scams (61)
Once again, tax time has rolled around, and though you technically have until April 15th, it’s always best to file a bit earlier…especially if you want to avoid setting yourself up for ID theft.
How Could Filing Taxes Compromise Your Identity?
Here’s how you could become a victim of ID theft just by filing your taxes: the first method is that a thief uses your Social Security number to file taxes, and then they steal your refund. The second method that they use is they take your Social Security nu
One of the biggest threats that taxpayers are facing these days is an aggressive scam where criminals call victims and pretend to be IRS agents. The goal? To steal money.
All year but especially during tax filing season, the IRS will see a big surge in the number of scam calls, which tell victims that they will be arrested, deported, or have their driver’s license revoked if they don’t pay a fake tax bill.
How the Scams Work
These scammers make calls to people and claim to be from the IRS. They inf
Riviera Beach, a city in Florida, has agreed to pay a $600,000 ransom to hackers who attacked its network.
This week, the City Council voted to pay the demands after coming up with no other option to meet the demands of the hackers. It seems that the hackers got access to the system when a staff member clicked on a link in an email, which uploaded malware to the network. The malware disabled the city’s email system, direct deposit payroll system and 911 dispatch system.
According to Rose Anne Brow
The police in Port St. Lucie Florida have claimed that scammers are now posting homes as available for rent or purchase. You rent/purchase the home by putting a deposit down on the house, but you’re never given any keys.
The scammers are getting their victims to the property and even a tour of the house, but when it comes time to move in, the victim is left without any options. The tour aspect of the scam is important here. This legitimizes the fake agent as real.
Local realtors say that there are
There are scammers out there targeting conference exhibitors and attendee. What are they looking for? Credit card numbers, money wires and personal information that they can use to steal identities. One of the ways that scammers get this information is by using invitation or list scams. Basically, if you are registered for a conference, speaking at a conference, a conference vendor or just “in the business”, you might get an email…or several emails…that invite you to a conference or offer to sel
We all get scam phone calls, but the newest one is meant to scare. When you pick up the phone, you get a message that your Social Security number is suspended due to suspicious activity, and then prompts the victim to speak with an agent to get help.
The FTC makes something very clear: your Social Security number cannot be suspended for any reason, so any call that states your SSN is under suspension is a scam. What they are really trying to do is to trick you into giving them your actual Social
There are a lot of scammers out there, and one of the things they do is create fake websites to try to trick you into giving them personal information. Here are some ways that you can determine if a website is fake or not:
How Did I Get Here?
Ask yourself how you got to the site. Did you click a link in an email? Email is the most effective ways scammers direct their victims to fake sites. Same thing goes with links from social media sites, Danger Will Robinson! Don’t click these links. Instead, g
Even if you have the best security on your computer network, you might have noticed that you still seem to get hacked…or worse. Ask Equifax. Why is this happening? It’s probably because a member of your staff has made it easy for cyber criminals to get inside. It’s really important that you find out who this person is, and keep in mind…it might be more than just one. And it may not even involve security technology.
Part of the problem here, is that employees who “open the door” for these criminal
There are many ways that you or a small business could get caught up in a social media disaster. Can you think of any off the top of your head? If you are like most of us, probably not. Here are 14 ways that you could be in danger:
- A Terrible Online Reputation – Do you keep a watchful eye on you or your business’ Facebook page? Are people posting to it? Are your staff? Even things that seem good-natured at first can be taken the wrong way by friends or potential customers.
- Racy Images or Text – If
Think about how great this would be: Imagine that all of your company data is safe from hackers. Your hardware is totally safe and secure. You have IT specialists at your disposal at all times and have a constant flow of cash to pay them.
Unfortunately, this is a fantasy for most of us. No matter how secure we think our network is or how much we pay our IT people, there is always a chance for a data breach. Does this mean we should stop the fight, though? No way.
Instead of throwing in the towel,
If you are like most of us, you have undoubtedly received an email that has asked you to click on a link. Did you click it? If you did, you are like 99% of internet users because clicking links in normal. But in some situations you may have found that the link took you to a new or maybe spoofed website where you might be asked to log in. If you ever did this, you may have been the victim of a likely phishing attack, and these attacks are getting fishier all of the time.
A What? Phish? Fish?
It’s c
Gone are the days when social media is only used to share what you had for dinner or announcing to the world that you are headed to the gym. But social media has become a platform for any and everyone to say what’s on their mind, and sometimes that’s great, but all too often it isn’t. Social is significantly lacking in decorum. But at least some are using social for good.
These days, law enforcement is using social media to find missing children.
Washington, DC police are leading the way on this.
If you employ remote workers, your IT staff has a unique challenge keeping your organization safe. Fortunately, using a combination of best practices for cybersecurity, user awareness campaigns, and a strong policy will help to keep data safe.
New advances in mobile technology and networking have given remote workforces a boost, and while policies for most remote workers generally depend on manager or company preferences, most businesses must accommodate a mobile workforce on some level…and here’
IRS
- The e-mail (or phone call) says you owe money; if you don’t pay it immediately, you’ll be put in jail or fined.The scammer may know the last four digits of the victim’s Social Security number.
- Caller ID will be spoofed to look like the call is from the IRS.
- The e-mail will include an IRS logo and other nuances to make it look official.
- The scammer may also have an accomplice call the victim pretending to be a police officer.
- The victim is scared into sending the “owed” money—which goes to the thi
Just like older generations never thought that the dial phone in the kitchen could be dangerous (think phone scams), today’s kids don’t have a clue how hazardous smartphone apps can really be. They are a godsend to pedophiles, scammers and hackers. And let’s not forget other kids who just want to be cruel bullies.
Parents should have informative discussions with their kids about the various apps out there. And it’s okay to forbid particular apps you aren’t comfortable with. Like Musicly, search “
If your car is in any way connected to the Internet, it can get hacked into. You know it’s only a matter of time before hackers begin infiltrating motor vehicles in droves, being that vehicles are plagued with hundreds to thousands of security vulnerabilities.
This hack is more serious than you think. Drivers and passengers should be aware that “flawed” and compromised vehicles can suddenly be overtaken remotely, forced into shutting down the engine in the middle of a highway or drive the car int
Phishing-type e-mails are designed to trick the recipient into either downloading a virus (which then gives the hacker remote control of the computer) or revealing enough information for the thief to open credit cards in the victim’s name, get into their bank account, etc.
There are many ways the crook can trick the victim. Here are telltale signs:
- The message wants you to “verify” or “confirm” your password, username or other sensitive information.
- And why must you do this? Because “suspicious act
Guess who may be compromising the security of your Social Security Number.
The Social Security Administration!
Yep, that’s right. Did you know that 66 percent of the mail the SSA sends out contains someone’s Social Security number? This is what the inspector general of the SSA, Kimberly Byrd, says, and I believe it.
How many pieces of mail is this? Over 230,000,000. This situation is problematic.
- The SSA claims it will cost over $19 million to reduce these mailings.
- It also won’t happen anytime soon.
Beware of the B.E.C. scam, says a report at fbi.gov. The hackers target businesses and are good at getting what they want.
The hackers first learn the name of a company’s CEO or other key figure such as the company’s lawyer or a vendor. They then figure out a way to make an e-mail, coming from them, appear to come from this CEO, and send it to employees.
The recipients aren’t just randomly selected, either. The hackers do their homework to find out which employees handle money. They even learn the
