If you’ve got $45 burning a hole in your special black market fund and have a hankering for a bundle of 1,000 stolen or fake Facebook accounts, you might want to talk to your friendly neighborhood social networking pirate. [More]
identity theft
USPS Thinks Everyone Lives With Dan
By 5.3.10
Dan can’t get his postal carrier to understand the concept of people moving away–if you’ve ever lived in Dan’s apartment, you’ve always lived in his apartment. [More]
BBB Wants To Tear Your Personal Papers Apart Tomorrow
By 4.16.10
The Better Business Bureau says tomorrow is Secure Your ID Day, which means 55 BBB locations around the country will provide free shredding services. You can frustrate identity thieves who planned on digging through your trash to find out your secret info by putting your files through the shredder. [More]
"Help, Equifax Won't Give Me My Credit Report!"
By 4.14.10
A reader just had his credit limit lowered on a credit card due to some bad credit history that he says isn’t his. He’d like to see what’s going on with his credit report, but Equifax says he’ll have to pay for the privilege, because they have no record of any inquiries in the past 60 days. The reader asks, “Has this happened to anyone else, where a credit card company waited over 60 days to notify them of credit limit reductions? Also, does this violate the FCRA?” [More]
Kid Racks Up $1,400 In Farmville After Stealing Mom's Credit Card
By 4.8.10
A 12-year-old kid is probably getting his crops slashed and burned by his mum after he racked up $1,400 in Farmville purchases, draining his own savings and running up charges on her credit card. [More]
Do You Need Identity Theft Protection Against The Census?
By 4.8.10
Several alert readers sent us this advertisement that ran on the front page of CNN.com today. Wait–is the census going to steal my identity? Is my name, race, and birthdate all someone needs to open a credit card in my name? No. You do not need identity theft protection because of the census. Equifax has just mashed up some good information about how to avoid census scams with a sales pitch for credit monitoring services. [More]
TJX Hacker May Have Also Been Working For The Secret Service For $75,000 A Year
By 3.23.10
Albert Gonzalez, the mastermind behind most of the multi-million dollar credit card breaches in the past few years, is being sentenced this week. (Feds are asking for 25 years.) Now his former accomplice, Stephen Watt, has told Wired that while Gonzalez was busy stealing and selling credit card data he was also being paid under the table by the U.S. Secret Service to inform on others, earning as much as $75,000 in cash annually. [More]
Young, Dumb, Full Of Risk For ID Theft
By 3.17.10
A new study finds that the young and the feckless are the most at risk for identity theft. 18-24 year olds are more likely to be victimized because they don’t check their accounts frequently or thoroughly enough. You can beat the statistics, though, if 1 in 20 times you’re tempted to check your friend’s Facebook updates you instead scrutinize your account statements. [WashingtonPost] (Thanks to Timothy!) [More]
Credit Card Hacker And ID Theft Forum Overlord Sentenced To 13 Years Prison
By 2.12.10
Max Vision, the security consultant who was first sent to prison in 2001 for messing with the Pentagon, has now been sent to 13 years in prison for “stealing nearly two million credit card numbers from banks, businesses and other hackers,” reports Wired. The FBI took a renewed interest in Vision in 2006 after he successfully made a power grab on several competing black market ID theft websites. “I’ve changed,” Vision wrote in a letter to the court, and although he faced life in prison, he was given the shorter sentence partly because he’d cooperated with the government. With good behavior he’ll be back out in 2018. [More]
Free "How To Be Invisible" Download In Exchange For Your Email Address
By 1.28.10
J.J. Luna, a former security consultant turned author, released a guide ten years ago that showed readers how get rid of paper and digital trails. The subject matter is probably a little too paranoid for most of our readers, but it overlaps with issues we talk about all the time here, like identity theft and online security. He’s just released a revised version, so he’s giving away the 2000 edition in PDF format for free. Well, in exchange for your email address. [More]
New Jersey Considers "Do Not Solicit" Registry To Block Credit Card Offers
By 12.15.09
New Jersey politicians appear to be engaged in some sort of contest to see who can get the most stringent anti-junk mail law passed. First an Assembleyman introduced a bill a few weeks back that would ban companies from mailing unsolocited checks to consumers. Now the Assembley’s Consumer Affairs committee has proposed starting a “Do Not Solicit” list, which would block credit card companies from offering new cards to consumers who aren’t interested. [More]
FTC Online Mall Teaches Tweens About Online Privacy, Scammers
By 12.14.09
This month, the Federal Trade Commission unveiled You Are Here, a virtual mall where kids can learn to avoid online scams, spot misleading ads, and learn good habits to be smart consumers. [More]
You Can Buy Used ATMs On Craigslist
By 11.24.09
Even if you always look for skimmers and hidden cameras when you use an ATM, you still might be a victim of identity theft if the ATM is later sold on eBay or Craigslist. [More]
Sprint Gives Stranger Full Access To Customer's Account, Shrugs
By 11.20.09
When Campbell changed his phone number with Sprint earlier this year, the company immediately assigned his old number to a new customer. They also gave that customer full access to Campbell’s account.
Identity Thieves Victimize Hancock Customers In Several States
By 11.16.09
News reports are coming in from several states detailing a debit card identity theft scheme in which thieves steal debit card info and pin numbers, then withdraw money from customers’ accounts.
Yankees Fans Celebrate Championship By Giving Away Your Private Information
By 11.9.09
In case the unlimited payroll, overpriced stadium, and everything else weren’t enough, here’s another reason to dislike the Yankees: their celebratory parades are havens for white collar crime.
What Do You Do When Your Hotmail Gets Hijacked?
By 10.29.09
Richard says his wife’s Hotmail account was hacked, and now she can’t get into her email or fix the problem via Microsoft’s customers service online or over the phone. He writes:
State Job Website Has Great Opportunities For Self-Starting Identity Thieves
By 10.26.09
CBS 5 exposed a “gaping hole” in the code of California’s state-run employment website that allows anyone who views the site to access and modify other users’ resumes and personal info simply by changing some numbers in the URL.
