| Protecting your identity is a smart thing to do
D ecember is Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month. According to the February 2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report issued by Javelin Strategy & Research, identity theft affected approximately 8.4 million people. The estimated loss to business and individual victims was $43.9 billion. Often, ID theft victims don't even realize their identity was stolen. They may find out when a creditor or collection agency calls or a credit card is declined. To help consumers protect their identity, a number of credit monitoring and insurance protection programs are available. But, are these products right for you? Most experts recommend that you obtain a copy of your credit report at least once a year from each of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) to ensure accuracy and to look for signs of ID theft.
Gas Prices Dip at the Pump
A little early Christmas gift for motorists when they head to the pump, gas prices are going down. The national average price for gasoline is $3.00. That's a drop of about 9 cents over the last three weeks. Locally, a gallon of regular unleaded will cost you $3.28, down a penny from last week. Analysts attribute the decrease to a drop in the price of a barrel of crude oil. cc/rv AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report
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South Africa: Companies Battle to Stay Ahead of Cyber Crooks
NO MATTER how smart your information technology workers are, somebody out there is even smarter. Which spells trouble for companies as cyber criminals develop increasingly sophisticated ways to tap into corporate secrets and syphon cash from their customers' bank accounts. Cyber crime is evolving into a major industry every bit as skilled and commercially focused as the companies under attack. .
MessageLabs Intelligence 2007 Annual Security Report: A Year of Storms, Spam and Socializing With the Enemy
MessageLabs, the leading provider of messaging and web security services to businesses worldwide, today announced the launch of its MessageLabs Intelligence 2007 Security Report. The annual report highlights how 2007 has been a year of diversity due to the vast number of new tactics, techniques and trojans entering the security market during the last twelve months. .
Four million Britons have fallen victim to identity fraud. Are you ...
For one so young, he seemed a peculiarly precocious convert to retail therapy. Mobile phones, iPods, swish suits and fancy holidays. You name it, he bought it. The detectives asked to investigate his strangely spendthrift ways would, though, soon find themselves facing a conundrum. Their big spender was dead. In fact, he had succumbed to a childhood brain disease when seven months old. In total, the identities of hundreds of dead babies would be plundered by businessman Anton Gelonkin in one of the largest identity theft networks uncovered in the UK. Hiding behind the stolen identities of deceased infants, Gelonkin's gang would, in the space of a decade, amass a fortune worth millions. The ease and rapidity with which his team stole so many identities perturbed officers investigating a case which provides a rare insight into the modus operandi of those perpetrating Britain's fastest-growing crime: identity theft.
Identity theft bill will help in battle
The federal government just introduced proposed amendments to the Criminal Code to provide more tools to fight identity theft. This bill is a welcome addition to fight this growing problem. Privacy advocates support this effort, but say it is not the only solution. They point out the need to do a better job of stemming the flow of personal information into the wrong hands in the first place. This includes not keeping personal information one doesn't need, better security, attention to privacy and security issues at the board level, and better training and awareness in the trenches. The bill's preamble states: "This enactment amends the Criminal Code to create a new offence of identity theft, of trafficking in identity information and of unlawful possession or trafficking in certain government-issued identity documents, to clarify and expand certain offences related to identity theft and identity fraud, to exempt certain persons from liability for certain forgery offences, and to allow for an order that the offender make restitution to a victim of identity theft or identity fraud for the expenses associated with rehabilitating their identity." The bill adds to current forgery offences by making illegal the preparatory steps to forgery of collecting, possessing and trafficking in identity information.
It's All About the Sauce
In March, the former Nick Tahou's in Gates officially changed hands. The new owners are still selling their famous dish and now marketing their trademark sauce. They're also sending out some free samples to someone who's already given so much. It's a dish made famous here in Rochester, and at the top of what many customers still call the “Garbage Plate" is a recipe that runs in the Tahou family. "Our customers tell us our hot sauce is the best they ever had," said Steve T. Hots & Potatoes Owner Steve Tahou. “They love our hot sauce," Tahou added. Tahou and his sister Joanne Tahou-Demkou have been serving their hot sauce since 1979. Loyal customers like Tom and Patty Mitchell love it, but not as much as their son does. "That was one of things he missed when he went to Iraq is that he couldn't get garbage plates," said Patty Mitchell of Caledonia.
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