There’s one thing worse than being talked about…and it’s falling for a phishing scam on Twitter. By nature, when people tell you that there’s a rumor spreading about you or that someone is trashing your name, you will want to know details. It’s simple, human behavior: if people are trash-talking your name and your reputation, [...]
As we have mentioned on this blog, child identity theft is a growing concern, and on July 12, The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice are hosting a forum on this alarming issue. Experts from a variety of resources including government, business, non-profit, legal service providers, as well as victim advocates will [...]
Continuing this week’s attention to National Small Business Week, IDGuardian has stepped back into its video archives to present a special video replay of Neal O’Farrell and his advice for small businesses and strategies against identity theft, credit fraud, and security breaches. These audio and video columns can be listened and or viewed to in [...]
The IDGuardian Podcast: Episode #007 — Concerns with Small BusinessesDownload
Back in March, Intersections Inc. CEO Michael R. Stanfield presented a three-part series on the Digital Footprint of a College Graduate. His blogposts covered: A Graduate’s Social Media Profile A Graduate’s Credit Profile A Graduate’s Job Search Profile In this episode of the IDGuardian Podcast, Michael looks at the earlier years of a child’s life, [...]
The IDGuardian Podcast — Episode #19: The Risks of a Child's Digital Footprint[ 4:37 ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
With spring break behind us and summer vacation not far away, many families across America are beginning to think about where they’re going on vacation, how long they’re going to stay, and of course, how they’re going pay for it. But if some of these holiday makers are not careful, or just plain unlucky, their [...]
As many as one in every 10 cases of identity theft may involve kids, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. And for years we’ve been warning about how a broken system makes it easy to steal the identities of children, and even sell these “clean identities”, legally, on the open market. A lawmaker in [...]
Catchy headlines tend to catch my attention, which is probably why they’re called catchy. So when PC World ran a recent headline claiming to have identified “the 17 most dangerous places on the web,” I was curious. But I was also disappointed. I expected to learn about the most dangerous sites to visit on the [...]
A couple of months ago I started helping an eighty-year-old woman who lost nearly $200,000 to a couple of identity thieves who turned out to be her kids. She lives in one of California’s largest cities (1 million+ residents) and was worried that her case might simply fall through the cracks and leave her helpless. [...]
If you ever get a phone call from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, you shouldn’t just be surprised, you should be very suspicious too. And maybe hang up. Trust me, the FDIC won’t be the least bit offended. Most people probably haven’t heard of the FDIC, or at least don’t really know what [...]
You can be sure that any story with the words “kids” and “roulette” in it is not going to end well. If your kids are pretty typical – they’re curious, adventurous, take some risks they shouldn’t (maybe because they don’t see them as risks), and they have a web cam, then you should know about [...]
Welcome to the Wild West of Identity Theft
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● September 20, 2010
A couple of months ago I started helping an eighty-year-old woman who lost nearly $200,000 to a couple of identity thieves who turned out to be her kids. She lives in one of California’s largest cities (1 million+ residents) and was worried that her case might simply fall through the cracks and leave her helpless. [...]