As rogue security applications – also known as scareware – rise, Lavasoft develops resource to keep computer users safe.

Gothenburg, Sweden (December 1, 2009) Well-known anti-spyware pioneer Lavasoft today announced the launch of a new resource tool, The Rogue Gallery, a comprehensive list of current rogue (fake) security applications, giving users the ability to immediately identify if they are targets of rogue threats.

Rogue security applications, often referred to as scareware, are rising at a rapid rate, posing one of today’s greatest security challenges to computer users.  Taking the form of legitimate-looking anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware products, these rogue applications appear beneficial from a security perspective but provide little or no protection, generate misleading alerts, or attempt to lure users into fraudulent transactions – blurring the lines between genuine Internet security software and applications that expose users to high risk cyber threats.

Lavasoft Malware Labs security analysts monitor and apprehend these rogue programs, adding them to the threat database of its Ad-Aware security software to protect users. According to Malware Labs analysts, the number of rogue applications is rising at an alarming rate; November 2009 alone saw the release of 22 new rogues – almost one new rogue program per day.  The Rogue Gallery is part of Lavasoft’s commitment to stop the spread of these rogue programs, giving consumers a practical resource to quickly and clearly identify what programs are rogue – and avoid them.

“It can be quite difficult for the average Internet user to keep track of these rogue programs. Inspired by the great work done before us by Spywarewarrior.com – a fantastic resource in its day which really helped a lot of users – we wanted to continue the work started and create a site with both historical information about older rogues as well as up- to-date information about the latest rogue threats,” says Andrew Browne, team leader of the Malware Labs at Lavasoft.

The Rogue Gallery, powered by the Malware Labs at Lavasoft, lists every rogue added to Ad-Aware’s threat database throughout Lavasoft’s history. It currently houses over 500 rogue applications, and is updated upon a new rogue program discovery. Using this resource, consumers are able to search for rogues in alphabetical order or choose to display the latest threats.  Also included on the site is a link to “Submit a Rogue”, giving users the ability to quickly and easily send any suspicious programs directly to the Malware Labs to be analyzed and added to detection if necessary.

“There are many sites that have fragments of information about rogues or just aren’t updated regularly enough to be useful. In the Lavasoft Rogue Gallery, you’ll find the names of every rogue seen, a screenshot of its user interface and additional information about it. We update the site every time a new rogue is identified and hope users will use the information to avoid becoming victims of scareware,” Browne says.

The Rogue Gallery is available at http://www.lavasoft.com/mylavasoft/rogues.   More information on Lavasoft’s security solutions as well as online protection tips can be found on the Lavasoft website at www.lavasoft.com.

About Lavasoft

Founded in 1999, Lavasoft is “the original anti-spyware company”, with over 400 million downloads worldwide for the flagship Ad-Aware product. A private company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, Lavasoft provides security solutions for individual consumers and enterprise clients alike, including anti-spyware, anti-virus, registry optimization, firewall, digital shredding, and encryption.

Rogue security software, often referred to as scareware, is one of the biggest challenges that computer users are faced with right now. Taking the form of legitimate-looking anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware products, these rogue applications look to be beneficial from a security perspective but provide little or no security, generate misleading alerts, or attempt to lure users into participating in fraudulent transactions – blurring the lines between genuine software and applications that put you in harm’s way.

In order to help you clearly see what programs are considered rogue – and avoid them – Lavasoft Malware Labs is proud to introduce a brand new site: the Rogue Gallery.

Here, you can find almost all rogues added to Ad-Aware’s threat database throughout Lavasoft’s history. The Rogue Gallery currently houses a total of over 500 rogue applications, and we’ll be updating the gallery each time we uncover a new rogue program. Using this resource, you can search for rogues in alphabetical order or choose to display the latest threats.  As you’ll also see, we’ve included a link to “Submit a Rogue”, so you can quickly and easily send the team here at Malware Labs  any suspicious programs that you come across in order for them to be analyzed.

We’d like to give a big thanks to Lavasoft’s web development team, who used Malware Labs’ collected data and visualized it on this page.

Albin

Lavasoft Malware Labs

Note:  This is part 6 of the series on the Dangers of Facebook

Part 6 Your Hot Facebook Pics

I bet that got your attention, didn’t it?  Hot Pics!  Well guess what, if you post a ‘hot pic’ of yourself on Facebook…it gets everyone’s attention.  Guys do not take a picture of yourself with your shirt off and post it as your profile picks and girls don’t put a revealing pic up for your profile picture either.  Your friends already know you have great cleavage..don’t let everyone on Facebook in on the secret.

Your profile pic is available for everyone to view…think about that before you decide what it should be.  Potential employers, complete strangers, sexual predators, etc.  If people are looking at friends lists they will always stop on a revealing pic.  Do you want or need this attention?  Go to a dating site if that’s what you are looking for with this pic.  Don’t use Facebook for this.

Let’s talk about that profile pic a little bit more.  I urge everyone to use a pic that is not of your face.  I have seen people use a picture of a stuffed animal, clip art, the sky, nature pics, or an animated character.  This protects your face from people you don’t know.  Once someone becomes your friend then they can see your other pics but why not protect your face from people you don’t know?

If someone from your past is searching for you and they find your name and a picture of the sky for your profile, they won’t immediately know who you are.  Is that a bad thing?  No.  They can send you a message and ask if it is you from Smith High School.  If they don’t want to send that message, if they think that is too hard, then did they really want to reconnect with you in the first place?  Plus, they can still see any mutual friends that the two of you have so they will have a decent idea if it’s you or not.  So what’s the upside to posting an actual pic of yourself in your profile?  We already know the downside.

I get a ton of hits on this blog to the strangest things…and I bet that I will soon be getting hits daily on “hot facebook pics” or something like that…which means there are people searching those things.  All the more reason to protect your privacy.

Part 7 Changing your Facebook Privacy Setting = To Max Protect

Step by Step Instructions for those who want it.

Coming Soon.

Note:  This is Part 5 of the series on the Dangers of Facebook

Part 5 Your Naïve Friends

Alright!  Great Job!  You scrubbed your friend list, told your mom not to sign up for Facebook, rejected every fan page request in the world, and removed all your info from your account.  Protected right?  Nothing to worry about?  Wrong.

Even if you have removed all of your friends that aren’t really friends, you still have a problem.  Your current real friends haven’t read this and are naïve.  Their choices affect your privacy and security.  If their account gets hacked into…your information is now available too.  Let’s say ‘Tom’ is one of your best friends and he uses Facebook all the time.  He likes to post on your wall and make fun of you about things in your personal life…your favorite team, where you live, etc.  He also hasn’t protected his account and therefore his account gets hacked.  The hacker chooses to browse your information because it seems as though Tom likes to post on your wall a lot, so he’s got more to work with.  You are now a target because of Tom.  Tom’s not a bad person, he’s a great friend…just naïve.  And now it costs you.

What’s the easiest thing you can do to protect yourself from Tom?  Send him this link of course.  Even if he does a few of these things it will help and lessen the chances of something happening.  It will make him a less attractive target and make you a much less attractive target.

Part 6 Your Hot Pics

Customers of banks located in California, Missouri and Wisconsin are reporting unauthorized ATM withdrawals from their accounts.  The customers have something in common.  All of bank customers involved have also used their debit cards at Hancock Fabrics retail stores.

To date, 60 victims are from California, 10 from Missouri and 70 from Wisconsin.  One of the California Hancock Fabric stores claimed to have recently replaced its point of sale hardware , but Hancock Fabrics corporate office would not return calls inquiring about the potential security breach.

FULL STORY

A former Johns Hopkins Medicine employee, Michelle Courtney Johnson, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. In addition to prison time,  Ms. Johnson, was ordered to pay over $200,000 in restitution after she  entered a plea agreement for her role in the theft of patients’ personal information.

According to court documents, Ms. Johnson provided at least one other person with names and Social Security numbers of over 100 current and former patients of Johns Hopkins.

FULL STORY

Patient ID Theft Rises

• By Jilian Mince, Dow Jones
• On 11:08 pm EST, Saturday November 28, 2009

Medical identity theft is on the rise and expected to worsen.

The problem has grown during the recession as more uninsured people use the coverage of a friend, relative or even a stranger to get care. Of particular concern is the fact that most of the fraud is committed by people who pay medical workers for patients’ information.

In one case, a front-desk clerk at a medical clinic in Weston, Fla., downloaded the personal information of more than 1,100 Medicare patients and gave it to a cousin, who made $2.8 million in false Medicare claims.

In another instance, a Pennsylvania man discovered that someone used his identity at five different hospitals to receive more than $100,000 worth of medical treatment, according to Pam Dixon, executive director of the nonprofit World Privacy Forum.

Unfortunately, some steps being taken to improve care, such as making medical records electronic and requiring patients to have photo identification, could actually worsen the problem since they make the information more easily available.

While consumers can take common-sense steps like not sharing personal information, much of the theft is unavoidable and can have significant health and financial consequences.

“Medical identity theft is the fast-growing form of identity theft,” says Jim Quiggle, spokesman for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. He says individuals often don’t know that they have been victimized until the thief has distorted their medical records and run up medical bills.

Ms. Dixon says the most dramatic increases in medical identity theft are in states with a lot of retirees, including California, Texas, New York, Arizona and Florida. The Privacy Forum is expected to release in early 2010 a report on the growing problem.

The consequences aren’t just financial. When someone uses another person’s identity, incorrect information could get into the medical files. “Whenever you have a commingled health-care file, you encourage risk,” says Ms. Dixon. That’s because the files may have the wrong medical history, blood type and allergies — and that could have deadly results.

What’s more, consumers could exhaust their lifetime coverage limits or be identified as uninsurable if someone else uses their insurance, says Calvin Sneed, senior antifraud consultant for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Dixon says the best approach for consumers is to be proactive and request copies of your medical records whenever you or a family member goes to the doctor. That way, if you ever become a victim you will have accurate records that could be used to rebuild your medical files.

Mr. Sneed says you should never lend your cards to anyone or provide personal information over the phone, unless you’re certain of the caller’s identity. He recommends closely reading the explanation of benefits reports from insurers — and immediately reporting any discrepancies.

Additionally, you should look over your credit report a couple of times a year to check for any unpaid medical bills. Report lost or stolen insurance cards to your insurance company.

If there’s an incident, file a report with the police to create a paper trail. You also should report any incident to the Federal Trade Commission, which is monitoring identity theft for the federal government.

Article on MSN concerning ID theft. SD ranks near the bottom since SD “cooks the books”.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/FinancialPrivacy/P125094.asp

Updated credit report for Amy Lyngstad. Someone, most likely the Court, had all but one social security number she has used removed. But look at all the aliases and fake addresses! The names do not correspond with the address and are in a random order. But first States Attorney’s, (who was her attorney at one time), letter. She was never arrested or prosecuted for Identity theft of her daughter or the social security numbers on her credit report. Nor the no account checks listed in a brief history of an id theif.

Note:  This is part 4 of the series on The Dangers of Facebook

Part 4 Dangerous Fan Pages

Time for me to scare away your fan pages.  No, hopefully not but there are a few things to consider and certain fan pages to stay away from.

Apartment or Housing Association Fan Pages

Are these necessary?  Do you want people to know where you live?  Becoming a fan of your apartment complex is a pretty clear sign that you live there.

Common Security Questions

Let’s take a look at some common security questions to see how they relate to fan pages.  These are questions used to protect accounts and reset passwords for all types of things like email, rewards accounts, banks, credit cards, health and car insurance, etc

1. What is your favorite sport?
2. What is your favorite team?
3. What is your favorite tv program?
4. What is the color of your father’s eyes?
5. In what city were you born?
6. What is your favorite color?
7. What is your work address?
8. What is the name of the high school you graduated from?
9. To what city did you go on your honeymoon?
10. Where did you vacation last year?

Ok…that’s enough of those.  Those were just a sample of 10 common questions that are commonly asked.  Let’s say your favorite team is the New York Giants and you have become a fan of them.  You might have given away the answers to questions 1 and 2.  Maybe not.  but maybe.

You’ve become a fan of “The Office” on your Facebook account…do you also list that as your favorite tv program?  Is your father’s pic on your Facebook account..showing his eyes?  Is your high school listed on there and were you also born in that city?  Are you a fan of the place you vacationed last year or went on your honeymoon?

Yes, I know this may be reaching some but just wanted everyone to be aware of this information.  Think about these things when you setup your security questions…whatever it is, don’t use it in your Facebook account.  Don’t refer to it at all.   The more information you make available the easier it is for someone to guess your password or security question answers.

Becoming a Fan reveals yourself to other Fans

You’ve just become a fan of your favorite bar in town.  Now you are getting friend requests from people who have seen you at that bar and are also fans of that bar, which is how they found you.  That’s great if you want to become Facebook friends with everyone from the bar…but obviously very dangerous because you don’t know any of those people.  Fan pages are great for businesses but very revealing to individuals on a lot of levels.

Don’t accept friend requests from people just because you are both fans of things.  You don’t know them…don’t become their friend.  Don’t become fans of things that could be considered controversial if you are looking for or will ever be looking for a job.  Recruiters may use this information to remove you from consideration or it can be used against you by a current or future co-worker.  Also, becoming a fan of political views reveals a lot about your personal beliefs.  This may or may not be something you really want to reveal.

Becoming a Fan of a Venue

I’ve started seeing more and more of these occurring.  Big concert venues are using Facebook to promote their concerts which is a great marketing strategy.  The problem is when you post on that page or confirm that you will attend that event.  If you post on that walls page, you just introduced yourself to thousands of people who you don’t know.  If you confirm that you will attend a concert on Dec 1^st…you just confirmed that you will be out of the house that night.

There’s no reason to confirm on a Facebook page that you will be attending an event.  Why are you doing it?  Do not post something on that venue page’s wall either.  It’s one thing to post on a message board of your favorite band.  You create a user name and that’s it.  It’s not directly linked to the actual you…doing it on Facebook links to the real you.  See the difference?   That fan page is not a message board and don’t use it as one.  If you want to find out about events at a venue..sign up for their email list.  Why do you need to do it on Facebook?

Summary

There are plenty of things to think about before you sign up as a fan of something.  Think about what security answers you have out there and whether this fan page reveals that information.  Think about what type of people may also be fans.  What are the chances that a criminal is also a fan of the bar, the concert, or the restaurant that you just became a fan of?

You just introduced yourself to them and they may be waiting to see who divulges more information through wall postings and event confirmations.  And what about the guy who approaches you at the bar on Saturday night and says he remembers seeing you on the fan page…Sunday afternoon you get a friend request from him on Facebook.  Who is he?  What do you know about him?  If you become his friend..did you just reveal your address and when you would be out of the house and attending a function at that bar?

Get Ready for Part 5:  Your Naive Friends

1.5 million Health Net customers’ personal and medical information is at risk after a hard drive was lost six months ago.  The lost hard drive was first reported last week, according to state and Health Net officials.  At least 446,000 of the customers include Connecticut residents.  Residents of Arizona, New Jersey and New York are also included in the data contained on the hard drive.

The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office and Connecticut of Insurance was informed by Health Net of the data loss.  The number of customers and patients affected by the lost ard drive that contained medical records and personal data.  The lost hard drive is beleived to be an external portable hard drive and contained Social Security numbers in addition to medical records.

To date, Health Net has not been able to locate the hard drive.  The data were compressed, but not encrypted. The information is formatted as images and requires a special computer program to be read, state and company officials said. Health Net plans to send out breach notification letters to its customers notifying them of the data loss.

FULL STORY

Note:  This is Part 3 of the series on the Dangers of Facebook

Part 3:  Your Mom

Maybe the biggest threat to your security is your Mom.  Hey, we all love mom but don’t let her on Facebook.   Just don’t.  Here’s the problem…she doesn’t sign up on Facebook as your mom…she signs up as an individual using a name from her past.  She’s not just your Mom now…

The Maiden Name

You mom just sent you a friend request as Mary Jones Smith…her maiden name of Jones is now visible to everyone.   And I mean everyone!  It’s in her freaking name…right there in search results.  Who cares?  It’s just a maiden name, I mean no one ever asks for……OH SH**!  NOOOO!  DAMN DAMN!

Exactly…every financial institution I have ever dealt with uses that as one of the identifiers.  “We need to verify your account sir…what is your bday and your mom’s maiden name?”  Both of those might be right there on your Facebook account visible to all friends of friends or friends that you don’t really know.  See part 1.

And another question that pops up:  ‘what is your spouse’s mother’s maiden name’?  Is their mom on Facebook too?

Just Don’t Accept Mom as a Friend

It’s gonna break her heart…but deny her as a friend and you’re ok, right?  Wrong.  She’s become friends with the rest of your family and friends so they will see that maiden name one way or the other.  And every day more and more people are joining and women probably use their maiden name 90% of the time at least.  That way they can reconnect with people who knew them by the former.  Great for them…potentially a huge headache for you and your identity.

What you can do

Not much.  Get her not to join or bury her in the backyard.  Only kidding Mom.  But at least tell her not to join under her full name.  Make sure her settings block friends of friends, etc.  Good luck accomplishing all of that.  Financial institutions are going to have to remove that as a security question on very account.  It’s too easy to find now.  I almost hesitated including this because of it.   The sacred ‘maiden name’…visible to any thief.

Get out from under the covers and read Part 4 Dangerous Fan Pages -

Note:  This is part 2 of the series on Protecting Yourself on Facebook

Part 2:  What information should you avoid putting into your Facebook Account?

Welcome to part 2 of my series on “Protecting Yourself from Facebook”.  In this section we will examine what information doesn’t belong in your Facebook account.  There are certain items that are very useful to hackers and identity thieves..and well criminals in general.

Remove Your Birthday

Do it.  I know…you won’t get all those bday wishes but that is a key piece of information about you that shouldn’t be public.  How many times are you asked your bday to identify you or an account that you have?  You are giving that information away…and easily through your Facebook account.  Consider putting a fake bday on there if you want..move it up or back by 5 days if you just have to have a bday on there.

Remove the Specific City you Live in

Don’t tell the world that you live in a suburb of Houston like Katy…just say Houston.  Or remove it entirely. Giving away your specific city allows thieves to search records and narrow down the possibilities of which Joe Smith you are.  I see 200 Joe Smiths…but only one in Katy, TX.  That presents an opportunity to any thief or criminal.  They know your name, your city; they will have your exact address very soon.  And with your pic…well you get the picture.

Do NOT mention your Pet by Name

This is very common and on the surface it shouldn’t matter if you mention your dog’s name.  The problem is that one of the most common password protection questions is “what is the name of your favorite pet?”  Did you put in your current dog’s name?  You did?  Then I may have just gained access to your account.  So remove your pet’s name or make damn sure you have never used it as your favorite pet.

Protect Your Kids

Are you using your kid’s names somewhere on your page?  Is this information available?  What about their ages or what they look like?  There are some sicko’s out there so don’t let them even get a glimpse of your kids or their information.  Remove it.  You want your friends to see a new picture of your kids…send them an email or message it to them.  Don’t put it up for their entire network of friends to see.   I mean your friends have never dated or befriended anyone they shouldn’t have, right?

Your Employer

Is your place of employment visible to everyone?  Does it really need to be?  What does your employment say about you?  The hours you work?  The part of the city you work?  Don’t your real friends already know where you work?

Your Phone Number and Email

Tell me it’s not on there.  Just tell me you didn’t put it on there.  Is that email a login for any account..maybe your bank account?  Credit card account?  That combined with all of that other info will give a hacker your password or at least let them reset it.   Make sure only friends can see that email address and/or use one you do not use for any business accounts.  And I don’t really need to explain the phone number part do I?  Again, your friends already have this information or they are not friends.  If it’s a friend you are reconnecting with then you can just message that information to them.

Summary

You might have to get creative with some of this to get around Facebook requirements.  The choice is yours as to how far you want to go to restrict your information.  At the end of the day, keep asking yourself “Don’t my friends already know this, who is this information really for”?

Part 3:  Your Mom

Read Part 1 ’Your Friends’ List

Note:  This is part one of a multi part series on how to protect yourself on Facebook

After a long hiatus, I’ve decided to jump back into the blogosphere with something that I’ve been mulling over the past few weeks.  The dangerous side of Facebook.  Scared yet?  Facebook offers the chance to stay connected and reconnect with old and new friends.  In theory, it’s great…we all use and love it.  But you know who else loves it?  Criminals.  Identity Thieves.  Petty Thieves and worse.

So why is Facebook dangerous?  Quite simply there is a lot of personal information on it which is viewable to an audience who normally wouldn’t have access.  Most criminals can’t do the background work on a crime..it’s a big obstacle to overcome and protects us all.  Facebook knocks down that protective wall and exposes us.  Let’s examine ways to protect yourself other than deleting or wiping your profile clean.

Not my friends!  You can’t take my friends away from me!  Hold on there…are these 500 people really your friends?  When is the last time you talked to any of them?  When is the last time you saw some of them?  Do you know if they have a criminal history?

Step 1 is to scrub that friend list of anyone who you don’t really know.  I think a lot of us have accepted friend requests from someone who knows someone that we know…maybe we met this person once but we don’t know them.  Keep your friends list limited to just that friends.  People you know and trust.

Guidelines to scrubbing the friend list:

1) Have you ever met this person?

2) Have you met them more than once?

3) Do you really consider them a friend?  Would you refer to them as a ‘friend’ in normal conversation or would you say that you simply ‘know who they are’?

4) Do they have a criminal history?

5) Do they have a history of abusing drugs?

What about High School Friends?

Be careful who you accept as a friend from High School.  Just because you had English class with someone 15 years ago does not mean that you know them.  99% chance they are not the same person you remember.  They may be perfectly normal and a model citizen.  Or they could be strung out on drugs or have a history of violence in the past 5 years due to something occurring in their personal life.  You don’t know because you don’t really know them as a friend.

What about exes?  What about friends of ex’s?  I think Chris Rock said it best “if you haven’t contemplated killing someone then you haven’t loved a *$%#”.  Is that person really over you?  Is that persons friend ok with the way you treated your ex or the way they perceive you treated your ex?  See what I am getting at?  Maybe the ex is completely over you but one of their friends never forgave you for cheating on their friend…that would be problematic.

Friends who post a lot

This is a hard one.  We all have them.  The friends who spend their day on Facebook posting about every little thing they do.  These people typically have hundreds of friends and use multiple Facebook applications and they tell you what and where they eat lunch and how mad they are when it rains or it’s too hot.  These friends should scare the crap out of you.

If you and that friend do something…it’s getting posted on their wall.  They go to your bday party…it’s on the wall.  They go to your child’s bday party..it’s on the wall.  They go feed your dog because you are out of town…it’s on their wall.  Their friends may be able to view info about your as well.  Make sure all your privacy settings restrict access to only your friends and not friends of friends.    A friend with an unscrubbed friend list is dangerous to you.  Maybe they like the way you look in your pic?  Maybe they like the way your car or house looks in your pic?

Your Teenaged Kids

This kind of runs together with the person who posts a lot.  Teenaged kids are the worst…Think about what their friend list may look like.  How many of their friends are petty thieves?  Your kid’s friends should not be able to view anything about you..keep them far far away from your profile.  Teenaged kids are very unstable in their relationships and easily influenced.  Not a good combo.  There are infinite possibilities that could occur and most of them are not pleasant.

In Summary

Avoid these types of friends on your Facebook Account:

1)       Remove friends that you don’t really know

2)      Remove friends that are simply acquaintances you’ve met through others

3)      Restrict access to your information including pics to ‘friends only’ and NOT ‘friends of friends’

4)      Remove High School friends who you have not seen, talked to, or plan to talk to ever again

5)      Consider removing friends who over post or ask them to not post information about your life..where you have been, where you live, etc

6)      Remove your teenaged kids

Part 2:  What information should you avoid putting into your Facebook Account?

Over 100,000 credit cards because German authorities feared criminals stole consumers’ credit card information through a Spanish credit card payment processing company.  Visa and MasterCard say the breach did not occur in their systems, but pointed their fingers at elsewhere in the payment system.

FULL STORY

Drawing a conclusion from the email, laws are only to scare honest people and the government is answerable to no one. Amy Lyngstad does not have to obey the law. Nor does law enforcement and the courts have to obey the law. So what good is paying congress when no one has to obey the laws? Taxpayer dollars are wasted on law makers since Courts do not have to follow the law. Congress is a waste of taxpayer’s money making laws since they don’t apply to everyone? Law enforcement did their job but the State Judges nullified federal law and get away with it.

RE: ID Theft‏
From: James Van Dyke (jvd@javelinstrategy.com)
Sent: Mon 11/23/09 10:10 AM
To: ************* (southdakotagov@hotmail.com)

Attachments: 1 attachment
image001.png (6.8 KB)

Mike, that sounds like an awful situation-I’m very sorry to hear about it. I’ve personally been a victim four times, and my business was a victim of a Russion gang once more on top of that. The ITRC is one of the best victim advocacy groups around. http://www.idtheftcenter.org/

Their founders, Linda and Jay Foley, are simply passionate about helping individuals like your daughter. They do superb work in this area.

Local law enforcement is very hesitant to get involved due to workload and state or federal groups are hesitant to get involved unless the damage can be shown to be very high in financial terms.

Best of luck to you

James Van Dyke

President and Founder, Javelin Strategy & Research

javelinstrategy.com

+1 925 225 9102 (office)
+1 925 225 9101 (fax)
4301 Hacienda Drive Suite 550 Pleasanton, CA 94588

From: ************ [mailto:southdakotagov@hotmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, November 22, 2009 11:03 PM
To: James Van Dyke
Subject: ID Theft

To Javelin Strategy and Research,

My daughter had her identity stolen by her mother, my ex-wife. The Yankton County Sheriff’s Department investigated last April.
Here is their report: http://southdakotagov.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/federal-trade-commission/ or you can google southdakotagov info.

Now my ex wife was convicted of id theft in 2005. For 19 counts of id theft she got a $100 fine and no restitution with a year of federal probation. While on probation she continued to commit id theft as you can read by the sheriff’s report. http://southdakotagov.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/19-counts-of-id-theft100-fine/

My ex wife has been using fake social security numbers since 1999. She was not prosecuted for having used 9 different social security numbers on no account checks. She had checks printed with the fake social security numbers and got away with $1000s in bad checks while on probation for no account checks.
http://southdakotagov.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/brief-history-of-an-id-theif/

SD State Judges don’t think that using your children’s identity is a serious crime, even though it is a federal offense. Since the April report she has not been arrested. No one will say why not as there are federal and state felonies involved while she was on probation both state and federal. Probation officers knew she was committing id theft but they did not want to hear about it.

Now the IDRC was contacted there is nothing they can do about it. The FTC was contacted. They only take reports but do not know why she is not arrested and prosecuted.

My daughter now has bad credit and will be graduating high school. Since she has bad credit, she is not eligible for college loans and grants. In addition on her credit report besides the outstanding debt, her mother used another social security number with our daughters name and her age is listed as 40 not 16.

State Judges have nullified id theft laws and obviously identity theft has been committed. Telling people about id theft should include the caveat that if the id thief has connections they will get away with it and you will be left with bad credit.

Does anyone have resources for id theft prosecution when the State allows it?

From:	info@consumeraffairs.com
Sent:	Wed 11/25/09 11:02 AM
To:	southdakotagov@hotmail.com

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Message that you sent:

Date = 2009-11-25-17:02:53

Country = United States
Email = southdakotagov@hotmail.com
Home phone =
Work phone =
Company Name = State of South Dakota
Company Contact =
Company Address =
City =
State/Prov =
Zip2 =
Country = United States
Company phone =
Incident = My ex-wife has used our daughter's identity resulting in our minor daughter having a bad credit report. South Dakota government says this is legal and will not prosecute her even though the sheriff's office did an investigation and found id theft, along with other State and federal crimes. My ex also passed 13 thousand bad checks using fake social security numbers and no arrest again even thought there is a police report. The merchants are out their money although the State collects the sales tax.The merchants pass the losses on to her. In addition my ex was charged with 19 counts of id theft in a separate incident. She got a $100 fine and no restitution. Is identity theft legal then since there are more documented cases of other banks where she opened an account passed no account checks when it was closed for being overdrawn. The merchants have to pass te loss on to paying customers right?
Damage Resulting = My minor daughter has bad credit and judgments against her. No college loans or grants. The FTC says it is a crime yet South Dakota state courts say it is not.

All the no account checks she wrote there is no restitution so the merchants and banks pass the loss on to paying consumers. I am talking 1000s of bad checks.  http://southdakotagov.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/federal-trade-commission/
Contact me = Y

Tad Gear Online announced its data base has been breached and persons that placed credit card orders between August 6, 2009 and November 16, 2009 personal information may be at risk.  According to Tad Gear’s web site, the company discovered the data breach after customers reported unauthorized credit card charges after making purchases from Tad Gear’s web site.

FULL STORY

If you have been a victim of identity theft or have received a breach notification letter, then contact one of our identity theft lawyers for a free and confidential consultation.

The Army Corps of Engineers is investigating the loss of an external hard drive.  The Army’s hard drive could contain as many as 60,000 soldiers and civilians personal information.  The data breach occurred in November 2009 at the Army Corps of Engineers’ Southwest Division located in Dallas, Texas.  The missing hard drive contains the personal data, including the Social Security numbers, of soldiers and civilian employees.

The spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers in Washington D.C., Major Mark Young, indicated the investigation is focused on giving notification to the persons affected by the data breach and ensuring it does not happen again

FULL STORY

Our firm represents victims of government, military and civilian data theft.  We have represented class members in the infamous Veteran’s Administration data breach.

If you have received a data breach notification letter from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or other Military Branch, you may be entitled to money damages.  We are currently investigating this data breach and will be accepting new clients in January 2010.

Please bookmark this page and check back with us in January 2010 to provide us with your experience.

Thousands of personal record details of British T-Mobile customers were stolen and sold by an employee for “substantial sums” to rival carriers putting a spotlight on the unlawful trade in personal data in the UK.

According to an article in the Guardian, the employee allegedly sold the account information to a number of “brokers”, who then resold the data to competing mobile services so they could target T-Mobile customers.

“The number of records involved runs into the millions, and it appears that substantial amounts of money changed hands,” according to Christopher Graham, the UK’s Information Commissioner. “We are considering the evidence with a view to prosecuting those responsible and I am keen to go much further and close down the entire unlawful industry in personal data.”

Pressing for change, Graham said “More and more personal information is being collected and held by government, public authorities and businesses. In the future, as new systems are developed and there is more and more interconnection of these systems, the risks of unlawful obtaining and disclosure become even greater. If public trust and confidence in the proper handling of personal information, whether by government or by others, is to be maintained, effective sanctions are essential.”

Why this matters

It is not just Social Security numbers, account numbers, and driver’s license numbers that have value to criminals and legitimate corporations alike. In the data age, you are a commodity. Every piece of your personal information, your preferences, your relationships to others, your financial value, information about services you currently use, your location, even your emotions has significant economic value.

Given the value of the data the temptation to steal and sell it is huge – there’s a reason that over 340 million personal data records have been breached in the US alone since Jan. 2005.

Companies and criminals purchase this information to help in the design products (including malware), shape and target advertising (and fake ads), even help build socially engineered scams tailored to you.

The Information commissioner is right. Slapping small fines on those who steal and sell consumers private information offers little deterrent when the data sellers can collect premium prices. When the only consequence is a fine, it’s nothing more than another cost of doing business.

In the T-Mobile case, not only should the T-Mobile employee who stole the information receive a strong punishment, the competitors bought the data to poach customers should be charged with purchasing stolen goods.

Without punishing every piece of the “entire unlawful industry in personal data” it will be difficult to make headway against the crimes and protect consumers.

Linda

As many as 2,000 patients, contractors, volunteers, contractors  and physician personal identifying information may be at risk after a laptop was stolen from the Guam Memorial Hospital. 

According to Mindy Agoun at Kuam News, the laptop was stolen from a locked office in the hospital.  The laptop contained names, dates of physical exams and various test results.

FULL STORY

Think identity theft or fraud can’t happen to you? Think again. Scamming for information is nothing new, but the Web provides a fresh means of fraud. The result: identity theft is a fast-growing, serious offense and it could affect you.

Identity theft tops the list of all fraud complaints received by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Consumers reported fraud losses totaling over $1.2 billion U.S., according to the FTC’s annual Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data report. And that means protecting private information is a top priority for anyone who relies on the Internet for communicating personal or financial data.

How exactly does it work? When a criminal gathers enough personally identifiable information about you, that person can take over your identity to commit a range of crimes for their own personal gain.

A variety of techniques – including old-fashioned thievery and cyber scams – can be used to get past your defenses. According to ID Theft Protect’s website, a leading resource for consumers on identity fraud, identity theft, and data privacy, the five most popular methods of identity fraud and theft are:

1. Application fraud: using stolen or counterfeit documents to open an account in your name.
2. Account ID take-over: using your personal information to take over your bank or credit accounts.
3. Mail non-receipt card fraud: stealing new or replaced bank and credit cards as they are in the process of being mailed to you by your card company.
4. Phishing e-mail fraud: posing as a legitimate institution in order to capture personal or financial information by e-mail.
5. Pharming fraud: redirecting you to a bogus website in order to capture credentials, like your online banking username and password.

While there may not be one foolproof way to protect your private information from these theft attempts, there are precautions you can, and should, be practicing. Below are basic guidelines we have compiled to help you reduce the risk of identity theft, whether you are online or offline.

• Monitor your credit closely. Your credit report contains information about your credit accounts and bill paying history so you can be tipped off when someone is impersonating you. Watch for suspicious signs, like accounts you did not open.
• Keep records of your financial data and transactions. Review your statements regularly for any activity or charges you did not make.
• Install security software (firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware software) and keep it up-to-date as a safety measure against online intrusions.
• Use an updated Web browser to make sure you’re taking advantage of its current safety features. Consider using an alternate browser (like Firefox or Opera) which may lower your risk of malware attacks.
• Be wary of e-mail attachments and links in both e-mail and instant messages. Use caution even when the message appears to come from a safe sender, as identity information in messages can easily be spoofed.
• Store sensitive data securely. Just as you keep sensitive paper documents under lock and key, secure sensitive online information. This can be done through file encryption software.
• Shred documents (both paper and electronic) that contain personal or financial information before discarding them. This prevents dumpster diving and, in the online world, the ability for hackers to bypass information that has not been permanently deleted from your computer.
• Protect your PII. Be cautious about giving out your personally identifiable information (PII) to anyone. Find out why the information is needed, and if it’s absolutely necessary to give out. Be careful about the details you provide about yourself online, such as on social networking sites.
• Stay alert to the latest scams. Awareness and caution are effective methods to counter fraud. Share security tips you learn with friends and family.

There are a number of other online resources with more information on how to protect your identity, as well as actions to take if you think your private information has been compromised. Take a look at the practical tips and resources available at fraud prevention websites, like the U.S. federal government’s OnGuardOnline.gov and the non-profit organization Identity Theft Resource Center.

The Department of the Navy Pensacola is reporting Pensacola Naval Hospital has lost personal identifiable information again.  The first reported data loss incident this year included a missing laptop in August of 2009.  According to the Department of Navy’s August 31, 2009 Personal Identifying Information (PII) loss notification letter, the Pharmacy Department at Naval Hospital Pensacola reported a missing laptop on August 18, 2009 and the laptop contained names, Social Security numbers and date of birth of at least 38,000 patients.

The second reported data loss of 2009 involved the loss of a CD.  The CD contained personal identifying information (PII) of patients for the time period 2005 through 2009.  The CD was created by a staff employee that transferred to the Pensacola Naval Hospital from New Hampshire Naval Hospital.  Thus, the lost CD more likely than not contained patient information from the New Hampshire Naval Hospital and Pensacola Naval Hospital patients.

Our firm is investigating both data losses and will begin evaluating new client claims in January 2010.  If you have received a personal identifying information (PII) data loss notification letter from the Department of Navy, Pensacola Naval Hospital, New Hampshire Naval Hospital, Nurse Corps, or any other federal government branch from August 2009 to the present, you may be entitled to money damages.  Bookmark or add this page to your favorites and check back with us in January 2010, as out web site is still under construction.

The Baltimore Sun is reporting a security breach at the Mercy Medical Center.  According to Brent Jones’ article, an undisclosed number of Mercy Medical Center patients’ personal information may have been stolen by a former employee of the hospital.

Mercy Medical Center sent patients affected by the breach notification letters.  The breach notification letter included a statement that the hospital’s former employee may have taken patients’ personal information for use when applying for loans and credit cards .

If you believe you have been a victim of identity theft, then you should request and review your credit report.  For more information about how to get your free credit report click here.

It wasn’t too long ago that Village Fresh Market was handing out flyers to Mexican nationals on where to receive new Matricula  Cards (Mexican ID Cards) which was in cooperation with Centro De-Informacion and St. Monicas Catholic Church.

Now it appears that Village Fresh Market hires anybody, including this women who’s 28 using a 68 year old man’s Social Security number.

Carpentersville woman charged with ID theft

By Josh Stockinger | Daily Herald Staff

A 68-year-old Elmhurst man’s request for unemployment benefits led to a Carpentersville woman’s arrest on identity theft charges, police said Wednesday.

Claudia Tierrafria-Gonzalez, 28, of the 200 block of Bolz Road, is accused of using the man’s Social Security number to get a job at a local grocery store.

“She’s used it this year to earn a total of just under $15,000,” Carpentersville Police Comdr. Tim Bosshart said.

The case came to light after the man’s request for unemployment benefits was rejected Nov. 6 on the grounds that he already had a job. But Bosshart said authorities later traced tax records to Village Fresh Market, 350 Lake Marion Road, where they discovered Tierrafria-Gonzalez had gained employment using the man’s Social Security number.

Read the rest ……………

The biggest security threat for most companies is its employees.  Hackers on the inside can make their way into corporate files, sensitive data and wreak havoc on their employers’ productivity.  Companies need to teach their employees about security. They need to remind them about the dangers of letting malicious hackers into the network.

READ 10 Essential Things Companies Should Teach Employees About Security, by Don Reisinger

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), consumers are entitled to one free credit report in a 12 month period.  The federal law provides consumers with one free credit report from each of the three major national credit reporting agencies (CRAs, i.e., Experian, Equifax and Trans Union).  Click here for a free credit report.  Consumers should not be fooled by ads  from deceptive advertisers that claim to provide a “free” credit report, but only after enrolling in a membership program for a FEE!

The FCRA also provides consumers the right to receive a free credit report after receiving an adverse action letter.   An adverse action letter may inform a consumer that his or her application for credit fhas been denied.  The adverse action letter must include the name of the CRA that provided the consumers’ credit report  for review by the potential creditor.  Upon receipt of the adverse action letter, the consumer has 60 days to request a free credit  report from the appropriate CRA.  If the request is made in a timely manner (within 60 days of receipt of the adverse action letter), the CRA has a duty to provide the consumer with a free credit report.

It is important to request and review your credit report on a regular basis to verify the accuracy and completeness of your credit report.  The FCRA provides a private cause of action for consumers to file suit against credit reporting agencies and furnishers for not having and following reasonable procedures to ensure the accuracy of consumers’ credit reports.  When CRAs continue to report inaccurate or incomplete information, consumers may be entitled to money damages and attorney fees under federal law.