Morgage Market View by Harold Smith
It appears the only ones who love the holiday season more than children are criminals.
You may be familiar with the term Phishing – where scammers send you emails in an attempt to acquire sensitive information like credit card details and passwords by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business.
And much like Phishing, Vishing is the latest identity-theft ploy. Beware – this one is extra tricky.
Instead of using email, scammers use voice over internet protocol (VoIP), which allows people to make calls using an Internet connection instead of a regular phone line. The con calls their target with an automated phone message, which informs them that their account has had fraudulent charges placed on it. The account owner is then lured into dialing a fake 800 number in order to resolve the charges, where a recorded voice prompts them to confirm an account or credit card number using the phone’s touch pad. This is where the problem starts, and criminals are handed free access to your account and credit cards…talk about “The Nightmare before Christmas”. So how can you be sure that you will not fall victim to this scam?
“Who do I trust? Me, that’s who!” – Some great advice from Hollywood’s most notorious criminal, Tony Montana.
Remember…creditors, government agencies, and companies you do business with already have your personal information and will not contact you to verify it.
Never respond to a cold call requesting personal information. In the same sense that you wouldn’t send your credit card information via email, don’t be so willing to punch it into a touch tone phone.
Don’t trust your caller ID. Creating a fake display name is easy with Internet-based technology, and scammers now have the ability to make it seem like they are calling from a legitimate organization.
This just goes to show that as technology improves so do the criminal’s means of taking advantage of you. Be careful this holiday season, keep track of your purchases, and help protect your friends and family by educating them about Vishing!
AGONY OF DELETE…
Just when you thought your personal data like passwords and bank information was safe because you deleted it from your cell or PDA…turns out that hackers can still steal the information. Believe it or not, your private data can easily be hijacked from your trashed or turned in device, even when you’ve deleted everything. That could cause some major headaches for a lot of innocent people. But the good news is that you can protect yourself.
With the advancement of PDA’s and cell phones, these devices have become mini computers and contain loads of valuable and private information. Individuals store information in their cell phones like passwords, bank account numbers, appointments, contact information, even social security numbers.
And for most individuals, cell phones and PDA’s are used for about 1.5 years and then replaced, usually by upgrading to a newer model. Old cell phones and PDA’s are sold on EBay, tossed in the trash, or sent off to a cell phone recycling center. Of course, before turning it in or trashing it, most wisely delete the information.
But in reality, the information is not completely deleted…it remains on the device.
The part that is deleted is the pathway for the information to be displayed. Much like with a computer – when a file is deleted the operating system never erases the data, it only deletes the pointers to where the data is located. Hackers have the advanced software available that can resurrect erased data from a cell phone or PDA, even if you have already “deleted” the information.
In fact, the data can be recovered in 85% of cell phones and PDA’s! So hackers are buying old cell phones, extracting this valuable information, and passing it along to identity thieves.
But, there is a solution and it only requires a few additional steps to ensure that the data is permanently deleted and hacker-free.
Simply start by hitting this link www.wirelessrecycling.com, click on the “Cell Phone Data Eraser”, select the cell phone manufacturer, model, and click on the download instructions icon. Follow the instructions and all of the data will be completely and permanently removed. Can’t find the make and model? No worries – just contact the manufacturer of the cell phone or PDA, and ask for instructions on how to permanently delete all information from the device.
With just a few clicks of the mouse you can rest assured that when you sell or trash that old model, hackers and identity thieves will not be able to track where you have been, what your account numbers are, read confidential emails, or view photos or videos of your loved ones. And be sure to forward this important information on to everyone you know. Most likely they have cell phones or PDA’s and may be looking to upgrade. Knowing this valuable bit of information will keep them safe, so pass it on!
IS THE TWO DOLLAR BILL MAKING A COMEBACK?
The $2 bill – once stashed in souvenir drawers and birthday cards or tucked away in hopes of becoming a collector’s item – is back in action.
The $2 bill dates back to 1862, was redesigned several times, and was even discontinued in 1966 due to the bill’s low use and unpopularity. How can currency become unpopular? Retailers often mistook it for a $20 bill and gave incorrect change…not to mention the problem of where to put it in the cash register drawer! But now, the $2 bill is shedding its unpopular past and being used more and more every day – why?
Partly due to inflation – those little services or items that once cost a dollar or less have now crept over $2 due to inflation. And how about small tips, such as when you’re checking into a hotel? Not too many years ago, a patron may have tipped a bellman with $1 bills for bringing up the luggage. But with inflation on the rise, patrons today are pulling out $2 bills and handing them to the bellman for the exact same service. And the $2 bills take up less room in your wallet than the wad of $1′s often carried for tips. Additionally, the $2 bill is common in other currencies – so visitors or incoming residents from other countries are accustomed to using $2 bills, and commonly ask for $2 bills when exchanging money.
So if you decide to pull out that stash of $2 bills from the souvenir drawer and go on a spending spree, watch your change carefully, as many retailers and cashiers are still not used to exchanging money with the two-dollar denomination. And believe it or not – don’t be alarmed if the cashier refuses to accept the payment at first…a recent Taco Bell patron attempted to pay for a burrito with a two dollar bill, and the cashier and manager both refused to accept it as valid currency. When the patron insisted, the cashier and manager phoned security. The security guard actually had to inform the cashier and manager that yes indeed – two dollar bills are actually valid US currency.
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