Money Mules Facilitate Identity Theft and Fraud


Written on November 19, 2009 – 7:45 pm | by admin

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

Mules are relatively unaware people who get hooked into a “small business” or employment that is a function of a criminal enterprise. The mules often respond to “help wanted” ads from online job placement sites. Shipping scams are a common tactic criminals use in which they employ mules to receive goods bought with stolen credit card numbers, who then ship to people who buy them in online auctions. The mules in this process are essentially facilitating selling hot goods and money laundering.

An RSA study revealed laptops, iPods, iPhones, Nokia smartphones, digital cameras, Sony PlayStation 3 devices, and DJ equipment were among the items shipped to addresses in Russia and Belarus. RSA estimates that more than $36,000 worth of merchandise was cashed out every month before one scam ended earlier this year.

These scams generally have a virtual store front posing as a shipping company, giving the ruse a legitimate appearance. The effi

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Tags: Identity Theft, Theft

A Quick Look At Identity Theft


Written on November 19, 2009 – 5:15 am | by admin

Most Americans strive at keeping their credit score acceptable to merchants, making many sacrifices to pay bills on time. It is the American dream to own that dream car and home with all the necessities to make their lives comfortable. In today’s credit driven world, the only way to accomplish this dream is to have an excellent credit rating. Identity theft can take that hard earned credit rating and destroy it in a matter of days, which is why identity protection should be a concern of everyone.

Identity theft can happen many ways, all very stressful and destructive to the person whose identity has been stolen. A couple of the most popular ways identity theft has occurs online, but that’s not the only way to retrieve someone’s personal information. Online theft may be the easiest way to steal an identity which makes an identity theft protection plan an important defense mechanism everyone should consider.

Computer software that was developed to watch what other people are doing on their computer allows the identity theft to acquire personal information, such as credit card number and social security number. Anoth

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I Bought an ATM off Craigslist for $750 w/1000 CC#s on it. Yup.


Written on November 16, 2009 – 7:42 am | by admin

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

After the Vegas DEFCON ATM debacle where hackers hacked hackers by setting up a fake ATM in front of the facilities security office, I needed to see how stupid easy it was to buy and ATM and just set it up anywhere. So my search began.

I started looking on e-bay and found plenty of new and used ATMs ranging from $500-2500 but quickly determined I didn’t want to pay $300 for shipping. Next was Craigslist, where anyone can rent out an apartment, buy a boat, get an erotic massage and buy an ATM.

I quickly found an ad from a bar north of Boston. They were selling pool tables, Budweiser neon signs and an ATM. I took my hacker with me and met Bob. Bob rented a room above the bar and was doing the deed for the owner. The bar was an old relic that was closing and liquidating its grungy assets. The ATM was sitting right next to the bar covered in 5 years of beer. Thank heavens they were smart enough to cover the keypad in clear plastic. Wh

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Tags: Atm, Atm Craigslist

Get a Cross Cut Paper Shredder For Paperwork Security


Written on November 16, 2009 – 5:34 am | by admin

A cross cut paper shredder is designed to shred documents with sensitive or personal information, eliminates careless disposal of private data, and turns those pieces of paperwork into confetti.

Properly and safe shredding of paperwork, such as credit or bank account statements, medical records, or any letter or piece of post that contains personal information all helps in reducing the chances of identity theft or similar fraudulent activates.

A heavy-duty shredder will start to operate as soon as a document is feed into it – and destroys all sensitive mail, document, and similar paperwork into thin slices.

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Tags: Cut Paper, Cut Paper Shredder, Paper Shredder, Paperwork

PC WORLD: T-Mobile Customers Suffer Data Breach


Written on November 15, 2009 – 7:50 pm | by admin


Daniel Ionescu
Nov 18, 2009 10:17 am

T-Mobile is again giving its customers — and prospective customers — reason to be nervous.

Most U.S. Sidekick device users suffered severe data losses in October, when they permanently lost photos, contacts, and calendar entries. T-Mobile then suspended the sales of Sidekick devices, which has only been resumed this week. Earlier this month, T-Mobile U.S. customers also experienced widespread service disruption for both voice calls and text messages.

This time, staff at the U.K. operations of wireless carrier T-Mobile have sold personal data of thousands of customers. Millions of records from customers were brokered to third parties, who then approached customers whose contracts were soon to expire.

T-Mobile, the country’s fourth largest mobile phone company, said that its customers’ data was sold without the company’s knowledge, a T-Mobile spokesperson told the BBC. The breac

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Tags: Data, Suffer Data

LifeLock adds new technology to fight fraud


Written on November 15, 2009 – 6:05 pm | by admin

Recently, Todd Davis, the CEO of LifeLock announced an upcoming release of new technology to fight fraud in real time, thus offering even better identity theft protection. According to Mr. Davis, this new technology will provide better and broader protection to their clients. It will include doing deep forensic analysis of the entire credit network, by monitoring millions of data sources, including retailers, banks, mortgage lenders, utilities and auto lenders. Additionally, this is considerably more than the credit bureaus monitor. This new system will replace fraud alerts, while they will continue to offer their suite of identity theft protection services including WalletLock, eRecon TrueAddress and the $1 million total service guarantee.

As criminals become increasing sly by devising more complex schemes to defraud people, this improved technology is important in continuing to protect consumers. This clearly shows LifeLocks commitment to providing the best service to their clients. Since 2005, LifeLock has been the industry leader in identity theft protection and it appears they will continue to be the leader.

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Tags: Fight Fraud, Fraud, New Technology