Cyber Safety From a Mom Who Knows

I remember the day that we found out my daughter's Social Security number had bee stolen and was being used by someone living here illegally. She wasn't even 3 years old when we found out and our guess is that it had been stolen shortly after her birth.

Because the Internet has become such a huge part of our lives and your business, we want to share with you a few online safety tips from the FBI and Secret Service. We encourage you to keep these in mind as you work and socialize online and to be VERY aware of what your kids are doing online! While we don't want to alarm you unnecessarily, Internet scams are increasing and many are successful. We hope this information will help you become more aware and take steps to minimize your risk of fraud.

Be Aware of Potential Internet Scams

Do not reply if you ever receive an e-mail or fax from someone requesting your assistance in a financial transaction. In many of these cases, you'll be asked to transfer a large sum of money into an account. The email may claim you're the next of kin to a wealthy person who has died, or that you're the winner of some obscure lottery. In recent scams, the email appears to come from a "friend" who is in need of money because he or she was robbed in a foreign city. These requests are typically sent through public servers via a generic "spammed" email message. Usually, the sender does not yet know your personal email address and is depending on your reply to obtain it.

Do not respond in any manner if you receive a letter from anyone asking you to send personal or banking information. Send the letter to the Secret Service, your local FBI office or the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. You also can register a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission's Complaint Assistant. Encourage anyone you know who is corresponding in one of these schemes to contact the FBI or the Secret Service as soon as possible.

Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as foreign government officials asking for your help in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts. Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your cooperation.

Tell your friends on Facebook if you receive messages from them that seem out of character. Their accounts may have been hacked.

Avoid Identity Theft

Did you know that the Federal Trade Commission estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year? There are several things you can do to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.

Protect Your Personal Information Online
Guard your account information carefully to help prevent fraudulent activity! Exercise sound business practices such as strengthening your passwords, only doing business with secure websites and more.

We have opened up a PO Box so that people online do not have the accurate address of our home. * Be sure to block your family listing from Google Maps as well.

We do not share wedding dates or accurate birth dates online especially on social networking sites and we don't link family members together on Facebook.  Why? Because as soon as someone has all of those connections they usually can identify one of the most common security default passwords - Your Mother's Maiden Name. If you are going to link everyone together, make sure you are NOT using Your Mother's Maiden Name as one of your password defaults.

Identity thieves use a variety of methods to steal personal information, such as:

• Rummaging through trash looking for bills or other paper with personal information on it.
• Stealing credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card.
• Pretending to be a financial institution or company and sending email spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information.
• Diverting your billing statements to another location by completing a “change of address” form.
• Stealing wallets and purses; mail, including bank, credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, new checks or tax information.

There are several things you can do to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft. These suggestions, which are outlined on the Federal Trade Commission website (www.ftc.gov/idtheft), can help deter identity thieves and offer you a little peace of mind!

• Shred financial documents and paperwork with personal information before you discard them.
• Protect your Social Security number. Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet or write your Social Security number on a check.
• Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you know the person or business you are dealing with. If you receive a phone call from someone stating that they are associated with a particular company and they are requesting personal information such as your credit card number, bank account information or social security number, consider making note of the caller’s first and last name, along with the name of the department within the company he or she works for. Then, you can inform the caller that you would prefer to end the call and attempt to contact the individual in question directly using a phone number you know is valid for that company.
• Never click on links sent in unsolicited emails. Use firewalls, anti-spyware and anti-virus software to protect your computer.
• Don’t use an obvious password like your birth date, mother’s maiden name or Social Security number digits.
• Keep your personal information in a secure place at home, especially if you employ outside help.

For more information, please log on to the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft Web site address provided above.

Important Update - Protecting Your Personal Information Online

We have recently learned of what appears to be a fraud scheme that has affected many people across the United States. Given the widespread nature of this fraud, we thought it would be helpful to alert you to this situation and share some important tips regarding online security.

Typically, those affected by this scheme have seen an electronic draft against their checking account ranging in amount from $24.95 - $39.99. The charge appears on the checking account statement under one of a variety of names which may include, but are not limited to, MBilling, MB Moon Park, Excel Entertainment, MB Hot Planet, MB Pink Entertainment, MB PGM Services, MB Digital Underground, MB Image World, MB Ryco Pics, HPL Subscriptions and PHE Subscriptions. This scheme appears to have affected new, rarely used and even old checking accounts.

If you find that you are a victim of this fraud, we encourage you to contact your financial institution immediately. If you report this activity to your financial institution early, you may be entitled to a refund or a reversal of this charge. We also encourage you to consider filing a report of this activity with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.IC3.gov. The IC3 is a partnership between the FBI, the National White Collar Crime Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance. IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime.

This fraudulent activity underscores the importance of becoming educated in online security and exercising sound business practices such as:

• Checking your bank accounts and credit card statements regularly (as in EVERY MONTH at least!) and immediately reporting suspicious activity.
• Keeping your computer secure by using up-to-date firewall and virus protection software and by restricting access appropriately.
• Rejecting any email that asks you to follow a link to a website and input sensitive information.
• Only doing business with secure websites – look for the lock icon in the bottom right of your internet browser or look for the prefix “https://...” where the “s” indicates a secure site.
• Strengthening your password – include numbers, symbols and upper and lower case letters. Also be sure to CHANGE them frequently and do not use the SAME password for everything that requires a password.
• Visiting www.onguardonline.gov for more additional tips and suggestions.