News for Economic
Monday, August 13, 2018
From GovernmentExecutive:
At a time when curbing identity theft is high on the Internal Revenue Service’s agenda, an Atlanta-based IRS employee has pleaded guilty to a stolen identity fraud scheme.
The Justice Department announced on Thursday that IRS contact representative Stephanie Parker, based in Atlanta, admitted to at least five instances between September 2012 and March 2013 in which, ...read more
Categories: Community, General News Article, Chamber, Economic, Human Interest
Friday, July 20, 2018
They're hereeeeer!!!
Google is preparing to plug a potential privacy leak with its Google Home smart speakers and Chromecast television devices that could reveal your location.
The vulnerability was discovered by the Tripwire security firm. Researcher Craig Young blogged that the problem stems from fundamental design choices that he says are prevalent among Internet of Things devices.
One ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Chamber, Education, Human Interest
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Your key fob is in your home. Your car is parked and locked on the driveway. You had installed the latest, greatest alarm system. At a hefty cost. What about daytime at the local mall. Is your car still safe? You guessed it . . .
From USAToday:
DETROIT – Given that the best way to store your car keys at night is by putting them in a coffee can, what's an ex-FBI agent's advice to protect ...read more
Categories: Community, Human Interest, Education, Chamber, Economic, General News Article
Monday, July 09, 2018
Do you know your legal rights? Instead of Knotweed, what about that tree next door? Are City Municipalities liable for drain clogging? - use Family legal plan photo
From the law firm of Hodge, Jones & Allen:
There has been a court ruling from the Court of Appeal dealing with whether an adjoining owner could be sued for nuisance and damage arising from the encroachment of Japanese knotweed ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Community, Education
Monday, June 25, 2018
From the Des Moines Register:
Two people have been arrested after police found a skimmer, a device installed in ATMs to steal credit card information, at a QuikTrip in West Des Moines.
Evaldo Cardozo Da Silva, 40, and Jamily Silva Sousa, 26, were charged with identity theft, forgery and credit card fraud, among other offenses,
Fraud investigators found the skimmer device May 25 at an ATM ...read more
Categories: Economic, Community, Education, General News Article, Human Interest
Monday, June 11, 2018
Read Item 3. We're all guilty of this. Keep this as a manual.From the Motley Fool:
Identity thieves swindled Americans out of $16.8 billion in 2017 and according to Javelin Strategy & Research, that number climbs higher every year. Despite the various precautions financial institutions have taken, including the widespread use of microchipped cards, they haven't been able to overcome the biggest ...read more
Categories: Community, Human Interest, Education, Economic, General News Article
Monday, May 21, 2018
Are you thinking about investing into Cryptocurrency? Definite reading material for you.
On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched a website advertising a fake initial coin offering (ICO), intending to show consumers the dangers of a cryptocurrency scam.
The agency says that most ICOs tend to be fraudulent, as the digital tokens sold to buyers can often turn out to be ...read more
Categories: Education, Human Interest, Economic, General News Article, Community
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Wouldn't you love to see these new cards succeed in thwarting identity thieves? Me too.
From the Fresno-Bee
New Medicare cards that don't bear Social Security numbers will be arriving in mailboxes soon in the central San Joaquin Valley.
The new cards will display a random set of 11 characters of numbers and letters, and should help deter identity theft and Medicare fraud. Social Security ...read more
Categories: Community, Education, Economic, General News Article
Monday, April 23, 2018
Does Medicare need to update your files before issuing your new Medicare card? Does Medicare need to update your bank information? These are a couple of questions Medicare recipients are being asked. Should you answer these and other questions?
From ConsumerAffairs and AARP:
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is issuing new Medicare cards to seniors, with random letters instead of ...read more
Categories: Community, Education, General News Article, Human Interest, Economic
Saturday, April 07, 2018
"Ransomware has become a major problem and is one of the scourges of the modern Internet, allowing cyber criminals to reap huge profits by locking up users’ files and systems. The gold-rush mentality has not only pushed more and more cyber criminals to distribute ransomware, but also contributed to the rise of Ransomware-As-A-Service and other specializations in the cyber criminal underworld. ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Community, Education, Human Interest
Monday, April 02, 2018
An article from the Delaware Gazette. Scammers are getting more ingenious in ways to separate your personal information from you.
If you’ve ever received an email from someone claiming to be the Prince of Nigeria telling you that you’ve been lucky enough to come into a large sum of money, chances are you’ve been targeted as part of something called a phishing scam.
These types of scams have ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Community, Education, Human Interest
Monday, March 26, 2018
So, will these new cards protect you more than the previous cards containing your SS number? Yes, and maybe no. From the Motley Fool:
Medicare provides essential support for millions of older Americans in protecting their health. Those who choose to join Medicare receive a card that identifies them as Medicare participants, and for decades, the design of the Medicare card stayed the same. ...read more
Categories: Education, Economic, Human Interest, Community, General News Article
Monday, March 19, 2018
Do you regularly “cross-shred” your documents? Which documents should you shred? Take advantage of paper shredding events in your area. Dumpster diving is still alive and well. Read on from WWLP.com:
“CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – It’s important to properly dispose of personal information so it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
National Consumer Protection Week is designed to help people protect ...read more
Categories: Community, Economic, General News Article, Human Interest, Chamber
Monday, March 12, 2018
Look at the documents this guy had in his possession!! Is he a Russian identity thief? I don't think so. A common criminal? I think so. But once he sells this stuff on black market – watch out!! This is local folks – Yucca Valley. From the San Bernardino Sun:
“Sheriff’s deputies recovered documents with personal identifying information belonging to numerous victims after serving a search ...read more
Categories: Community, Education, Economic, General News Article
Monday, March 05, 2018
It's becoming routine for companies experiencing data breaches to downplay certain aspects of the breach. I reported earlier, that in my opinion, this breach was going to get larger. Bottom line – we can't do anything about that, but we can protect ourselves from identity theft. Be protected. It's a bit more secure knowing a reputable monitoring company has your back. From Wired magazine:
“IT ...read more
Categories: Community, Human Interest, Education, Economic, General News Article
Monday, February 26, 2018
2017 Was a Record Year for ID Theft in the U.S. At least 16.7 million Americans had their identities compromised.
It's not the numbers so much as the fact that it's getting worse, with no end in site. As a matter of fact, every aspect of your personal information is at risk for identity theft. From IEEE Spectrum:
“This will not come as a big shock: an estimated 16.7 million Americans were ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Community, Education, Human Interest
Monday, February 19, 2018
Once you're a member, your LegalShield team is constantly providing useful information. From the latest IDShield’s informational pieces:
"The number of cyber-attacks against small businesses has more than doubled in the past 5 years. Small businesses are often targeted because many lack critical IT security policies and procedures, which larger organizations have in place. You have a duty to ...read more
Categories: Community, Education, Chamber, Economic, General News Article
Monday, February 12, 2018
The key word is “RAMPANT”. Are you still sitting around waiting to become victimized? Chances are you already are! You just don't know it. Read this very informative article from Market Watch:
“Identity theft hit a record high in 2017. And if that's not disturbing enough on its own, the latest data on ID crimes found that the crooks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, gaining toeholds into ...read more
Categories: Economic, Education, General News Article, Human Interest
Monday, February 05, 2018
It's that time of year again. Scamers are in full swing. You've read this information before but it pays to read again. From WHNT-TV:
Tax time is in full swing, which means scammers are ready to steal your tax information and your refund, this is also known as tax identity theft. Tax identity theft happens when someone files a fake tax return using your personal information — like your Social ...read more
Categories: Human Interest, Economic, Chamber, General News Article
Monday, January 29, 2018
Small Business owners have enough to worry about and now let's add a potential scam to the mix. Here's another scam to worry about. From the ConsumerAffairs:
“The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is warning employers to be on guard against the Form W-2 phishing scam as tax season gets underway.
The scheme defrauded thousands of taxpayers and hundreds of organizations last year, and the tax ...read more
Categories: Chamber, Education, Economic, General News Article
Friday, January 26, 2018
More scams, some old some new, and most recycled. They still work. Especially as folks get desperate to make that extra income. From ConsumerAffairs:
“A company that marketed "business coaching" courses to people starting home-based businesses has agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC had charged Internet Teaching and Training Specialists LLC (ITT) with taking ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Community, Education, Human Interest
Monday, January 15, 2018
Are you tired of reading, and hearing about these massive identity theft breaches? So am I and I think we become complacent. But every day you can find the small time criminal doing their bit to disrupt your life. Remember, whether your victimized from one of these massive breaches, or your victimized from a small time thief, it comes down to one fact – your information is compromised. The thief ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Community, Education, Human Interest
Monday, January 08, 2018
Are one of these cards yours? It seems to bring the point home about identity theft when crimes are commited close to home. Remember, with #LegalShield and #IDShield we are in the business to protect your legal rights and personal information. From a story in the Press-Enterprise:
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a trio of suspects in an identity theft case Tuesday, Jan. 2, ...read more
Categories: General News Article, Economic, Human Interest
Monday, January 01, 2018
From the Courier and Press:
Yet another potential problem after the Equifax date breach—thieves filing fraudulent tax returns. Among the data stolen in the Equifax hack were the Social Security numbers of up to 143 million people. Most of the protections offered centered around freezing credit and credit monitoring, but nothing much has been done to address potential fraudulent tax returns. A ...read more
Categories: Education, Human Interest, Economic, General News Article
Monday, December 18, 2017
Much of this report is redundant, but I think we keep needing to be reminded that identity theft is always a possibility. We need to be on constant guard to protect our legal rights and personal information. From thecabin.net:
In case the holiday season isn’t hectic enough, it’s also often the busiest time of year for an unwanted hassle — identity theft.
One local bank is reminding residents ...read more
Categories: Economic, Education, General News Article, Human Interest
Monday, December 11, 2017
Is someone impersonating you? You won't know until it's too late. More and more stories are surfacing. Citizens being pulled over for a missing tailight being arrested for illegal actions in states they've never been to. Recently a Californian found that he had outstanding tickets back east. And there was a bench warrant for his arrest!! How did he find out? Luckily while renewing his driver ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Community, Education, Human Interest
Monday, December 04, 2017
“It all depends are the key words”. From speaking with my IDShield’s Consultant, this action should be a last resort. Usually a Credit Alert is what's needed. From a report on Ch. 6 News/Orlando:
“ORLANDO, Fla. - About three months ago credit report powerhouse Equifax revealed that their servers were breached and the data of more than 143 million consumers was exposed to potential hackers. The ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Education, Human Interest
Monday, November 27, 2017
“ 'Tis the season for clicking away on our computers and mobile devices. Most of us will be online even more than usual in the coming weeks.
Oh, look at that great sale! Click.
The kids are soo cute with the antler hats, have to post them on Facebook. Click.
Responding to the Evite for the holiday party. Click.
All that information sharing also makes us more vulnerable to cybersecurity ...read more
Categories: Chamber, Community, Economic, General News Article, Human Interest
Saturday, November 11, 2017
From the Miami Herald. A topic I touch on every once in awhile since I feel it is so important.
We all have Social Security numbers, even children. Well, criminals are making good use of those numbers. Children are the new surprising target for identity thieves.
Youngsters make great targets because if they become identity theft victims, it could be years before the crime is detected.
This is ...read more
Categories: Community, General News Article, Chamber, Economic, Human Interest
Monday, October 30, 2017
This could be you! I continually tell folks that financial identity theft is not the story any longer. Only 17% of fraud is financial. This story ended up with a 'happy ending', but most require time, money, and much frustration to resolve. From a FOX NEWS story:
“A San Francisco man who lost identification cards when his backpack was stolen was stunned to receive a $52,310 bill for the thief's ...read more
Categories: Community, Economic, Education, General News Article, Human Interest
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Amazing, hackers can seemingly choose where, when, and how to strike. It seems that they can hack at will. I know quite a few Real Estate professionals in our area and wonder if this impacts there doing business. From ConsumerAffairs:
"Buying a home can be a stressful, nerve-wracking experience under the best of circumstances. If you’re nearing closing on a new home, don’t let that stress make ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Chamber, Education
Monday, October 16, 2017
Folks, it's not over yet! From ConsumerAffairs:
Equifax has reportedly disabled a customer help page on its website and is investigating whether hackers used it to recently breach its network.
“Tech site Ars Technica broke the story, quoting a security analyst as saying he noticed the Equifax site was redirecting visitors to another page and instructing them to download a fake software update. ...read more
Categories: Economic, General News Article, Community, Education, Human Interest
Monday, October 09, 2017
When I signed up for #IDShield, an initial scan was completed. And yes, Yahoo! showed up. The scary thing was that the password listed was an old password. #IDShield has solved this challenge also with their #VAULT. A secure area on your #IDShield website to store passwords. You need to protect yourself from #identitytheft. This from ConsumerAffairs:
“Yahoo’s massive 2013 data breach, ...read more
Categories: Chamber, Community, Economic, General News Article, Human Interest, Political
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Is your personal information 'personal'? This following story is the difference between having an identity theft MONITORING SERVICE like most services versus our identity theft RESTORATION SERVICE by the licensed investigators at Kroll and attorneys at LegalShield. Read this story, then contact me for more information.
"I went to renew my drivers license in California and was told I couldn't ...read more
Categories: Chamber, Economic, Education, General News Article, Human Interest
Monday, September 18, 2017
So, 143 MIILION folks had there Equifax accounts breached. Do you really care? How many of you are in the “I'll wait and see” attitude. Have you done anything about protecting your personal information.“Yes, I have Phil”, you say. “I went to the Equifax website, found that I'm vulnerable and signed up for the free 1 year monitoring service.” Well a couple bits of information: 1) by signing up ...read more
Categories: Community, Education, Human Interest, Chamber, Economic, General News Article
Monday, September 04, 2017
Let's keep an eye on this class action suit. I'm always amazed at how much money the attorneys walk away with. My wife was part of a $65M class action suit against LifeLock. Her check was for $19.82:
Over one billion Yahoo users whose personal information was compromised due to a series of massive data breaches will get their day in court, according to a ruling passed down by U.S. District ...read more
Categories: Chamber, General News Article, Economic, Human Interest
Monday, August 14, 2017
I did not know this. Gonna give it a try anyway the next time I fill up. Didn't know the receipt could be used for several different reasons. Why didn't someone figure this out before? From a local TV station in Texas:
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, Sid Miller, released a video of tips to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft at the pump.
While many were widely known ...read more
Categories: Community, Education, Human Interest, Economic, General News Article
Sunday, August 06, 2017
Let me ask you, is a contract written to protect the seller, or the buyer? I love it when I sit down with a potential LegalShield client concerning protecting their legal rights and personal information against identity theft. They tell me they don't sign contracts, especially when it comes to cell, cables, and other such utilities. Well, I beg to differ. These are all contracts, and should be ...read more
Categories: Chamber, Education, Human Interest, Economic, General News Article
Monday, July 31, 2017
It pays to read the fine print, or better yet, have an attorney do it for you. And remember, with a LegalShield plan document review is free as part of the monthly membership. From Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs:
Wells Fargo has revealed that approximately 570,000 consumers who financed auto purchases through the bank may have been sold a collateral protection insurance (CPI) without their ...read more
Categories: Chamber, Education, Human Interest, Economic, General News Article
Monday, July 24, 2017
This happens all too often. And, as usual, it's recommended you consult with an attorney. Remember, with LegalShield, we've done the legwork for you. From an article in the Los Angeles Times:
Dear Liz: I went back to school in 2002 to get my teaching credential. I took out several student loans and set up a repayment plan upon graduating with automatic deduction out of my checking account. ...read more
Categories: Community, Economic, Education, General News Article, Human Interest
