Posts from ‘July, 2009’

For the third time the Federal Trade Commission has postponed the “red flag” rules requiring businesses to adopt plans to prevent identify theft.Â
The agency was scheduled to begin enforcing the rules August 1st but announced Wednesday that it would delay the effective date until November 1st.  This is in order to better educate and prepare [...]

The Better Business Bureau is warning that information circulating about a federal credit available to car buyers who trade in low-mileage vehicles for more-fuel efficient ones is false and is coming from con artists.
The real program is called the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS).  The organization said fraudsters are using catchy names and trying to lure consumers [...]

The fourth annual U.S. Encryption Trends Study was released by The Ponemon Institute. The study says that 85 percent of surveyed businesses have experienced a data breach in the past year.  This up from 60 percent in the 2008 study.
“A data breach is defined as the loss or theft of confidential or sensitive data including [...]

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have found that individual’s Social Security numbers can be accurately predicted using basic public information.  They have found that with an individual’s birth date and state of birth they are able to guess his or her Social Security number with great accuracy.  Someone’s birth date and state of birth are easily [...]

The United States Secret Service is joining forces with the European task force to prevent identity theft, computer hacking and other computer-based crime.  The unit will be based in Rome and will include the Italian anti-cyber-crime police unit and the Italian post office Poste Italiane SpA, which has developed software that can track electronic payments as [...]

The New York State Consumer Protection Board warns that the e-mail appears to look like it’s from Chase, but consumers should not respond.
The bogus e-mail purports that the online form is necessary as a result of “new security measures.”
The e-mail may state:
“As part of the new security measures, all Chase bank customers are required to [...]