Other LanguagesThousands of personal e-mail passwords belonging to Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, Earthlink and Comcast users were posted online after a phishing sceme targeted users of Gmail, Hotmail and others, according to news reports. You can check if your account was on the list.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is warning veterans not to give credit card numbers over the phone to callers claiming to update prescription information.
Do the Puyallup Fair with Attorney General Rob McKenna on Senior Tuesday to get the lowdown on senior scams and identity theft.
To avoid a real-life fright night, be sure to shred sensitive documents.
We’ve repeatedly told consumers to protect their Social Security numbers. Those nine-digit combinations, unique for each of us, are a goldmine for identity thieves who would like to hack your bank account or open credit in your name.
In this advancing age of technological inquiry, there are many new facets of information that can be used to enable identity thieves. Lots of us think that personal information stored on computers is safe as long as it's password-protected. However, this isn’t true. Here’s the story from the Bellingham Herald’s “Just Ask Gemalto”:
It’s your worst nightmare: having files with personal information available for anybody to see, including identity thieves. As time has gone on and awareness of the potential exploitation of this personal information has increased, individuals and companies have become increasingly vigilant. Occasionally, however, the neglect to safeguard personal information has resulted in catastrophe. One local incident particularly underscores the inherent danger in preserving documents with personal information. KIRO TV's Amy Clancy reports:
The noted Greek author Diogenes Laertius once famously said "The foundation of every state is the education of its youth." In uncertain and perilous times like these, this quote rings especaially true. As every individual's period of youth turns into young adulthood, it is important that they have been educated on the roles of a consumer and the realities of consumer exploitation.
More free shredding events for those of you looking to safely dispose of sensitive documents:
If you read All Consuming regularly, you’re familiar with the concept of a credit score and how it can make a difference when you need a loan, want to open a credit account or need to rent an apartment. But have you heard about your “identity score”? I hadn’t either, until I read this article by SmartMoney: