Identity Theft
Online Auctions: Bargain Addicts Beware!
Filed under: Buyer Beware, Credit Cards, Fraud, Identity Theft, Shopping, Technology, Auctions
Internet bidding sites have been spreading like forest mushrooms after a warm rain in late May recently. E-Bay has almost become an afterthought.It all began when people decided, for example, that to sell a car as a trade-in when buying a spanking new vehicle is shortsighted. The dealer offers you a price. That price will, in the best of cases, cut into the new car's price but, eventually, you'll find out that car dealers aren't in the business for your beautiful (insert colour here) eyes.
This realization (and not only about cars) has led to all kinds of lists and sites that let you sell your older product (or buy one) for prices considerably more to your liking. You're not supporting a dealer's overhead, after all (this brings us back to cars, but only because they're such an easy example).
But the lengths some of the bidding sites go to these days must raise an eyebrow or two.
Real Estate Fraud: The Danger is All Too Real
Filed under: Buyer Beware, Debt, Fraud, Identity Theft, Real Estate, Mortgages
Thinking of buying a new house because the old one is too small for you? Thinking of selling your old house because it's too big for you? Thinking of entering the fabulous world of real estate?The real estate world is filled with curiously-sounding words, such as "party of the first part," whatever THAT is supposed to mean, with one proviso: it usually DOES mean something you'll have to pay for even if it's not mentioned in the original offer sheet.
The real estate world is also filled with professionals who really mean it when they say they're in it to help you.
Unfortunately, there are some people who say the same thing but mean something completely different: they're in it to help themselves and the consumer be damned.
Here's a primer.
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Use Common Sense to Keep Your Computer Safe
Filed under: Buyer Beware, Fraud, Identity Theft, Technology
We read stories of outrageous thefts from time to time. Used to be we were shocked to hear somebody stole, say, a Mona Lisa painting from the Louvre in Paris. Morons, we used to say, they won't be able to sell the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece to anyone anywhere without being caught.Rank amateurs, when compared to modern-day thieves. These people do not need to wear gloves so as not to leave fingerprints, and dark mackintoshes so as not to be seen during the night. They don't have to leave their homes to do their dirty deeds.
They're called hackers, and people who tried to steal the Mona Lisa painting from the Louvre wouldn't have a chance, compared to them.
No matter what you do on your computer - buy and sell things, keep in touch with family and friends, play games, or keep up on the latest news and events - you could be exposing your personal information to fraudsters, which can result in identity theft and financial loss.
How does it happen?
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Koobface Raises Its Ugly Head - Again!
Filed under: Buyer Beware, Fraud, Identity Theft, Technology
Watch out, says a message that just landed in your e-mail inbox, there's this new outrageously funny video available, here's the link get it, it's perfect, you'll be rolling on the floor laughing, have a look.The message has come from someone whose name you know, it may even be a family member. So, you trust it and click on the link. You'll land on a page that looks just like your typical YouTube (or Facebook, or any other social media network) page. But wait, first, you have to install an Adobe Flush plug-in. Without it, you're toast, you can't view the video.
If you DO try to download the plug-in, you will be toast within seconds.
Meanwhile, the villain who wrote Koobface is laughing his head off somewhere out there.
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Wave-and-Pay Technology Coming Much Slower Than Anticipated
Filed under: Credit Cards, Fraud, Identity Theft, Technology
People working in retail fear most cashier jobs will disappear once the so-called "wave-and-pay" technology takes over. No need to fear right now. For now, it's the automated checkouts that should scare them. The "wave-and-pay" applications are still too scary to most customers. They are afraid its developers still haven't rid it of serious security breaches.British newspaper Daily Telegraph's Digital Media Editor Emma Barnett says that, for example, the loudly trumpeted Google's Wallet application has been a flop, so far, and she cites research figures to prove her point.
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Cyber Security and You (A View of the Mountain From the Top of My Little Mole Hill)
Filed under: Fraud, Identity Theft, Technology
The whole thought of cyber security is an impossibly big one. I keep my anti-virus subscriptions current; I generally don't allow applications to access my Facebook profile and, if I'm lucky (and I pray I will be), I hope my trusty but aging laptop won't give up the ghost on a deadline day when things aren't backed up. That's about the extent of my concern on most days.
You might have a similar situation going on in your world. The funny (or scary) thing is, these concerns, this wee little tempest of risk in the teapot I call my own, is positively miniscule compared to the wide ocean of cyber-risk out there. Still, small, little insignificant me could make a mistake that would find my computer added to some network of machines out there, intent on bringing down a government (likely while I obliviously wonder why my service is so slow).
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Irrational Fears Slow Down Online Banking, Shopping Using Cell Phones
Filed under: Fraud, Identity Theft, Technology
We've seen the advertisements all over the place: this or that has developed a bullet-proof (read: hacker-proof) application that enables you to use your cell phone to perform any number of banking operations. Just let your fingers do the walking on your phone's touch screen or, if you're so out of it, let your fingers do the walking on your phone's keyboard.You'd expected that everybody and their dog would jump on the bandwagon.
Not really.
But why not, for crying out loud?
Simple, dear Watson. Here's why: lack of trust bordering on lack of faith.
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'McMafia' and 'DarkMarket' Author Misha Glenny Takes You Inside the Mind of a Hacker
Filed under: Buyer Beware, Fraud, Identity Theft, Technology, Book Reviews
As I write this, the former website of Toronto's infamous mayor Rob Ford is being hacked.Whether your seeing "Rob, we're sorry!" and being redirected to the mayor's print media nemesis, Toronto Star or your on the westcoast and seeing, "Rob Ford (January 31, 1862 – June 8, 1892) was an American outlaw best known for killing his own gang leader Jesse James in 1882," before being redirected to the outlaw's Wikipedia page, there is probably a hacker behind that move.
We know them as those anonymous operators who break into our bank accounts and steal our identities from the comfort of our own homes, but beyond that -- Who are these guys?
One man who knows more of that answer than most is Misha Glenny. The international best-selling author of McMafia interviewed countless hackers and the people who try to catch them for his new non-fiction crime thriller, DarkMarket: Cyber Thieves, Cyber Cops and You [Anansi Press].
Walletpop Canada reviewed the book a few weeks ago and we sat down with Glenny himself as he discussed what precipitated his expertise in the world's international underworld, where he falls in the personal privacy vs. national security debate and what people should do to protect their data online.
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Protect Your Identity and Avoid Fraud When Holiday Shopping
Filed under: Credit Cards, Fraud, Identity Theft, Shopping, Holidays
Many years ago I got a call from my bank telling me that someone tried to buy a snowboard and equipment on my VISA card. "I don't know how to snowboard," I said. "Plus I have my card with me."
It turns out that my card had been swiped and a duplicate card made. The suspects used my card to place a phone call to see if there was any credit left on it then attempted to buy winter gear. Unfortunately for them my card's limit wasn't that high and their attempted purchase alerted my bank to the unusual spending pattern.
With Canadians expected to spend an average of $700 to $1,000 this holiday season, it's the perfect time for criminals to steal your personal information, access your accounts and clean them out.
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Financial Consumer Agency a Scam Victim
Filed under: Buyer Beware, Credit Cards, Fraud, Identity Theft, Technology
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) is here to make sure we know how to defend ourselves against all kinds of financial and other mischief aimed at our pockets.Now, the agency itself has almost become a tool that was supposed to lure Canadians into a scam to end all scams.
Someone, the agency hasn't said who, has been calling, mailing and e-mailing people, telling them they're from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. They tell people that they will help them consolidate their credit card debts.
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