Until murky details are cleared up, follow best practices for protecting personal information Equifax needs to start answering questions, fast. And this better be a turning point in consumer rights around use and storage of their personal information. It’s not even clear from the PR-worded statement that 143 million Social Security numbers were stolen, though that’s the clear implication. All we know is most Americans are “potentially” impacted. A bunch of driver’s license numbers were stolen, too. Really, all we […]
The top site for classified ads in the U.K. conducted a study recently that should send a wave or two to this side of the Atlantic. When it comes to scams, it’s all about the bait. Gumtree found that even with the forethought that a listing was a scam, more than a third of their users would still go ahead with a transaction. As my mother would say … Actually, she’d probably just shake her […]
A friend of mine showed up last night at a place we sometimes meet. He looked like Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale after lobbing a game-ending home run to Aaron Judge of the Yankees. He was supposed to have been on a plane to Italy. I asked him what happened. “We were all set to head out,” he said. “First leg: Rome. But I just canceled our tickets, like, a second ago.” I asked why. “Airbnb […]
Weddings require many important decisions and the wrong call can mean the difference between an unforgettable wonderful day and a day that makes you angry every time you think about it. The often unreasonably high expectations of families and friends and at least one spouse-to-be only makes matters more fraught. With such a high level of stress, it’s only a matter of luck that mistakes don’t get made. Scam artists are counting on that. There […]
As the weather gets warmer, mosquitos and ticks re-enter our lives, and along with them comes their larger cousin, the scam artist. There are ways to prepare for those seasonal meal stealers. The same goes for scams, as foreknowledge is the best repellent. Ticks and mosquitos aren’t harmless — they are well-known vectors for serious illnesses. Scam artists are also vectors for a plague that affects millions of people each year: identity theft. But sometimes […]
Did you know that with the exception of Christmas, people spend more money on Mother’s Day than any other holiday? The forecast for 2017 is $23.6 billion, and if you think scammers aren’t on the job, there’s a new marshmallow bridge spanning Loon Lake I’d to sell you a piece of. In order, the most-gifted recipients of Mother’s Day sentimental swag are mothers and stepmothers, then wives, daughters, sisters or stepsisters, grandmothers, godmothers, and, for […]
Easter is a time for family, colorful parties and egg hunts, but sadly it also attracts scam artists looking to make a quick buck during the high-fructose corn syrup free-for-all. There are all stripes of Eastertime cons and scams waiting for you if you’re not paying attention — or even if you are. Some don’t really qualify as scams, whether we’re talking about those colorful plastic eggs for storing treats, sometimes loaded with lead paint, […]
Spring has begun, which means open season on travelers who aren’t well-versed in the various scams waiting for them on the seamier side of paradise. While the scams abound, being forewarned is forearmed. Here are some typical scams that can ruin your vacation, drawn from my book Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Filled with Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves. 1. Asocial Media? One seldom publicized use of social media (at least in […]
Just beyond the Trump swelter of the hour, lawmakers have been busy concocting plans to dismantle key achievements of the Obama years. Among those accomplishments currently targeted is a concerted effort to destroy, defang, scrap (feel free to select the word) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB was created to protect consumers from the kinds of predatory practices that played a big part in the financial meltdown of 2007 to 2008. The idea was […]
Tax Season is fraud season. It’s prime time for fraudsters and scammers looking to steal your personal and financial data. This scam is directed at tax preparers. The tax professional receives what looks like a real solicitation from a potential client stating they need help with a tax issue. If the tax professional responds to the email, the scammer follows up with a second email. That email typically has either an embedded web address or […]
