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 Identify Crooks Before
They Identify You
Identity
theft is a constant concern, but it is especially worrisome in the Holiday
Season, when shoppers hunt for bargains and scour the Internet searching for
deals. Clicking the “Buy Now” button can be a very rewarding experience,
and seeking out low prices can give shoppers a false sense of security. The
internet is filled with crooks lurking in the shadows, waiting for
unsuspecting consumers to enter their Web pages. Shoppers can save
themselves a great deal of stress and trauma by keeping on the lookout for
shady merchants all year.
Identity
theft can happen offline as well, and the list of tips I’ve included below
should keep you from becoming a fraud victim in any situation.
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Tips
for consumers to look out for include:
- Beware of Internet
shopping. Don’t buy items from stores that you’ve never heard
of.
- If prices are too good to
be true, then it’s probably a scam.
- Beware of auctions and inappropriate
websites.
- Don’t open email
attachments from people that you don’t know.
- Don’t give out personal
information over the phone and be careful of what information you
give out on the computer as well.
- Shred all of your mail.
- Take receipts from all of
your credit card purchases.
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Below
are some interesting articles from the National District Attorneys’
Association website (ndaa.org):
FUGITIVE CAUGHT UPDATING MYSPACE
The man in the Donovan
McNabb jersey got to the Philadelphia Free Library's main branch at 9 a.m.,
as usual, and was seated at a public computer terminal, tapping away at his
MySpace.com page, as usual.
So he did not notice
that 15 armed officers were quietly converging on him.
That, authorities say,
is how a fugitive wanted in Georgia
and Massachusetts
was captured last Thursday without a fight. They say they figured out that
he had been going to the library regularly to update his MySpace page.
Darren Bates, 35, was
using one of the library's computers about 9:15 a.m. Thursday when 15
plainclothes members of a fugitive task force converged on him as other
patrons tapped away on nearby keyboards, officials said yesterday.
"He was busy on
the computer and we were able to walk right up to him from several
directions without him seeing us," said John Patrignani, supervisory
deputy of the U.S.
Marshals Service Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force. "He was very much
surprised."
Patrignani said task
force members in Massachusetts
had determined Bates was going to the Central Library at 1901 Vine St. about the same time
every day - when the library opened at 9.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/16217962.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
NEW PROPOSAL FOR SEX OFFENDERS
Virginia Attorney
General Bob McDonnell announced today that he will propose legislation to
require convicted sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses and instant
messaging identities, as they are now required to report home addresses to
the state's Sex Offender Registry.
The proposal would make
Virginia
the first state to dovetail with MySpace.com's recently announced plans to
block sex offenders from access to its popular social networking site for
teenagers and others.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Common%2FMG
Article%2FPrintVersion&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192126137&image=timesdispatch
80x60.gif&oasDN=timesdispatch.com
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