IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION AND
AVOIDING COMMON PITFALLS

 

"The internet gave us access to everything... but it also gave everything access to us!"
-James Veitch, TED Talks 2016 

Are You Being Fed?

There is no doubt that social media has overtaken our society and we have mirrored and modified our lifestyles in response.  This also means that advertisers, and other individuals who wish to gather information on us do not have to resort to the traditional polling, cold calling, or "demographic disclosures", although these are still used to an extent.   You may have noticed, more often than not, that even things you search for, even while not actively engaged on a social media platform, will show up as suggested content the next time you log in.  This is due to the sophistication of ad-tracking systems and "image beacons" that can track who viewed what and when.

We don't mean to scare you.  We only want to bring your attention to the importance of being vigilant when posting, sharing, or otherwise responding to something you may have found online, as well as filling out online profiles for a new service.   Below you will find information on phishing that can be applied to social media as well.  You must also take into account individual writing styles and content of what you read and share - did it really come from my friend?  Is this something he/she would normally be interested in?  What you supply on an online survey or poll goes a lot further nowadays at identifying you personally, although companies will never outwardly admit that their processes can be used to personally identify people. 

A good dose of caution paired with good old-fashioned common sense will certainly help here, as well as to remember that if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.

 

The IRS Scam Phone Call

During tax season, and even most recently during the summer months, there is often a surge of scam phone calls regarding delinquent tax payments, outstanding debt, or other such emergency.  The United States Internal Revenue Service published this article on their website warning taxpayers not to fall for these tricks:

https://www.irs.gov/uac/irs-warns-taxpayers-of-summer-surge-in-automated-phone-scam-calls-and-requests-for-fake-tax-payments-using-itunes-gift-cards

 

RFID Chips in Credit Cards

With the introduction of services like Apple Pay, retail stores now allow you to pay by "swiping" your mobile device in front of a special reader.  Prior to this, credit card companies introduced an easy pay system in the form of a credit card embedded with a special microchip that transmits your info, and arranges the payment transaction.
Examples of companies that use RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) include MasterCard (PayPass), and Chase (Blink), with several more in operation.  While convenient, there are drawbacks in that the chip is an active transmitter, and the radio waves, though only able to travel a short distance, can be captured if an ID thief wanted to do so.  The video below demonstrates just how this is done.  (courtesy YouTube / Inside Edition)  

 

General information about PHISHING scams

There is a growing scam which is taking place known as phishing (pronounced ‘fishing’).  It initially became prevalent with the introduction of AOL in the 1990’s and basically refers to any way in which an unscrupulous individual tricks someone into giving them their password or other personal information.

The most common form used today is an e-mail which appears to come from a bank or financial institution.  This e-mail looks EXACTLY like the communications which you may receive from your bank, but actually redirects you to an EXACT replica of your bank’s site which is run by hackers.  To aid in the scams, some of the messages even say things like “You need to verify your account information to protect against identity theft”.  If you were to follow the instructions and input your account information, there would be a very good chance of having your identity stolen.

Here are some tips to prevent this type of fraud.

  • Do not click on links in e-mails which appear to come from financial institutions or which request personal information.  If you use Internet banking sites, manually type in the address given to you by the print literature you received from the institution.  You can then make a bookmark or favorite for future use.  Only use this method for accessing the site and make sure that the address is entered correctly with no mispellings.
     
  • It does not hurt to enter your correct username and an incorrect password once.  If you are truly connected to your financial institution’s site, it will recognize the fact that you provided an incorrect password and reject your connection.  If the site is operated by hackers, it will accept the incorrect password and allow you to continue.
     
  • Make sure that you have up-to-date virus protection software (i.e. Symantec or MacAfee ) and it is also good to run a spyware removal tool such as spybot (available free at http://www.safer-networking.org) on a regular basis.

For more information on phishing, please refer to the following links:

Mx Toolbox, discussing the impact to individuals and businesses
https://mxtoolbox.com/c/landing/identifyingphishing

Federal Trade Commission, re: the online greeting card scam  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/multimedia/ecards/phishing/

CompariTech - How to spot a spoof e-mail
https://www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/how-to-spot-a-fake-spoof-or-phishing-email

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