When a scammer gets your money, it is usually gone for good. There are many ways that scammers use to receive payments from their victims, and often they will use methods that are unusual, such as gift cards, bitcoin, or other currency substitutes.
Today I will describe the different payment methods, and what advantages they offer the scammer. What a ...
Continue Reading →Have you fallen for an online or telephone scam? How much money did you lose? I’ve personally known of two cases where the amount lost was $500 and $16,000, but scammers often get more.
If you are above the age of 55, you most certainly have been targeted by telephone callers and cyber-scammers, and received emails, text messages, Facebook ...
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A quick Saturday digest of cybersecurity news articles from other sources.People Are Searching for Answers
After a night of confusion and uncertainty in which no results were reported for the Iowa Democratic caucus, people are searching for answers. As a cybersecurity journalist, I probably consider the hacking possibilities more than most, but it was hard not to wonder. Adding to the ...
There is only one person that you can rely on to keep you protected in your online life – and that person is YOU! Because the bad actors on the network target people more frequently than machines, this means that we more likely to be the first point of contact in an exploit. We are ultimately responsible for keeping our online life ...
Someone has stolen your user ID and password from a website where you have an account. Are you at risk? What are they going to do with it?
Unfortunately, even with the best security, passwords are stolen all the time from websites and cloud service providers. There are over 15 billion stolen credentials. Usually the passwords are solved using off-line brute force password cracking methods, and then packaged up and sold ...
Continue Reading →A quick Saturday digest of cybersecurity news articles from other sources.Last week, the FBI, that bastion of sage privacy and security advice, issued a blog post out of its Portland field office warning cyber Monday shoppers that their smart TV is a little too smart, and likely watches you as much as you watch it. ...
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Your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is one of the top targets of cyber-criminals. This information is valuable because it can be used for identity, fraud, tax refund fraud, loans and credit card applications, money transfers, phishing and spam campaigns, blackmail and extortion, fraudulent medical insurance claims, online shopping, and so much more. This information is packaged and sold on the Dark Web, ...
Is your company moving operations to the cloud? What about the cybersecurity aspects of protecting your data assets in the cloud? Are you relying on your partner/vendor to take care of securing your information? In light of the Paige Thompson indictment, it is apparent that relying too heavily on your vendor’s expertise and staff can open ...
A quick Saturday digest of cybersecurity news articles from other sources.A local story made the international press. Why do Twin Cities and Minnesota cops think the driver’s license database is a dating app? Krekelberg alleged that 58 fellow officers broke a federal privacy law by searching for her driver’s license data without any reason.
Identity theft is probably one of the most serious crimes that can happen to you. The bad news – identity theft in one fashion or another is likely to happen to all of us. In any given year, one in fifteen people will suffer identity theft. There are many ways that your personal information way end up in the hands ...