Understanding Your Computers
Phishing for Personal Data
Red Zone Computers wants to help everyday computer users stop computer crime as well as make your computers work better for you.
There are a number of reasons that you need to know just a little more about the inner workings of computers and the Internet. The most important reasons may be computer security and safety for you and your family. By not knowing how things work, both on and off line, and some basic computer maintenance, you are far more vulnerable to those who can do you harm. Am I being a bit paranoid? No, I think not.
I used to sort of brush off the darker side of computing and the Internet. Heck my computers and networks are well secured and I understand the Internet. Then I was the victim of computer fraud.
This is my story…
Computers are Used in Credit Card Theft
One Friday evening my wife and I were having dinner out with the same two couples we always have Friday dinner with and we all started to tell the same story. I received a call on the previous Sunday evening from my bank’s fraud prevention department. They told me there was some suspicious transactions on my debit card. Apparently someone attempted to charge $426.99 at a Blockbuster Video store in Charlotte, North Carolina last Tuesday.
The fraud agent asked me if I made the purchase. NO! I told her I had not. She then asked me if I had made another charge for $126 as they had declined that payment after the first charge. She went on to tell me that charges were being made at the store without the card and without my signature. I assured the agent I was not making the charges and that I had never been in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The result of all of this was that I had to file a claim and a police report with the Charlotte police to have the $426.99 put back in my account. It took several hours of phone calls and Internet research. And the money was returned.
Whew!
That night my friends all told the same story about their debit cards being used fraudulently in the same week as mine. The only difference was that their card numbers were used Minnesota and Massachusetts. You may be asking at this point in the story… Why are you calling this Computer Fraud? Because every part of this crime required computers and a connection to the Internet.
As I went though all the hassle to get my money back I realized this fact. Part of my Identity could be stolen. And at every step… from the theft of my debit card number, the crime at the video store and resolution of the incident involved computers and the Internet.
This got me to thinking about how so many of the computer problems I have to resolve for my clients revolve around some type of computer nasty such as, viruses, phishing, SPAM, Spyware, Ad-ware and more. All of these computer nuisances are attempts to gather information from the computer users for either questionable or illegal purposes.
But, I also had to started thinking that not only do we need to be concerned with our own computer environments, we must be concerned with the computers outside our control. We also have to realize how very quickly our Identities can be stolen outside of our own computers and networks.
Sure, I have my own computer network and computers protected. But, what about other computers and networks that will be used to steal my personal information. Security on computers and the Internet must be something you are aware of even if you don’t own or even use a computer.
My debit card and my friends debit card numbers were most likely all stolen at the same time from a restaurant we had dined at the week before the fraudulent transactions occurred. It is possible that it was inside job by an employee at the restaurant or district offices that had access to the card numbers and expiration date. Or, it could be that the restaurants computers were hacked into.
Now if it was an employee that took our debit card numbers, he or she most likely sold them online to other crooks who used the card numbers fraudulently at the Blockbuster Video store.
It is clear. We must take measures to secure our information off line as well as online. Get started by learning just how your personal information can be compromised. Then armed with this knowledge, you need to start taking steps to secure and protect your Identity. Here are just a few tips:
Make copies of all your credit cards
Add Identity theft to your homeowners or renters insurance
Get an Identity protection plan like Life Lock
And, Learn more about how computers and the Internet work.
You can start by signing up for the RED ALERT Newsletter. When you do you will get also get the my “7 Things You Must Know About Computers” absolutely Free. The newsletter and report will be full of computer tips for keeping your computer healthy and your identity safe.
Robb Cheuvront
Computer Consultant
RedZoneComputers