under your dead child's name. Ricki Escalante's son died at ten months from SIDS. Now it's up to Ricki to send as much information about her son to the IRS(Read the full story).

Social security numbers of children are valuable resources for thieves. Why? It is assumed parents don't check the credit reports of their children. Once again the best defense is to have your children's credit reports monitored and even place a freeze on their credit files. So with any newfound scam, monitoring is always the best way to secure your name and credit.

Identity Thief at Work

Identity theft is a societal problem and can occur in many places and by many means, including in the workplace. At work, it can happen by stealing vital information from employer's records. These records can be payroll and employment information and even customer lists. And those employees that can obtain these records can sometimes be at the very bottom of the totem pole.
Whether we're an individual working for a company or we are the company owner, we need to be aware of this growing trend and what we can do about it.On a large scale, if a big company is affected, it can result in negative publicity which would in turn affect sales, hiring and retention.

What can we, as an individual, do about this growing trend? We probably already know the obvious: shed documents with personal information, don't carry our social security card in our wallets, have locked mailboxes, and even monitor our credit reports. But the problem -- which seems to be beyond our control -- lies in crooks who obtain this information from businesses that have collected personal information for legitimate reasons and then they sell this information to more crooks that use it and steal our identity. And then with this new identity, thieves can open new credit card accounts, apply for loans, write bad checks, rent apartments and the list goes on. Individuals who have been educated on identity theft or who have had this occur in their life will scrutinize those companies that have their personal information. Because of the bad seeds, companies need to raise the bar both for their employees and clients.

So if we're looking at identity fraud from a business owner perspective, what can we do about it? Informed employees and clients know that their personal information is only as safe as the association protecting it. A solution would be to offer identity theft protection as a benefit, much like health insurance. This offer would be unique to the company, whether the company pays for part of it, all of it, or merely provides the information of how to obtain this protection. The key is in the offering so employees/clients are aware of their choices and can then make an educated decision whether to accept or decline. Too much cost, we may think. But actually, it can lower our costs whether the employee has coverage or not. With coverage, there will be less time spent in restoring their identity. Without coverage, our liability has changed. We've done all in our power to protect our employees by informing and offering. Well almost . . . There are still numerous ways where we must be proactive in protecting our employees and clients.

1. Perform background checks on employees who have access to personal information on other employees/clients, even temporary workers. And limit this access where we can.




2. Use employee identification numbers that are different to social security numbers to recognize employees on paychecks etc.




3. Shred confidential documents and have specific guidelines for all employees to adhere to.




4. Use passwords and encrypted codes when confidential files are stored on the computer.




5. Be vigilant in educating staff on identity theft.

The Bank of New York and its employees are a perfect example of a workplace where large scale identity fraud has occurred. Adeniyi Adeyemi, a computer technician employed by a contractor who worked for the Bank of New York, has been charged with allegedly stealing the identities of over 150 employees and then with these identities, stealing over a million dollars from non-profit groups and charities and the employees themselves. Adeyemi now faces up to 25 years in prison. He obtained his information from the Technology department, opening additional bank accounts with this information to receive the stolen money. This all occurred over a seven and a half year period. The Bank of New York spokesman says that they are fully cooperating, but I wonder what the long-term ramifications of this will be (Read the Wall Street Journal article here).

It's always best to be insightful. But having insight is useless unless we take action by protecting ourselves, our employees and our company with our eyes wide open.

Red Flag Enforcement Delayed Fourth Time (until June 1, 2010)

The enforcement of the Red Flags rule under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) has been delayed again for the fourth time. The next implementation date is June 1, 2010. The enforcement was due to take place yesterday November 1st, 2009.

It is clear that many businesses are having difficulty getting ready for Red Flags as evidenced by the fourth delay. Many businesses falsely assume that if they are not a bank nor a credit card company, they are not subject to FACTA or Red Flags. Such is not the case. FACTA and Red Flags apply to most businesses.

The delay is good for businesses as many need additional time to get systems and procedures in order, but not good for consumers (whose identities may still be exposed for fraud for another 6 months).

Credit Card Identity Theft

1. Shred any documents with personal information before putting in the trash.
2. Opt out of mailing lists where credit card offers are sent through the mail.
3. Keep your eyes on your credit card at all times especially at stores and restaurants. It's not just on the internet where you need to be careful.
4. Identity theft insurance services.

The Identity Theft Victim & Their Rights

So here's an ironic story for you about identity theft. The last blog I wrote on identity theft was on a Friday. I wrote about what steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft -- especially mail identity theft. I then went to a nice barbeque party and watched my kids swim with their friends. Didn't really enjoy my turkey dog -- an attempt to be healthier -- but have decided since then that I'll stick to all-beef franks. On the way home, I grabbed my mail, tucked the kids in bed, and then read my mail. And to my horror, received a letter from my credit card company who was putting me on alert as one of their former employees had stolen personal information from some accounts and mine happened to be one of them. I looked at my husband, thinking perhaps this theory of Law of Attraction might actually be valid, and then began a scenario of what-ifs with this villain using my very name to open up accounts, buy a home etc. After wallowing for seconds, I called the fraud alert hotline. So they've caught the thief but the investigation is ongoing and who knows if he's sold the information already. What I realized is that it's one thing to discuss identity theft and the steps to take, and it certainly is another to feel yourself vulnerable and at risk -- and of no fault of your own. My husband saw the rainbow of it all -- well, now you'll have another article to write -- so here I am.

1. Immediately call the nationwide consumer reporting companies and place a fraud alert in your file. Everyone has the right to do this and this lets potential creditors know that you may be a victim of identity theft. Therefore, this makes it much more difficult for someone to get credit in your name. There are three nationwide consumer reporting agencies and if you contact one and place a fraud alert -- they'll contact the other two. They are Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com, Experian: 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.com, and TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com. These fraud alerts will be in your file for 90 days. Extended alerts are also possible, but an identity theft report is required. For more information, go to www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
2. You have a right to obtain a free copy of your file disclosure. What is a file disclosure? This is the information in your file at each of the 3 nationwide agencies and will help you detect if fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name. Go to www.ftc.gov/credit.
3. If fraudulent accounts were opened using your information, you have the right to get hold of those documents. Go to www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
4. You have a debt collector harassing you? And if you believe these debts were racked up by an identity thief, the debt collector has an obligation to tell you the amount of debt and the name of the creditor. You also have the right to have the consumer reporting agency to block file information which is a direct result of identity theft. Of course you must prove this with your identity and a copy of your identity theft report. Once this is done, a person or business with notice of the block can't sell, transfer or place the debt for collection. But even before this, you have the right to prevent businesses reporting information about you to consumer reporting agencies. You must then provide information to the businesses -- via a specified address given by the business that reports information to the consumer reporting agency -- by providing an identity theft report. So whatever step you are on -- via the business, the consumer reporting agency and even the debt collector -- you always have rights.

Even in Death Your Identity Is Not Safe

Gregory Victor Revson, 49, of Islamorada, FL received his sentence for convictions of identity theft and passport fraud.  In 2006 and 2008 Revson had fraudulently applied for and received passports for deceased persons.  At the time of his arrest, Revson had a thumb drive in his possession containing the names, addresses, SSN's of hundreds of deceased.  Apparently he thought that his scheme was working well.

Revson received a sentence of 75 month with an additional 14 months added to his sentence for violating the terms of supervised release related to a previous 2002 conviction for identity theft and wire fraud.

Just because you've died doesn't mean that you can't become a victim of identity theft.  That is just one more thing for your loved ones to have to worry about after you're gone is the risk of identity theft.

Identity Thieves Stealing Your Mail

Identity theft is an increasing concern as we hear of nightmarish ordeals that some people must endure when their identity is stolen. In some cases, these crooks are getting smarter and more sophisticated with their scams, but in other situations -- which is good for us -- these types aren't playing too wisely.

Take the example of this theft: On August 8th, 2009 in Manteca, California, two young adults -- a male and female -- broke into an apartment complex and then proceeded to steal from the tenants' mailboxes. But the big kicker -- there was a warning that they were being videotaped. The authorities are confident they'll catch these criminals. Not too bright I'd say. You can read the report and view the videotape here: Manteca Mail Theft Caught on Camera
What can we do personally to protect ourselves from mail theft?

1. Use a Mailbox with a Lock. That's a significant start. It's not a sure guarantee but will definitely deter some. And of course, keep your mailbox locked at all times and have a limited number of keys. Remember, you can have valuable data for the thief on bank and credit card statements and even personal letters may give away some detailed information about you.
2. Collect Mail after Delivery, within reason. If you are going on vacation, put a hold on your mail. It's a simple process and in most places can de done online. Or even have a neighbor pick it up for you.
3. Use Ink that's Check-Safe. Cleaning products can erase some inks and then the thief has one of your blank checks in his hands with your signature. Use pens -- such as gel, rollerball and fountain -- that clearly state they are check-safe. Fill in all the empty spaces on your check such as the date and memo line. And finally, go to the post office with your checks. Locked mailboxes are pretty secure but the hands of a postal worker is even a safer bet.
4. Keep Good Records. This will enable you to identity any unauthorized activity in your accounts. You may not be able to avoid mail being stolen and information taken, but with good records the damage can be minimized. Identity Theft recovery programs can also be set up that will serve this same purpose.

If we're informed we can play with the wisest of the thieves and beat them at their own game. As far as those more dense ones, we'll let the videorecordings take the credit.

The Stupid Things That Thieves Do -- Other Than Steal

We've all seen the video programs that show thieves doing stupid things and being caught on surveillance cameras. Things like smacking an unbreakable window with a crowbar and then getting whacked in the face, or accidentally setting themselves on fire while trying to burn down a building. Seeing stuff like that always make me feel better. I tend to feel that justice is being served, somewhat. The criminals themselves are doing what we so often want to do, but don't have the opportunity to: beat the tar out of themselves!

Unfortunately, not every stupid thing criminals do are caught on tape, and I'm sure that must include thousands of funny things every day. For example, we know that you can't talk your way out of prison. But who knew you could actually talk your way into prison?

An article I came across today at Philly.com stated that in Chester, Delaware, a woman called police to claim that a large, high-dollar barbecue grill and other items were stolen from her backyard. As part of the investigation, the police determined that the items in question were purchased with a credit card reportedly stolen from a woman in Kentucky. This led to her quick arrest and further investigation, whereupon her two accomplices were also arrested. The leader of this band of thieves had his home raided and he was found hiding, naked, in his attic. Now I hope they got that on film!

It seems pretty funny, and ironic of course, that a thief felt she had been wronged and wanted to report it, when she herself had obtained the items that were stolen by using a stolen credit card. As the District Attorney in the article mentions, "If you steal something, don't report that somebody else stole it from you." Well put Mr. Green. Just another example of how stupid some criminals really are.

Now that the shoe is on the other foot, well except for the guy they found naked, I hope that these bozos learn their lessons. However, as is often the case, these sort of people tend to suffer from short-term memory loss. I tend to believe that they'll be back at it again as soon as they're released from prison. Luckily, the newer identity theft laws now carry a minimum two year sentence, with the possibility of five years. Don't worry though. I'm sure we'll have the chance to laugh at another stupid criminal before too long.

Have an example of a stupid criminal? Comment and let me know.