Coming This Holiday Season: Package Delivery Fraud

Since the pandemic began, consumers are shopping less in brick and mortar stores and buying more online. That means that our email boxes are often full of delivery notices. And, we may not always remember exactly what we ordered or from where. Scammers are taking advantage of this with a…

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Secrets Your Photos Reveal About You

Consumers who believe they are careful about what information they share online may be surprised to learn just how much information is revealed through their photos. In addition to the pictures many routinely post to social media, our online video meetings and Facebook live videos can reveal details useful to…

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What Happens If I Lose My 2FA Device?

Two-factor authentication (2FA) provides an extra layer of security for your data, beyond just using a password. For example, it may involve having a code sent to your mobile device. But what happens if you lose that device? The good news is that, although it may be inconvenient, it is…

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Police Use Geofencing to Find Out Who Was at a Crime Scene

Geofencing is often used by marketers to target customers in a specific geographic location, for example to send coupons to potential buyers who are within a specified range of a retail store or restaurant. It has also been used by political campaigns to identify people who have attended rallies or…

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Cybersecurity While Working from Home

More employees than ever are working from home, and 85% of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) said that they had to sacrifice cybersecurity to quickly enable them to do so. Cybersecurity vendor Netwrix announced this and other findings from a June 2020 survey conducted to determine how organizations are responding…

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What is “Brushing” and Why is it Considered a Scam?

How can receiving merchandise you didn’t order and didn’t pay for be a scam? To most people getting free things in the mail sounds like a dream come true. While the person who receives the products may or may not be directly victimized, this practice, called “brushing”, is indeed a…

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TikTok and the Hidden Dangers in Popular Apps

Many people consider the TikTok app to be a fun pastime where they can watch videos of kids dancing or post their own funny videos. However, there is a scarier side to TikTok. At the end of 2019 the military banned the app from government-owned devices. And, hardly a day…

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Claim Your Accounts Before the Bad Guys Do

Many people believe that by not using the Internet to manage their accounts they are keeping their personal information offline and staying safe. In fact, they may simply be making it easier for criminals to masquerade as them and take over their accounts. KrebsOnSecurity has documented many examples of scammers…

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How Identity Thieves Target You

Identity theft is constantly evolving. We come up with ways to thwart the bad guys, and they come up with new ways to steal from us. Although there is probably no way to make yourself 100% secure against identity theft, there are several things you can do to make yourself…

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Scammers Claiming Unemployment Benefits

When there is money to be claimed, scammers will be there claiming their (un)rightful share. According to the U.S. Secret Service, a Nigerian crime ring is committing fraud against many states’ unemployment insurance programs using Personally Identifiable Information (PII) obtained from identity theft victims. The scam operates very much like…

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Phony Debt Collectors, Phony Debt

Calls from debt collectors are bad news in any circumstances, but, what’s even worse, many of those calls are not legitimate. The caller may not be authorized to collect the debt, it may not be a debt incurred by the person receiving the call or the debt may not even…

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What to Do if You Are Doxed

“Doxing” refers to publishing a person’s private information (such as their home address, employment location, cell phone number, etc.) to get revenge or for “social justice” purposes. This can lead to harassment or physical harm of the target. In some cases, the target may become the victim of “swatting” which…

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Contact Tracing and Your Privacy

Contact tracing involves identifying people who have an infectious disease and the people with whom they have come into contact. That information is then used to reduce or halt the spread of the disease by taking preventive or curative measures. Diseases for which contact tracing has been used range from…

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Why (and How) You Should Be Using Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds another level of security, beyond only a password, when you log in to apps and accounts. In this interview we will discuss how 2FA helps to secure your accounts, how it works and why you should use it. Expert: Steve Tcherchian Steve Tcherchian is the Chief…

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