Exposure, Misuse & Theft – 3 Ways Identity Crime Infiltrates Your Life

By John Burcham in Breach and Scam News October 1, 2018 0 Comment

Here’s What You Need to Do When Identity Crime Strikes

From a single fraudulent transaction to complex identity theft, identity crime can cause confusion and incite panic and fear – especially when it happens to you.

Identity crime is often a result of multiple factors collectively working together: the exposure and misuse, then theft of personal and financial data. In fact, only two data points are needed for identity thieves to commit synthetic identity theft – a type of identity crime that doesn’t require your entire identity.

Today’s connected world calls for us to better understand the three key areas of identity crime with tips to help address threats within each.

National Consumer Protection Week Kick-Off

By Laura Bruck in Personal Protection March 5, 2018 0 Comment

This Week is All About You

Happy National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW)! We’re going to dedicate this year’s National Consumer Protection Week to spreading awareness about the importance of securing your identity from the threats you face every day.

Your identity is at the core of who you are. But criminals see your identity as money in their pockets. Let’s kick off NCPW 2018 by diving into some of the identity risks out there today, and ways you can combat them in your daily lives.

Three Gift Card Scams to Avoid

By John Burcham in Breach and Scam News January 29, 2018 0 Comment

Double Check Your Gift Cards

Gift card fraud affects digital and physical gift cards alike. While fraudsters may approach gift card fraud with a variety of scams, the goal is to ultimately steal the funds from the cards while remaining undetected.

Most likely you’ve probably bought and/or received at least one gift card this year. Whether it was for a birthday, holiday, special event or “just because,” gift cards are the most wanted – and most popular gift in the U.S. for nearly any occasion.

With a 200 percent increase in digital gift cards last year, it can be easy to forget these cards hold real monetary value that fraudsters want to take for themselves. Gift card fraud is on the rise, as Flashpoint cited a notable increase in discussions surrounding gift cards on the Dark Web in 2017. Let’s look at some ways that fraudsters use scams to commit gift card fraud. Continue reading

New Breach Sparks Concern Over Social Engineering

By John Burcham in Personal Protection December 21, 2017 2 Comments

Social Engineering Expected to Increase

A recent data breach affecting 123 million American households speaks to the expected increase in social engineering scams of those impacted by the breach.

California-based data service company Alteryx recently experienced a data breach that exposed some PII elements (address, phone number, longitude/latitude coordinates). However, the data exposed is even more troubling because it was paired with extensive analytics on consumer behaviors, interests and financial/spending habits. The 36 GB file focused mostly on consumer behavioral segments – 248 to be exact – like “Book Buyer,” “Religious Contributor,” “Phone Activity Date” and “Interest in Gourmet Cooking.” Continue reading