August 2008 Archives

The Bank of New York Mellon has admitted that the number of its customers hit by a data breach was much larger than previously stated...about 8 million more. BNY Mellon, told customers in May that 4.5 million customer information including,...
The best way to prevent an an identity theft is to prepare for it. Just as we need to take measures to prepare for hurricanes and the effects of Mother Nature, the same is true for Identity theft.I live in...
The FBI Cyber Investigations Unit warns that the Hit Man is going to kill you e-mail scam has returned. The content of the email has evolved since late 2006; however, the messages remain similar in nature, claiming the sender has...
Below is a typical email I receive from frustrated consumers forced to deal with credit bureau errors. Margaret is aggravated -and rightfully so! Her checking account continues to be accessed by Experian and she has been unsuccessful in getting...
It is always advisable to go for credit counseling agencies approved by National Foundation of Credit Counseling whose members are accredited by the "Council on Accreditation". NFCC accredited members provide quality counseling services to the clients and its services....
More data breaches have been reported to date this year, than all of 2007. The Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that works to educate the public on Identity theft and fraud, released its recent findings that report...
The European operation of the Best Western hotel chain has become the victim of a massive data cyber-theft attack.By placing a "keylogger" on a corporate computer that was connected to Best Western's reservations system, a criminal gang has pulled off...
I recently came across an article entitled, Loan WatchDog Pro software catches lenders' loan errors and it caught my attention. It claims there is a software program available that can audit our personal mortgage and credit card payments for accounting...
American's for Fairness in Lending (AFFIL.org) is the collaborative effort of numerous partner and ally organizations, each contributing their expertise to AFFIL and the public through AFFIL activities. As one of their allies, I endorse their Principals for Fairness...
The FBI has issued a recent warning to be on the lookout for spam e-mail spreading malicious software (malware) which mentions "F.B.I. vs. facebook." The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to view an article about the...
Educational preparation company The Princeton Review accidentally leaked personal data including test scores of Florida students on its Web site - as long as one can call posting personal data of 34,000 students a leak. One of the files...
Dominion Enterprises announced this week that a computer server within InterActive Financial Marketing Group (IFMG), a division of Dominion Enterprises located in Richmond, Virginia, was hacked into and illegally accessed by an unknown and unauthorized third party between November 2007...
So you think you're able to prevent identity theft by keeping credit card numbers and other personal information out of the wrong hands? Well, beware the new type of ID theft gaining popularity among crooks: medical identity theft. Brenda...
The Better Business Bureau has issued a warning to consumers: The Better Business Online (BBO) has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Better Business Bureau. The BBO site gives information advising consumers against most business opportunities and work-at-home offers, but...
Over the years I have heard from many consumers who mistakenly believed freecreditreport.com was the legitimate site to go to when trying to obtain their free annual credit reports. Who wouldn't think that was the place? The commercials and...
The Associated Press says Wells Fargo & Co. is notifying some 5,000 people that their personal information might have been seen by someone using a bank access code illegally.A bank spokeswoman said Tuesday that MicroBilt Corp., a consumer data vendor,...
A 27 year old Illinois man laughed off repeated attempts made to steal his identity, claiming his credit rating was so bad -he didn't care.   He claimed he had delinquent student loans, a foreclosure and credit card judgments so...
Microsoft is warning Windows Live Hotmail users of a recent phishing scam that asks for the person's username, password, date of birth, and country or territory.E-mails claim to be from the Windows Live Hotmail team, both in the signature and...
We've all heard the reports; Illegal immigration costs the country billions of dollars each year. How  much does it really cost? Two economic studies report two very different findings. Catch our show SpotLight, this Tuesday, August 12th @ 1:00 PM...
Do you continually run your Virus Scanner believing it keeps your computer healthy? Virus Scanners can give you a false sense of security. They react when there is a serious indication that something bad is happening, but the trouble...
New worms target both MySpace and Facebook users Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management systems, has detected two variants of a new worm, Net-Worm.Win32.Koobface.a. and Net-Worm.Win32.Koobface.b, which attack MySpace and Facebook respectively. As part of their malicious...
When the Federal Reserve asked for comments on its proposed rules on abusive credit card practices, an astonishing 56,000 poured in. Most were from outraged consumers. They told of interest rates skyrocketing when they paid an unrelated bill late....
A criminal gang of hackers, believed to be based in Russia, may have infected more than 100,000 computers over a 16 month period with a software program, called Coreflood, that could extract significant amounts of personal information from the computer...
Privacy group says identity-theft monitoring services may be a waste of money Many identity-theft monitoring services are overpriced and don't provide full protection against financial fraud, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. See entire article at Computerworld.com. I agree! Here'...
AP/The Department of Justice announced today that it had charged 11 people in connection with the hacking of nine major U.S. retailers and the theft and sale of more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers.It is believed to...
The personal information of 33,000 air travelers who enrolled in a program to speed up their check-in process has been compromised because of a laptop theft at San Francisco International Airport. The stolen computer belonged to Verified Identity Pass,...
College contractor loses 15,000 students' personal information LITTLETON CO- Arapahoe Community College (ACC) is notifying 15,000 students that their personal information has been lost or stolen. An ACC spokesperson tells 9NEWS that a hard copy letter detailing the loss is...
Menacing headlines such as the recent Countrywide data theft continue to alarm and inform us to the ever growing presence of data theft.With news of corporate data breaches hitting the papers every day it's clear criminals continue to find ingenious...
 The FBI announced on Friday, a former Countrywide Home Loan employee and another man were arrested on suspicion of selling the identities of the distressed lender's customers. Prosecutors suspect the data was sold to companies that would then try...
Computer hackers may have gotten Social Security numbers and other personal information for 9,100 people connected to the University of Texas at Dallas, creating the potential for identity theft. University officials said Thursday it was unclear whether hackers actually...
A memoir exposing the steep price consumers pay when facing mortgage servicing errors, inaccurate credit reporting, illegal debt collection practices, identity theft and weak consumer protection laws. THE BOOK » DENISE'S STORY »