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Cruising
Cyberspace
Web
Site Pick Of The Month
By Pam Wegmann
This month, I’m going
to deviate from our normal modus operandi of reviewing a Web Site
and instead address an issue that has mushroomed since the advent of the
Web. I was prompted to write about this topic after receiving a spam
(unwanted junk e-mail) several weeks back.
The address
of the spam sender was one of those indecipherable addresses of alpha-numeric
combinations, which in itself makes one suspicious. While I
delete almost all spam without reading it, the Subject line prompted me
to take a look: “Have you ever needed a second chance in life?”
The message
was essentially a pitch for the recipient to purchase a book called “Seven
Steps to the New You” on how to set up a new identity.
The message
went on to talk about how you can get a new identity, fix bad credit and
get the credit you want. You can supposedly get this book by sending
a $29.95 payment in cash (no kidding) to an address provided in the e-mail.
Take heed.
What we’re talking about here, friends, is identity theft, aka “account
takeover” or “true name fraud.”
I did a little research
on the net and found a cheesy little web page for this book, which is nothing
more than the text of the spam. You can take a look at it at
http://www.ezdiscountstore.com/newyou.html
and cringe.
Not surprisingly, the site posts a disclaimer that they are not responsible
for what the purchaser does with the information.
This kind of information
is not new. Thieves who are adept at using the Internet and at using
electronic databases can extract social security numbers, birth dates,
and drivers license numbers for ill gain. The most important piece
of data in all of these is your social security number. It is the
key to your identity.
I am not a private
detective and generally do not track people as part of our business, but
I am adept at information retrieval. if I have your social security
number, I can follow the data trail to a whole host of information on you
including your address, phone number, drivers license number, mother’s
maiden name, etc. You get the picture.
My message here to
my colleagues and friends is to protect your personal identification data
as much you guard your life. Here are a few of my personal suggestions
for guarding this key data:
Never give out your
social security to anyone, especially over the telephone, unless
you initiated the transaction, such as proactively applying for a mortgage
or credit card.
The same applies
to a credit card number; and do not write account numbers on your checks.
Keep any records
with identification data on them in safe places and destroy any such documents
before throwing them in the trash. (I even shred all those credit
card offers that come in the mail before discarding them.)
Try to use something
other than your mother’s maiden name as a password on accounts.
Identify theft is
one of the worst nightmares that can ever happen to you and it’s frequency
of occurrence is growing rapidly. Take great care in protecting
your name and your data.
Knowledge is Power!
:-)
March 2000
Questions/Comments
can be sent to pam@info-matters.com
or faxed to 504.738.0016. You can also reach Ms. Wegmann at 504.738.0070.
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