Rather than to repeat two gems of data, I am going to provide you with links for each of them.
It is just more a sign of the times, right? More desperate people, more crime, more opportunists. Father Tom wrote in his blog about someone stealing a cell phone, then the thief calling cell phone owner's Granny and getting money transferred into a bank account in Canada, that was the "dirtbag's" and not the cell phone owner's.
I asked my friend Paul Hilchey Chandler about it, (he is my all favorite & time cell guru), he wrote some suggestions to help prevent this, so he wrote about it.
Both are great reads and worth your time. Especially, if you have kids that leave their phones unattended! Of course the kids "know it all" but they lose their phones anyway!
Showing posts with label identity theft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label identity theft. Show all posts
Monday, February 23, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
More Identity Theft
This is a scam that originated in August of 2005, settled down for a while and now seems to be ignited again.
You are to do your civic responsibility and report for Jury Duty. Most people don't like having rearrange their whole lives around sitting in a room awaiting for their to be name called. And more and more people are deciding to skip out on this responsibility. But arrest warrants can be issued for people that fail to appear for jury duty, so deciding not to or thinking you didn't report when called on, can create an intimidating situation.
Of course then enter the "opportunists." The phone rings at your house and the caller claims to be a jury coordinator.
If you tell them you never received a summons for jury duty, the caller asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so it can be verified.
Once they "verify your PERSONAL information" they tell you they can cancel the arrest warrant. What you don't know is they aren't verifying anything, they aren't canceling any warrant, they ARE stealing your identity, but in reality, you just gave it to them.
This all may sound silly to you, but do check in with your parents or other seniors in your life. They are particularly at risk for these schemes and the callers tend to be bullies.
The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.
Here is a link to the page on the FBI site, so you can read it for yourself. And like a previous post on this blog, snopes has it too.
You are to do your civic responsibility and report for Jury Duty. Most people don't like having rearrange their whole lives around sitting in a room awaiting for their to be name called. And more and more people are deciding to skip out on this responsibility. But arrest warrants can be issued for people that fail to appear for jury duty, so deciding not to or thinking you didn't report when called on, can create an intimidating situation.
Of course then enter the "opportunists." The phone rings at your house and the caller claims to be a jury coordinator.
If you tell them you never received a summons for jury duty, the caller asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so it can be verified.
Once they "verify your PERSONAL information" they tell you they can cancel the arrest warrant. What you don't know is they aren't verifying anything, they aren't canceling any warrant, they ARE stealing your identity, but in reality, you just gave it to them.
This all may sound silly to you, but do check in with your parents or other seniors in your life. They are particularly at risk for these schemes and the callers tend to be bullies.
The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.
Here is a link to the page on the FBI site, so you can read it for yourself. And like a previous post on this blog, snopes has it too.
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