Scams & Alerts
NEW- One New Identity Theft Victim Every 3 Seconds
NEW- Protecting your Personal Information Amidst Hacking Sprees
South Carolina Cyber Attack Caused by one Email.
Many discover that they have become victims of tax refund Identity Theft.
Utah Department of Health's Medicaid Clients' Data was Breached.
Teenagers who Purchase a Fake Driver's License Online Could become victims of ID Theft.
Hackers are stealing credit report information about consumers' from annualcreditreport.com and ther online credit report suppliers to commit identity theft.
Children are 51 times more likely to have their identity stolen than adults.
The IRS Acknowledges That Identity Theft Tax Fraud Is A Growing Problem And Is One Of The Most Difficult Issues It Deals With.
Walmart $1,000 Gift Card/Certificate Fraudulent Email Or Text Offer
Fraudulent email and text messages encouraging consumers to "Click Here to Claim Your $1,000 Walmart Gift Card!" have been making the rounds recently. This communication is NOT from Walmart. Walmart does not offer $1,000 gift cards for completing surveys or merely clicking on a link. In addition, Walmart will never ask you to email personal information such as:
- Passwords
- Social Security Numbers
- Bank Account details
- Credit Card numbers
- Other financial information
Walmart will never make unsolicited phone calls asking for such information.
Feds Clamp Down on Massive Click Fraud Scheme
How to Avoid Pop-Up Fake Antivirus Scams
Using E-Verify can stop identity theft.
New Medicare Scam Targets Part B Participants
Consumer Affairs
By Mark Huffman
June 1, 2011
Nevada's attorney general is warning seniors that a new scam is targeting Medicare recipients, trying to obtain personal information that could be used for identity theft.
Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has issued a consumer alert after a senior in her state reported an attempt to steal his Medicare number.
According to Masto, the scam worked like this: a caller reached the senior by telephone and told him they are eligible for new diabetic meters that are generally covered by Medicare under Medicare Part B.
The caller claimed to be a government agency representative and informed the Medicare beneficiary he was eligible for a new glucose meter. The caller then asked the beneficiary to confirm “you are who you say you are” and requested the beneficiary’s Medicare number.
Didn't fall for it
In this particular case, the Nevada beneficiary told the caller he was not comfortable providing that information over the phone and asked the caller to send a form to provide the information. The caller then promptly hung up.
“Luckily, this senior was aware enough to realize that the caller was a scammer looking for personal information in an attempt to victimize him,” said Masto. “Although seniors are becoming increasingly more vigilant in protecting their Medicare numbers and other personal information, there’s always the possibility that a scammer calling a senior could persuade him or her to provide information that could open the senior to potential ID theft and medical identity theft.” Research shows that people are usually more vulnerable to a scam if it involves getting something for free. Consumers should be especially wary of offers of free items that require you to provide personal or credit card information. Medicare, or course, will never make unsolicited calls to a beneficiary. If seniors receive any phone calls such as this scam, they should report it to their state attorney general and the Medicare Fraud Line in Washington.
Thousands of Citi Bank customer's information at risk after security breach.
Child Identity Theft is a Much Larger Problem than Previously Believed
Cloud Based Services Streamlines Efficiency of Identity Theft
How to Fight a Bogus Medical Bill
Credit Scores: Why the Latest Fixes Fall Short
Can Your Bank Stop ID Theft?
US Government Effort Against ID Theft Said to Fall short
Lifelock will Pay $12 Million to Settle Charges by the FTC and 35 States That Identity Theft Prevention and Data Security Claims Were False
FreeCreditReport.com (Experian) Must Disclose in its Advertisements That AnnualCreditReport.com is the Real Free Credit Report Site.
Changes among the new consumer protections enacted by Congress in the 2009 “Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act” require organizations to display "you have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com ... the only authorized source under federal law," with an obvious link to the site. The notice must be obvious on every page where the words "free credit report" appear.
Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009
E-Verify Misses Half of Undocumented Workers.
FTC Warns Firms of widespread databreach on P2P sites.
Be wary of those pesky promotional Pop-Ups that appear on “legitimate” web sites, they may have financial strings attached that could cost you.
Burglars Search Facebook, Myspace, Twiter for Targets.
Burglars, identity thieves and predators search social networking sites to learn about persons interests, location in and out of their home.
Retail Merchants should secure prepaid Gift Cards like any other type of currency.
Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke was victim of ID theft ring.
Consolidated complaint against Lifelock combines 13 lawsuits. The lawsuit claims the company defrauds customers by offering services it cannot legally perform and by advertising a $1 million guarantee that is virtually worthless.
Russian hackers used Social Networking sites to steal the identities from U.S. citizens and used them to attack Georgian government web sites during last years war between the two countries.
Ruling - Lifelock Violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act
A U.S. District Judge has ordered LifeLock Inc. to stop contacting Experian to place fraud alerts on behalf of its customers.
Text Message Scams "Smishing"
Many citizens of Utah have recently received a text message on their cellular phone, supposedly from their credit card/debit card company directing them to contact a telephone number to re-activate their card due to an account or security issue. The Utah Attorney General’s Office has received multiple reports of different variations of this scheme known as "Smishing". These attacks against US financial institutions and consumers continue to rise at an alarming rate. No Utah Credit Union or Bank is immune to these attacks, and all cellular phone owners are potential targets to the thieves looking to profit from well intentioned credit/debit card customers.
Smishing operates like phishing by persuading consumers to divulge their credit card number, expiration date, Card Verification Value Code (CVV/CVC), and other personally identifiable information, claiming their account was suspended, deactivated, or terminated. Recipients are directed to contact their bank via a telephone number provided in the Text Message. Upon calling the telephone number, the recipient is greeted with "Welcome to the bank of ……" and then requested to enter their card number in order to resolve a pending security issue. A cedit union or bank will NEVER request this information from a customer via cellular phone, text message, email, or any other form of communication.
If you have a question concerning your account or credit/debit card, you should contact your credit union or bank using a telephone number obtained independently, such as from your statement, a telephone book, or other independent means.
Work at Home Scams
During tough economic times, many unemployed are looking at offers to work at home to earn extra money. If you are looking into a work from home offer, be sure to first carefully research the company before accepting a job. This is especially the case if a company requests that you deposit money orders into your bank account and then return the company some or the entire principal amount via wire transfer using Western Union. The job offer might actually be an Advanced Fee Scam.
Resources
Anti-Phishing Working Group
Microsoft Recognize Phishing Scams
