| Feds Charge Investigator in HP Spying Scandal
A private investigator accused of illegally accessing a reporter's private phone records as part of the Hewlett-Packard boardroom spying scandal has been charged with federal identity theft and conspiracy charges. U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan filed the charges on Wednesday in San Jose, Calif., federal court against Bryan Wagner. Is Your Paid Search Paying Off?Paid search spending is on the rise. Before you raise that cost-per-click, let�s determine if it�s working for you. Download this report to receive industry statistics, tips to optimize search initiatives and methods for measuring success. Get Your Free Report Today! .
Critics question latest government report on identity theft
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Trade Commission says a new analysis concludes 8.3 million Americans over 18 were victims of identity theft in 2005. That's down from 9.9 million in 2003. But consumer advocates are not convinced the numbers are accurate. One problem in getting accurate information about identity theft is that most consumers don't know it when their personal information is compromised. And the FTC acknowledges that its identity-theft survey involved such a small sample that the results are not "statistically significant." Still, there's agreement that ID theft is a monumental problem. One research firm says it cost American businesses $55 billion in 2006. And the FTC estimates the cost to consumers last year came to $1.2 billion. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
Beware of e-mail scams this holiday season
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Just in time for Cyber Monday and the online holiday shopping rush, high-tech Grinches are cranking up their fraud attacks with a new round of bogus e-mail, identity-theft experts say.Have you won $2 million in a Christmas sweepstakes held by Coca-Cola in the United Kingdom? Can you make big bucks just by cashing checks for an Irish researcher, Chinese exporter or rich oil consultant in Dubai? Is there a problem with your account at Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, eBay or PayPal?No. But you might think so if you fall for some of the recent e-mail scams infesting the Internet.And they always peak this time of year, as millions of shoppers spend more time on the Web. Online shopping has grown at a double-digit pace in recent years. More than 70 million are expected to surf the Web this year for presents.“We do see e-mail and phone scams picking up during the holiday season," said Linda Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a watchdog group based in San Diego.
Offshoring: Met and CBC unite against cyber crime
The Metropolitan Police and the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) have joined forces to set up a working party to tackle the increasing threat of global cyber crime especially in offshoring companies. The main aim of the working party will be to increase the co-operation between members of the commonwealth to exchange best practices on tackling specialist crime such as identity theft and compromised data security. Mark Kobayashi-Hillary, global research director of CBC Technologies, said: "The Commonwealth is a voluntary group of 53 nations which just happens to include all the major nations offering offshore outsourcing services such as IT and contact centres. We would like to invite governments, private sector and trade bodies from across the world to join this very important initiative." The recent spate of cases involving identity theft and compromised data security in offshore call centres emphasises the need for government and industry collaboration at an international level, according to the CBC.
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.
Web scams can bring holiday headaches
Just in time for Cyber Monday and the online holiday-shopping rush, high-tech Grinches are cranking up their fraud attacks with a new round of bogus e-mail, identity-theft experts say.
Have you won $2 million in a Christmas sweepstakes held by Coca-Cola in the United Kingdom? Can you make big bucks just by cashing checks for an Irish researcher, Chinese exporter or rich oil consultant in Dubai? Is there a problem with your account at Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, eBay or PayPal?
No. But you might think so if you fall for some of the recent e-mail scams infesting the Internet.
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Cyber-crime 'worse than burglary'
Identity theft has become one of the most feared crimes in the UK, according to a study of more than 1,400 regular internet users, outranking burglary, assault and robbery. Around one in three respondents to the survey indicated that they had been the victim of some form of cyber-theft, including phishing emails, credit card fraud and unauthorised bank transfers. The research, commissioned by internet security software maker AVG, revealed that individual financial loss ranged from a few pounds to several thousand pounds. Some 90 per cent of respondents had threat protection software installed on their PCs, but a third remained unconvinced that these were adequate measures to protect them from cyber-crime. Liverpool topped the list of UK cities most afraid of cyber-theft with 93 per cent highlighting their concern.
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