Tracking the trackers through the Internet

Here's an interesting video from TED that some readers may find interesting:

Gary Novak discusses how websites track you. It also covers some laws and rules that might be interesting to our small business readers. 

Hackers turn credit report websites against consumers

Here's an interesting story worth checking out: http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/26/10875023-exclusive-hackers-turn-credit-report-websites-against-consumers

In short, companies that offer credit reports and security monitoring are vulnerable to attack from hackers, creating huge opportunities for thieves wanting to still another's credit. If you feel that you're credit has been compromised in any way, hire a private investigator to help you with the investigation and to do a thorough risk assessment of your daily online and offline activities.

Be careful of this scam (and using public wifi)!

These two interesting clip's from "Upgrade Your Life" blogger Becky Worley offers some important tips about public WiFi and "Who's Searching for Me" scams.

Who's Searching for Me Scams

Is it Safe to Bank on Public WiFi?

Remember, it is always best to consider the risks of sharing your data online in general and in public locations in particular. If you feel your data has been compromised, hire a private investigator to conduct a thorough investigation and security risk assessment.

New format: Also, a few notes on social networking safety

As promised in our end of the year post, we're going to change some things about our blogging efforts this year.

While we will intermittently write a variety of  our longer posts offering advice and tips, we're going to try a more popular format of writing short posts somewhat more frequently. Expect a post about every 2 to 3 weeks instead of every four.

The theme of the posts will vary, but will generally provide links to interesting news stories, reviews of relevant books and journal articles, helpful advice and reminders, and other interesting substance. As before, the posts will focus on issues relevant to the private investigations industry with an intended audience of (potential) clients. As we've advocated, it is important to remain an informed consumer and select investigators who are practicing ethically and legally. 

In this post, we want to remind our reader's to remember that it is hard to identify people who are potential con artists, as evidenced by a woman who recently was able to swindel her boss out of a million dollars, and to be wary of social networking scams, which are becoming more sophisticated.

• How Facebook is fueling a new breed of social scams
  For example:
• Facebook Identity Theft: Thieves Use Deceased Child’s Photos For Online Donations
• Facebook birthday T-shirt scam steals secret mobile email addresses

The following books are useful resources for people looking for specific tips and strategies

Got bullying problems? Consider a private investigator.

A simple Google search using the key term "bullying" suggests that it is a serious social issue. While school-yard bullying has always been a concern of parents and gurdians, recent news about cyber-bullying and its effect on youth and adults' seemingly lax oversight and poor understanding of both physical and cyberbullying, have prompted a national conversation. West Virgina, for example, just passed a stronger anti-bullying bill.

Suspicions of bullying can be hard to prove. False claims made against a child can be hard to disprove. Cyberbullying is hard to detect. School misconduct or poor due diligence can be unnerving.

While any serious concern about bullying should be reported to the proper authorities, there are reasons that parents and guardians, schools, and other public stakeholders ought to consider, in certain circumstances, hiring a private investigator to prove or disprove (cyber)bullying. As an independent professional, a private investigator can collect additional facts, interview witnesses, conduct surveillance, review case files and, when necessary, work with authorities. This work will allow you to obtain an unbiased impression of a case in order to protect a child.

As part of their "domestic services," many private investigators already conduct investigations into parental abuse, kidnapping, and other crimes against children. Thus, they are well prepared to handle bullying cases. So speak with one to see if he or she can assist you with bullying too.

As our regular readers know, we have designed this blog to provide helpful information to our clients and to passersby. Thus, we'd like to mention that when it comes to online social networking and cyber-bullying, parents and guardians should consider implementing safeguards with or without a professional investigator's help. Many private investigators can, of course, conduct a comprehensive online security risk-assessment for your family. For those who need a basic solution, though, help seems to be on its way. There is a new company, SocialShield, that provides a solution for online monitoring, and it recently received an injection of capital to improve its product. Here is a description of the service as posted in a recent issue of Entrepreneur:

SocialShield doesn't prohibit users from engaging in any behavior online and doesn't restrict access to websites. Rather, it acts as watchdog, monitoring children's contacts online, comparing friends and others interacting with the child to names and photos on sexual predator databases. Parents are alerted if there is a match or if there is a contact unrelated to other connections in the child's network, which can be a sign of stalking. The application also analyzes keywords in comments and posts and notifies parents if there are references to drugs, violence and suicide and words commonly used in cyberbullying.

If  your child attends school in the Austin area, and should your child be a victim or suspected instigator of bullying, please call us to discuss your concerns and the specific nature of your case.

CYA: Get ToneCheck to monitor your company

We’ve blogged in the past about the need for small businesses to think about cost-effective solutions to security, employee monitoring, and due diligence. So when a program comes along that could help you legally monitor (if implemented correctly) your and your employees’ emails with internal and external stakeholders, we want to pass this information along.

Entrepreneur Magazine recently published an article about ToneCheck, an email plug-in that flags emotionally charged and other inappropriate email. With a relatively good freeware version and a reasonably-priced full version for use in small to large enterprises, ToneCheck provides a line of defense against harassing and inappropriate emails. You know, those types of emails that may originate in a time of intense anger or passion, or when you're rushing to send off a rushed email.

If, for example, your employee wants to send a message, in jest, that reads "Ugh, you suck!" the "CYA" program comes to the rescue: a box pops up informing the sender that she or he "has exceeded the company’s tone tolerance." You can, of course, create various settings, and it does not stop an email; it only warns the sender. Such a program. however, can come in handy for a variety of reasons.

When used legally and strategically as part of your broader risk- and security-management, this program can help mitigate risk of lawsuit or lost business. For example, if you have this program installed on all of your computers, with employees' full awareness, they may actually appreciate this handy tool. Before an employee sends you that angry-toned email about how you're such a “bosshole” (admittedly, Entrepreneur Magazine said this one got through), the program will warn him or her that the message is “threatening.” In short, the employee will appreciate that this program saved their job.

Before an employee sends along a sexually-provocative joke throughout the office, “just to make people laugh,” the program will warn them of the risk. If she or he still proceeds, and your employee handbook specifically notes “that we do not tolerate the exchange of inappropriate emails (e.g., sexually explicit or racist in tone),” and you further specify that sending the email after warning by ToneCheck, the employee can face legitimate reprimand or termination. Also, you can show due diligence in court should a discrimination lawsuit be filed.

As a tool for yourself and your employees, y'all will be warned regarding the tone of an email to a potential or current customer. If you or your employee happens to be in a rush, the program will warn that the email can be interpreted as “threatening.” You don’t want to say “It has been annoying…, upsetting…, troubling…,”—which are all somewhat angry—when you really want to convey the following:  “It has been concerning me for some time that you have not been able to keep up on payments.” Yes, you may be annoyed or angry, but you don’t want to lose a good customer just because they interpreted your email as threatening.

Of course, a program is only as good as it is used and it can only be used with the appropriate type of monitoring. If you find that a particular employee has a tendency toward writing violent or threatening emails, especially if unconsciously, you may want to hire a private investigator to look into the person’s history or to conduct a thorough investigation. This program could just help you uncover an employee who is threatening sabotage or violence against you or your company’s interests. 

Some notes on identity theft

What are the odds that you’ll be a victim of identity theft this year? About 1 in 6, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

What is the expense of identity theft? Depends on the severity; however, the FTC estimates that the average victim spends $1,200 in out-of-pocket expenses and an average of 175 hours in his or her efforts to resolve the many problems caused by identity thieves. (Source) 

What are the most common types of identity theft? According to the ID Theft Data Clearinghouse, the following are the most common types of identity theft:

• Using or opening a credit card account fraudulently
• Opening telecommunications or utility accounts fraudulently
• Passing bad checks or opening a new bank account
• Working in another person’s name
• Getting loans in another person’s name

People could also use your identity to obtain a driver’s license, medical services, or to cover up both violent and non-violent crimes. As a result, you could find yourself in a situation where you have unpaid fees and fines or an arrest warrant issued in your name.

There are several ways in which an identity thief can steal your information. Here are just a few of the more obscure ways:

• Dumpster diving – As the saying goes, one person’s junk is another’s treasure.
• Your mail box – An unlocked mail box receives delicious pieces of mail everyday, usually while people are not at home.
• Computer hard drives – Don’t sell or recycle your computer without taking out the hard drive!
• Stealing customer details from a business – A disgruntle employee, for example.
• Email phishing scams – Don’t click on links embedded in emails!
• TMI-O! – Too Much Information Online! Posting all your contact information online along with your resume, bio, and picture can give an identity thief enough nuggets to assume your identity.
• Pre-texting – Some identity thieves pretend to be telemarketers and get unsuspecting victims to give them many details. If a legitimate representative of a company wants you to upgrade, they’d never say, “to verify your account, could you please provide your number and password?” Hang up!
• Outright theft – Yes, there are still those old-schoolers out there who’ll just steal your wallet or purse.
• Threats that you may not even know about -- Like this one:

Please do not become overly paranoid. People still have to take risks in order to function in our society. Being a member of an online social network can help you stay in touch with friends. Posting your resume online could be vital to getting yourself a job. Offering your biography online could solicit new clients. But be diligent whenever you put information online. Do an on-line security assessment from time to time.

How can you protect yourself? There is no shortage of information on the internet offering advice for protecting yourself (e.g., frequently change your online passwords). Here are a few good ones: FTC ID Theft Help, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, and Identity Theft Resource Center.

In the event that you should be a victim of identity theft, you need to take action immediately. 

Hiring a private investigator can save you time and money; here is a real life example:

An investigator I know was recently retained by an individual (the victim) whose social security number had been used to open an account with a large mobile phone provider in Austin, Texas. Without notice, the victim started to receive harassing phone calls from a collection agency attempting to collect approximately $500. The identity thief had cleverly altered the last name of the victim and used a fictitious billing address to open the account. (This suggests it was likely an inside job.) The victim never received notice of the debt accumulating against his social security number. By the time the collection agency received the debt, more than a year had passed. It was the collection agency who eventually posted the delinquent account to the victim’s credit history; consequently, the victim’s credit monitoring company did not flag this because it was technically non-existent. (This also means that had the issue not been resolved quickly, the collection agency could have claimed the victim had himself committee fraud and reported him to the police.)

Due to the fact the credit added this alias to the victims credit history, the victim had an alias for several months and a lower credit score. After the victim repeatedly suggested to the collection agency that he was a victim of fraud, that his last name and date of birth were different than that of the supposed alias, and that he had never lived in Austin, Texas he tired of dedicating so much time to this simple issue. The victim wasted at least 40 hours or more trying to resolve the problem himself when he retained the private investigator. For less than $150 and in just a few days time, the issue had been resolved. The investigator simply provided proof that no such address was in existence—a demonstration of negligence on the part of the mobile phone provider—and contacted the collection agency and the large mobile carrier on behalf of the victim. With specific details, a comfortable understanding of laws and legal jargon, the name of attorney, the investigator motivated both organizations to provide the proper forms for the victim to resolve the issue. According to the victim, the professional investigator saved him a lot more time. Since time is money, the $150 turned out to be a great return on investment.  

Your identity and financial credit history are important matters. Take precautions and contact the appropriate people who have the knowledge and experience to help you.

The following books may also be helpful:

Protect yourself when selling online (and a few other ramblings).

Selling personal items and services online can be a way to earn a few extra bucks. However, the dangers of advertising and selling expensive items online or in traditional print classifieds became all too apparent recently. James Sanders advertised a 1.07-carat diamond ring with an asking price of $1,050. He arranged for a couple to come to his home to look at the ring, and hopefully purchase it. During the transaction, James and his wife were ambushed by four people. By the end of the altercation, James had been shot. Click here for full story.

While it would be easy to suggest Craiglist be monitored, controlled, or shut down, this would come at the loss of a great, free, and easy service. It would also not solve the problem of people creating these dangerous situations. This tragic story only highlights the need for people to better plan for the dangers of interacting with strangers and engaging in online (social) networks.

Here are just a few tips to keep in mind in dealing with online and offline interactions:

• Never post personal details, home phone number, or addresses online, especially when engaging in a high-value transaction. With phone number reversal sites and the online white pages, it’s easy to figure out where you live, especially if you still use a landline. Cell phones are more difficult to trace, but it’s possible. Create a free email address or use the Craigslist anonymous email posting option. When doing an online transaction, ask people to supply their full name and number in the initial email response. Then you can check them out before you make more personal contact.
• Meet in public spaces, with lots of people and surveillance cameras, and during the day. This does not require further explanation, does it?
• Arrive first and leave last. This will reduce the possibility that you’ll be staked out by potential thieves.
• Meet people with your (big) friends present. Again, no further explanation needed.
• The incomprehensive list above applies to all types of off-line interactions that originate online or via advertisement. If you’re on a social networking site, never post that you’ll be leaving town and wait to return before sharing the photos and updates from your trip. Many people whose homes are burgled oftentimes have a direct or indirect connection with the thieves.

For added security, especially on big ticket items like cars, you may want to consider hiring a private investigator. Here are just a few things he or she can do for you.

• Attend the sale with you. Some private investigators are certified in doing security and are licensed to carry a fire arm.
• Complete a background check on a potential buyer.

Protect your online persona.

As far as your online persona goes, many private investigators are being hired to complete comprehensive on-line security analysis. Just like a home security analysis can be used to identify potential security weaknesses in your home, an online analysis can identify the areas where you are open to identity theft or exposing yourself to personal risk. Fortunately, there are now many ways to control what people are able to find out about you through search engines (e.g., Google) and a professional private detective can identify and deal with these for you.

There is no reason for tragedy to strike you. There is no reason for you to be passed on an excellent job offer because your friends tagged a photo of you doing a shot of vodka at that bar you don’t remember and posted it without your permission to their Flickr account. There is no reason you should expose yourself to identity thieves and predators. Just keep these things in mind and you’ll be much safer: If you won’t do it offline, don’t do it online. If you wouldn’t plaster it on an interstate billboard, don’t post it online. Finally, expect what you’d find offline (e.g., violent criminals and stalkers) to be more pronounced online. Call a professional investigator if you have any concerns, chances are he or she can help you.

Another resource: