Real estate blog entries tagged with identity theft expert by Robert Siciliano, Realty Security and Identity Theft Expert Speaker (IDTheftSecurity.com Inc)

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identity theft expert: The 12 Scams of Christmas and Other Attacks - 12/21/10 03:08 PM

Identity Thieves and Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information. As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, be cautious.
Scam I: Charity Phishing Scams
Hackers take advantage of citizens’ generosity by sending e-mails that appear to be from legitimate charitable organizations.
Scam II: Fake Invoices from Delivery Services
Cybercriminals often send fake invoices and delivery notifications appearing to be from Fed Ex, UPS or the U.S. Customs Service.
Scam III: Social Networking Scams
Cybercriminals send authentic-looking “New Friend Request” e-mails from social networking sites.
Scam IV: Fake Holiday E-Cards
… (0 comments)

identity theft expert: Miami Area Police Provide Burglary Prevention Tips - 12/21/10 02:37 PM

FBI reports a burglary occurs in the United States every 15.4 seconds. That’s almost 4 property crimes a minute. Wow! A burglary can be in a home, park, car, parking lot, gym or place of work.
They state:
Most burglaries occur during the day when everyone’s at work or school. Unlocked, unoccupied homes that are off the beaten path have the best escape routes and are big targets. Auto break-ins are “crimes of opportunity”. If the bad-guy sees your stuff in the front or back seat they smash and grab. Home security tips they offer:
Use solid steel or solid wood … (1 comments)

identity theft expert: Typosquatting Scams in Social Media - 12/19/10 09:06 AM

Typosquatting, or URL hijacking, is a form of cybersquatting that targets Internet users who accidentally type a website address into their web browser incorrectly. When users make a typographical error while entering the website address, they may be led to an alternative website owned by a cybersquatter or criminal hacker.
In a new twist, some typosquatters have begun using these domains to advertise deceptive promotions, offering gift cards or iPads to lure visitors.
“Twiter.com,” for example, redirects all the would-be Twitter users who missed one “t” to http://twitter.com-survey2010.virtuousads.com/survey.html. Notice that this copycat page’s URL begins with “http://twitter.com,” but clearly is not … (2 comments)

identity theft expert: How to Prevent Door to Door Scams - 12/19/10 08:52 AM

A close friend called to tell me a man knocked on her door to sell her on repaving her driveway. In the process, he requested she invite him in to discuss it further and go over different options. The man was persistent and if my friend was anyone else, he may have gotten in. However, she is savvier than that and reminded him that her German Shepherd would not appreciate anyone coming in the house.
Call them con men, grifters, scammers, or thieves. Or simply call them liars. Lying is what they do best. Face to face, via email or over … (1 comments)

identity theft expert: Retailers’ Point of Sales Terminals “Slurped” - 12/19/10 08:37 AM

Electronic funds transfers at the point of sale (or EFTPOS) skimming is a relatively new scam that has become more prevalent over the past few years. This form of skimming involves swapping out the self-swipe point of sale terminals at cash registers, and replacing them with devices that record credit and debit card data.
Fast food restaurants, convenience stores, and clothing boutiques are being hit the hardest in Australia. Last year, EFTPOS devices at McDonald’s outlets across Perth were replaced with compromised versions designed to skim cards, cheating 3500 customers out of $4.5 million. The thieves actually replaced the entire device … (0 comments)

identity theft expert: This Holiday Season, Beware of Phantom Websites - 12/18/10 11:05 AM

A “fly by night” business is one that quickly appears and disappears, without concern for the quality of their product or service, or for legal regulations. These untrustworthy businesses often operate fraudulently. On the Internet, a fly by night business is called a “phantom website.”
Phantom websites exist to collect personal and credit card information. They can appear online any time of the year, but the holidays are prime time. They imitate the look and feel of a legitimate website, and many simply copy the web code from well-known online retailers, right down to the names and logos. They may also … (0 comments)

identity theft expert: Are You Protected From Zeus? - 12/18/10 10:52 AM

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the father of all gods and men. Today in the tech world, Zeus is the father of all computer viruses. The Zeus Trojan virus, which has been around since 2007, has been described as one of the most powerful, sophisticated, and evasive viruses ever. Many antivirus programs have had difficulty defeating it. Experts believe that millions of computers may have the virus without users having noticed.
Zeus behaves like many other viruses in that it may lure the PC user into clicking an infected link in the body of an email, then instantly downloads the virus, … (1 comments)

identity theft expert: 11 Tips to Secure Online Shopping - 12/18/10 07:54 AM

Here are 11 tips to have a safe online shopping experience during the holiday season:
Avoid spoofed websites. Common sense says any time you receive an offer via an e-mail automatically be suspicious. The same goes with offers via tweets and messages received in any social media site. Don’t click the links in e-mails. Especially if it’s a too good to be true offer. Beware of cybersquatting and typosquatting which may look like the domain of the legitimate eTailer. Look for https:// in the address bar signifying it’s a secure page. Generally, scammers won’t take the time to set up secure … (1 comments)

identity theft expert: Online Shoppers Concerned About Identity Theft - 12/13/10 09:40 AM

Shopping online is unquestionably more convenient and efficient than traditional commerce. But is it safer?
We face risk everywhere we go. We risk car accidents on the way to the mall. Muggers and thieves present a risk. Heck, you risk catching a cold from a sniffling salesclerk!
Similarly, shopping online creates another set of pitfalls, most of which involve financial loss, credit card fraud, or certain forms of identity theft.
According to a recent study conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance, of almost 3500 United States adults surveyed, 64% have not made an online purchase from a specific website because … (3 comments)

identity theft expert: New Jersey Home Robbery: One Unlocked Window Brings a Life of Pain - 12/13/10 09:07 AM

Robbery as defined in Wikipedia is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear. Robbery differs from simple theft, a break-in or burglary on its use of violence and intimidation.
Many of us are told that when you are attacked to let it happen so it doesn’t get any worse. In some cases that may be your only option. Studies have also shown that fighting back might be a better option. … (1 comments)

identity theft expert: Online Privacy: Fighting for Your Eyeballs - 12/13/10 08:33 AM

You may have noticed that the Internet is expanding. Major newspapers are publishing all their content online, because the readers expect and demand it. 23 of the 25 largest newspapers are seeing declines in readership. And if people aren’t buying newspapers, advertisers won’t place ads in them.
Newspapers hire journalists to investigate the issues that affect us on a daily basis. It’s these well-paid, experienced journalists who keep us informed, disseminating news that helps us make decisions in our own lives. We need these journalists to expose lies and uncover truth. Without quality journalism, the media’s influence will have an adverse … (1 comments)

identity theft expert: Twitter Crime on the Rise - 12/09/10 05:09 AM

Twitter is now beginning to see a substantial rise in active users. A recent report found that the percentage of Twitter users who have tweeted ten or more times, have more than ten followers, and follow more than ten people rose from 21% to 29% in the first half of 2010.
Spammers, scammers, and thieves are paying attention.
In the physical world, when communities become larger and more densely populated, crime rises. This also applies to online communities, like Twitter and Facebook.
Twitter’s “direct messages” and “mention” functions are laden with spam, often prompting users to click various links. Why anyone … (1 comments)

identity theft expert: Cross-Site Scripting Criminal Hacks - 12/08/10 03:29 AM

Secure computing requires an ongoing process, as you learn about risks and then implement processes and technology to protect yourself. Without a concerted effort to defend your data, you will almost certainly by victimized by some type of cyber-invasion.
JavaScript is everywhere, making the Internet pretty and most websites user friendly. Unfortunately, hackers have learned to manipulate this ubiquitous technology for personal gain. Java can be used to launch a cross-site scripting attack, which leverages a vulnerability often found in applications that incorporate Java. The vulnerability allows hackers to insert code into a website you frequent, which will infect your browser … (3 comments)

identity theft expert: Top 5 Vishing Techniques - 12/07/10 06:01 AM

“Vishing” occurs when criminals call victims on the phone and attempt to lure them into divulging personal information that can be used to commit identity theft.
The name comes from “voice,” and “phishing,” which is, of course, the use of spoofed emails designed to trick targets into clicking malicious links. Instead of email, vishing generally relies on automated phone calls, which instruct targets to provide account numbers.
Vishing techniques include:
Wardialing: This is when the visher uses an automated system to call specific area codes with a message involving local or regional banks or credit unions. Once someone answers the phone, … (1 comments)

identity theft expert: Holiday Shopping: Beware of Unethical Online Merchants - 12/07/10 05:48 AM

We have all encountered a sales clerk who was rude, a customer service representative who was incompetent and an online purchase that went south. Even I’ve been scammed out of an entire order and spent dozens of hours trying to get a return on another.
But when it comes to outrageous and shocking, including threats of violence and outright fraud, this story takes the cake. An online merchant based in Brooklyn New York retailing designer sunglasses, some counterfeit and some real, thrives on bad customer service, over charging, making threats, stalking and abusing clients into giving up the fight over what’s … (1 comments)

identity theft expert: How Much Longer Does the Magstripe Have? - 12/06/10 04:02 AM

Every U.S.-based credit card has a magnetic stripe on the back. This stripe can be read and rewritten like a rewritable burnable CD, using card burners that are easily available online.
The simplicity of the magstripe’s design, coupled with the availability of card reading and writing technology, results in billions of dollars in theft and fraud.
EAST, the European ATM Security Team, recently released European ATM crime statistics for January through June of 2010. Apparently, skimming at European ATMs increased by 24%, with 5,743 attacks reported in the first six months of 2010, compared with 4,629 during the same period in … (3 comments)

identity theft expert: “Flash Attacks” Make Big Money for Debit and Credit Card Scammers - 12/03/10 11:43 PM

The latest ATM scam is so brilliantly simple, it’s hard to believe that it actually works. Apparently, banks’ fraud detection systems are unable to flag nearly simultaneous transactions from the same account. This leaves bank customers vulnerable to what’s been termed a “flash attack,” in which multiple scanners use a stolen debit card number to withdraw cash from the same account.
Once a victim’s debit card number has been successfully skimmed, the card can be cloned, say, 100 times, and the cloned cards can be distributed to 100 people. All 100 people can then use the cloned cards to withdraw cash … (16 comments)

identity theft expert: City or Suburbs, Which is Safer? - 12/03/10 03:49 AM

There are many obvious differences between suburbia and city life including noise, congestion and crime. City kids are usually a little more street wise and suburban kids less so.
My parents grew up in the city and their parent’s grew up in the city. When I was young we lived in the city.
We moved to the “Leave It to Beaver” suburbs when I attended the first grade and I went through high-school a suburbanite. And because my parents were so young, (they were both 19 when I was born) I pretty much spent every weekend with my grandparents in the … (0 comments)

identity theft expert: 5 Tips to a Secure Cyber Monday - 12/01/10 05:56 PM

For the past five years, Cyber Monday has been the marketing term for the Monday immediately following Black Friday. It is now one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, with 77% of online retailers reporting substantially increased sales.
Scammers seek to take advantage of seasonal opportunities like Cyber Monday, so beware of the following scams:
Fake websites: Criminals draw visitors to their deceptive websites using the same techniques as legitimate eTailers: search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and online advertising via AdWords. They use keywords to boost their rankings on Internet searches, causing their scam sites to appear … (1 comments)

identity theft expert: Supercookies: What Websites Know About You - 12/01/10 05:45 PM

Most major websites now install cookies on your computer, which track what you do online. Over time, these cookies develop a profile, which becomes your digital fingerprint, to a certain extent. You may have noticed after searching for a specific product, advertisements for that particular product or brand appearing on various other websites you visit.
The New York Times reports , “advertisers are increasingly using powerful software known as supercookies, such as so-called Flash and document object management (or DOM) cookies, which can hold more information, and Web bugs or beacons, which let sites record statistics like what ads attracted you … (6 comments)

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