Protecting Yourself & Your Family
The safety and security of ourselves and our families is of paramount importance to each one of us. The rapid fire advances of technology today, coupled with our inbred need to communicate with others and extend our spears of influence, creates an environment which out paces our ability to manage personal information about ourselves and which criminals could then take advantage of. In other words, sometimes identifying information about us is inadvertently published for all to see without our knowledge.
From time to time information is published that can help us protect ourselves, and we will pass that information along to you here. Please come back and visit this page from time to time, and review any new information. I’ll put anything new on top.
Web Phishing Scams – FBI Issues Warning
In light of Hurricane Irene, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reminding the public to beware of possibly fraudulent emails and websites requesting donations to conduct charitable relief efforts. For more information on charitable contribution schemes, visit the emergencyemail.org website at: http://www.emergencyemail.org/newsemergency/anmviewer.asp?a=1383&z=29 and the Looks Too Good to Be True website at www.LooksTooGoodToBeTrue.com. If you believe you have been a victim of a charity related scheme, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud by telephone at (866) 720-5721. Suspicious e-mail solicitations or fraudulent websites can be reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Web Phishing Scams – FCC Recomendations
The Federal Trade Commission recommends that if you receive an e-mail or pop-up message that asks for personal or financial information, do not reply or click 0n the link in the message. Do not e-mail personal or financial information.
- Forward spam that is phishing for information to spam@uce.gov, to your internet provider such as spam@cox.net, and to the company, bank or organization impersonated in the phishing e-mail.
Veterans Affairs Services (VAS) Emails & Website
An organization called the Veterans Affairs Services or VAS is providing benefit and general information on VA and gathering personal information on veterans. This organization is not affiliated with VA in any way. Websites with the name “vaservices” immediately after the “www” ARE NOT part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The real VA website ends in “.gov”. VA never conducts official business nor asks for personal information by email or by telephone.
Social Security Scams
People who receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are often victimized by misleading advertisers. Often, these companies offer Social Security services for a fee, even though these same services are available free directly from Social Security.
Cell Phone & Digital Camera Pictures
Those pictures you take with your cell phone and some digital cameras may have your location embedded in them. Applications such as Facebook Places, Foursquare, and other similar applications could be putting your location right on a map for a criminal to see. Read the following PDF file that the Army has put out on this problem.
