Identity Theft Expert Speaker John Sileo

Your Child is 51X More Likely to Become Victim of ID Theft (Part I)

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:38:39 +0000

Allowing our children the innocence of their childhood is paramount to us as parents. Because our children are pretty much the center of our universe, we want to do everything in our power to keep them safe and to safeguard their futures. In this information age, identity theft has become global in its reach and can have devastating consequences for our children’s futures if we’re not vigilant from the day they acquire a Social Security number.

Why are our kids, the very people we most want to protect, so vulnerable? Because they have unused, unblemished credit profiles. Richard Power, Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Mellon CyLab, recently published the first ever child identity theft report based on identity protection scans of over 40,000 U.S. children. It is extremely alarming that 10.2% of the children in the report had someone else using their Social Security numbers. That figure is 51 times higher than the rate for adults of the same population.

We take so many steps to protect our children. But how often do you check their credit report? “Check my kid’s …credit report?,” I can hear you say. “She is only seven! She doesn’t even have her front teeth yet, let alone a credit card! There are so many years to go before we need to worry about that. Right?”

Unfortunately, no. Because children have untouched and unblemished credit records, they are highly attractive targets. Child identity theft is profitable, hard to detect and a nightmare to recover. Thieves steal a child’s identity early on, nurture it until they have a solid credit score, and then abuse and discard it. If it’s not discovered in time, fraudulent use of your child’s identity could mean the loss of educational and job opportunities and starting off adulthood at a serious disadvantage with someone else’s bad credit in her name. All an identity thief needs to ruin your child’s bright financial future is her name and Social Security Number.

“Shouldn’t my child’s age show up on any credit background check, shouldn’t the merchant recognize that the person in front of them buying a car on credit isn’t seven years old?” you ask. Yes, it should, but the people screening the credit report rarely give it the time and care necessary to detect fraud.

All too often, background checks involve simply matching the name and the Social Security number provided. This leaves doors wide open for scandalous minds to wreak havoc on your child’s perfect credit. The most unsettling part is that the age of the applicant (in this case, the person posing as your child) becomes official with the credit bureaus upon the first credit application. This makes clearing a sabotaged credit record even more difficult because you have to prove to the credit bureau that your child is only seven and isn’t responsible for thousands of dollars of debt.

In no time at all, your child could have a maxed out credit card, unpaid bills and a huge mortgage for beachfront property across the country. You might not discover the illegal purchases until your child opens a bank account, applies for a job, tries to get a driver’s license or enters college. At that point, you are left with the time-consuming dilemma of cleaning up someone else’s fraudulent mess. If only clearing up a credit report was as easy as cleaning up after your kids.

Do the gaping holes in our current credit system and the audacity of criminals leave you enraged? They should. It is imperative that you use your anger as fuel to protect and prepare your children’s future before it is too late. In Part II of this series, we will talk about the specific steps to take in order to protect your child from identity theft.

John Sileo lost almost a half-million dollars, his business and his reputation to identity theft. Since then, he’s become America’s leading keynote speaker on identity theft, social media exposure and weapons of manipulation. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and Homeland Security. To learn more, visit ThinkLikeASpy.com.

Mobile Apps Turn Smartphone Into Weapon

John Sileo — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:12:52 +0000

You and I have come to think of our Smartphones as indispensable tools. Flaws recently discovered in mobile apps for Facebook, Linkedin and Dropbox could turn our tools into weapons by exposing us to data theft at many levels, including personal identity theft and corporate data loss.

Taking extra precautions now will protect not only your Smartphone but other devices, too, as the flaw may well be present in other mobile applications including many iOS games.

Apparently, Facebook’s iOS and Android apps don’t encrypt their users’ login credentials. These flaws expose users to identity theft by saving user authentication keys (usernames and passwords) in easily accessible, plain text files. These unencrypted files may be stolen, transferred to another device in a matter of minutes, and used to access the victim’s accounts without ever having to enter any user login credentials.

Security researcher Gareth Wright reported discovering the flaw in the mobile Facebook application for iOS late last week. Wright sent his Facebook .plist to an associate — Scoopz blogger Neil Cooper — who copied the file onto his own device, opened up the Facebook app, and had immediate, full access to Wright’s Facebook account.”

Facebook is working on closing the gap in security according to Wright but the app developers must start encrypting the 60-day access token that Facebook supplies. Otherwise, there’s a world of private information just waiting to be tapped. Think of the chaos in trying to recover from identity theft of that magnitude.

In the meantime, here are some actions you can take to protect yourself:

Don’t plug your Smartphone into a shared PC, public dock or charging station.
If you do use a PC for charging, lock your device for the charge, and don’t unlock it until you remove it from the PC.
Use strong passwords including letters, numbers, symbols, upper and lower case. Don’t rely on a four-digit password.
Turn on the ‘Find My iPhone’ function.

The potential for criminals to exploit this flaw is enormous. You’ll be well served to take every precaution before you feel the nauseating pit of your stomach once you’ve been hacked. Further Resources on Mobile App Hacking.

John Sileo is an award-winning author and international speaker on the dark art of deception (identity theft, data privacy, social media manipulation) and its polar opposite, the powerful use of trust, to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply performance by building a culture of deep trust. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer, the FDIC, and Homeland Security. Sample his Keynote Presentation or watch him on Anderson Cooper, 60 Minutes or Fox Business. 1.800.258.8076.

Identity Theft & Fraud Keynote Speaker John Sileo

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:20:55 +0000

America’s top Privacy & Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo has appeared on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, Fox & in front of audiences including the Department of Defense, Pfizer, Homeland Security and hundreds of corporations and associations of all sizes. His high-content, humorous, audience-interactive style delivers all of the expertise with lots of entertainment. Come ready to laugh and learn about this mission-critical, bottom-line enhancing topic.

John Sileo is an award-winning author and keynote speaker on the dark art of deception (identity theft, fraud training, data privacy, social media manipulation) and its polar opposite, the powerful use of trust, to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply performance by building a culture of deep trust.

Honeymoon Over: Flashback Trojan Infects Apple

John Sileo — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:55:20 +0000

(and what you can do about it)

For years, Apple Mac users have been able to smugly preach security supremacy over fellow Windows users. Apple computers were less susceptible to viruses because they accounted for such a small share of hack-able devices. With the explosive growth of Mac laptops, iPads and iPhones, that honeymoon is all but a nostalgic memory. Apple’s Mac OS X no longer has impunity from virus infection. For the second time in the last year, Apple’s OS X has been successfully breached by malware. Here are the details, and steps you MUST take to protect yourself:

Flashback Trojan Facts:

The Flashback Trojan has currently infected more than 600,000 Macs.
Flashback is a ‘drive-by’ virus, meaning users only have to visit a site that exploits the flaw; you don’t have to download anything to be at risk.
The flaw exploits weaknesses in Java coding, an fairly essential and widely used web browsing tool.
First, the Trojan loads software onto your system that directs victims to additional malware.
Once the malware is installed, the Trojan steals passwords and banking info from Safari.

Tips for Protecting Your Mac:

Immediately download and install all Apple updates and security patches (the latest of which corrects the Java flaw).
Configure your system to download and install security and software updates automatically as they are released.
Make sure you are using the Apple version of Java that is patched for this virus (Java 6 update 31 or greater).
Consider installing ant-virus software or a security suite on your Apple computer, much like would on your Windows systems.
Check to see if your Mac has been infected with the Flashback Trojan.
If you suspect that your Mac has been infected, visit F-Secure’s website and follow its removal instructions.
For casual users, consider doing away with Java all together. The Web itself provides the processing power previously provided by Java.
Don’t fall prey to the belief that as a Mac user, you are immune to viruses, trojans and malware. Actually, you are probably now more exposed than Windows users, who have been building their defenses for years.

The Apple virus-free honeymoon has been long and satisfying. But as with all relationships, it’s time for you move into a more mature, long lasting companionship.

John Sileo is an award-winning author and speaker on protecting the sensitive data that makes your business run (even the data you access on your iPad, iPhone or Macbook). He is the CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises clients on defending privacy and leveraging trust. His clients included the Pentagon, Pfizer & Homeland Security. Sample his keynote presentations or appearances on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper & Fox. 1.800.258.8076.

Fraud Training Expert John Sileo in the News

John Sileo — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:42:00 +0000

Fraud Training Expert John Sileo has appeared recently on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, Fox Business, Fox & Friends and in Newsweek and USA Today. He speaks around the world on the dark art of deception (identity theft, social engineering, fraud detection, manipulation defense, data breach, social media privacy) and the powerful use of trust. His satisfied clients include the Pentagon, FDIC, Pfizer, FTC, Blue Cross, among hundreds of others. Learn more about protecting your bottom line by training your organization on proactive fraud detection. Watch John perform a humorous but effective fraud training in front of an audience of thousands.

Identity Theft – Know Your Rights

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:30:57 +0000

Have you experienced that clutch of fear that makes your heart skip a beat when you all of a sudden discover your wallet is missing? Your first reaction might be a cuss word for carrying all that critical information in the first place. Your second is to try to slow your mind as it frantically scans for solutions. Knowing what to do if you lose vital information and knowing your rights if you become a victim of identity theft will save you time, money and a ton of stress.

A consumer survey conducted by the Federal Trade Commission reveals, in a new report, that many identity theft victims do not understand their rights. Following is a summary of what you should know if you become the unfortunate victim of identity theft.

Fraud Alert. Placing a fraud alert on your credit file with the three credit bureaus (CRA’s) is the first step and may prevent identity theft if done timely. It’s important to file with each of the bureaus, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Although each of the bureaus claims it will notify the other two, it may take weeks or longer and you have no time to lose.Once a fraud alert is placed on your account, you should be contacted by phone by any lenders to confirm that you truly do want to open a new account. Any consumer who has a good faith suspicion that they have been, or are about to become, a victim of identity theft may place a fraud alert on their credit files. Such alerts notify potential creditors that consumers may have been a victim of fraud and that special care should be taken to verify the consumers’ identity before extending new or additional credit. It’s important to follow up after your request and verify with each CRA that it has, in fact, placed a fraud alert on your file. See the final bullet point about freezing your credit for additional protection.
Free Credit Report. When a consumer places a fraud alert, she has a right to request a free credit report from each of the CRA’s. These credit reports are separate from, and in addition to, the annual free credit report that all consumers are entitled to receive from the three nationwide CRA’s via annualcreditreport.com. According to the FTC survey, only half of consumers know they are entitled to this additional, free report. Again, follow up with the CRA’s if the credit reports do not arrive timely.
Disputing the Accuracy of Information on Credit Reports. Consumers have the right to dispute the accuracy of information on their credit report either with the creditor that provided the information to the CRAs or with the CRAs themselves. The creditor or CRA is then required to perform a reasonable investigation to determine whether the contested information is accurate. If the information is inaccurate, the report must be corrected.As Martha White reported in Time Moneyland, credit bureaus don’t always make it easy to dispute incorrect information. While almost three-quarters of respondents were able to get disputes resolved in either one or two contacts, 24% had to contact the bureau three to five times and another 4% had to initiate six or more contacts to get their dispute resolved.
Blocking the Release of Fraudulent Information in Credit Reports
Generally, if a consumer identifies information on his or her credit report as being the result of identity theft and provides a copy of the police report to the CRAs, the FTC requires the CRA to block the reporting of that information.
Credit Freeze. A fraud alert is different than a credit freeze, which completely freezes your credit to all activity for a period of time. To learn more about freezing your credit and how to reach the three credit bureaus, go to http://www.sileo.com/2/.

FTC data shows that, for more than a decade, the top category of complaints it handles is identity theft. It’s essential that you know your rights and, without fail, follow up and, perhaps most importantly, be persistent.

John Sileo is an award-winning author and international speaker on the dark art of deception (identity theft, data privacy, social media manipulation) and its polar opposite, the powerful use of trust, to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply performance by building a culture of deep trust. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer, the FDIC, and Homeland Security. Sample his Keynote Presentation (he shares how he lost $300,000, 2 years and his business to data breach) or watch him on Anderson Cooper, 60 Minutes or Fox Business. 1.800.258.8076.

“Clickjacking” and “Likejacking” – Be Aware!

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:35:45 +0000

None of us wants to be part of a scam that allows links to be forwarded as if from a friend, invading their privacy and endangering their sensitive information. It’s not always easy to avoid bad sites but by just being aware of the problem, you can become more adept. The following article is a summary of an original post By Rob Spiegel, E-Commerce Times.

In its on-going effort to mitigate spam activity, Facebook filed a lawsuit against a company that allegedly ran a “likejacking” operation. “We’re hopeful that this kind of pressure will deter large scale spammers and scammers,” said Facebook spokesperson Andrew Noyes. The state of Washington is also applying pressure, having mounted a similar lawsuit against the same company. Both suits were filed citing violation of the CAN-SPAM Act, which prohibits the sending of misleading electronic communications. Facebook and Washington state filed federal lawsuits on Thursday against Adscend Media for “clickjacking,” a form of spamming that fools users into visiting advertising sites and divulging personal information.

“Likejacking” is similar; victims are tricked into using Facebook’s Like button to spread spam. Users believe links to spam sites are being sent to them by friends, and the advertiser collects money from clients for every user misdirected. A prominent example is the indictment in California of self-proclaimed “spam king” Sanford Wallace in August, Noyes said. “Two years ago, Facebook sued him, and a U.S. court ordered him to pay a (US)$711 million judgment. Now he faces serious jail time for this illegal conduct.” Facebook also secured a $360.5 million judgment against spammer Philip Porembski, said Noyes, which “followed an $873 million spam judgment in 2008 against Adam Guerbuez and Atlantis Blue Capital for sending sleazy messages to our users.” The Guerbuez judgment was the largest award ever under the CAN-SPAM Act, he noted.

Clickjacking is a programming technique that employs a seemingly innocent button to trick users into visiting sites unintentionally. Likejacking is a similar technique that utilizes Facebook’s Like button. The technique is also referred to as “UI redressing.” Clickjacking is “quite well understood,” Roger Kay, founder and principal of Endpoint Technologies, told the E-Commerce Times. “It is used by both legit and illegit programs.” Both clickjacking and likejacking are designed to trick users.

“When someone browsing clicks on a site, the site can execute arbitrary code in the browser,” said Kay. “It can set a cookie, say, for Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), or do more nefarious things, like inject malware designed to call other malware later.” Clickjacking has been prevalent for years, and likejacking has become similarly entrenched. Many users of Facebook have likely experienced it in the form of a product-related message that seemed to be from a friend. ”The use of the technique is widespread,” said Kay. “Consumers need to use better judgment about which links they click on.”

Links can be forwarded as if from friends, and some come-ons are pitched just right to get around the user’s suspicions he noted.”If you’re the target of a spear phish, then the attack is tailored to you,” said Kay. “So, avoiding bad sites becomes a kind of ninja art everyone must learn.”

Whose Device – Yours, Mine or Ours?

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 23:25:42 +0000

Carrying multiple personal devices is a pain and, yet, the fear of giving away critical company data is a nightmare.

For most of us, being connected equals being productive. However, this simple equation becomes complex when one has to juggle personal devices with those issued by our employers. Paramount in an employer’s mind is the protection of the company’s critical and confidential business data but they don’t want to alienate employees by being too restrictive on using their personal smartphones and tablets.

Recent research has found that nearly three out of four adults don’t protect their smartphones with security software and these same people often use their devices to access social media and websites that attract cybercrooks. Poorly-secured devices can be easily accessed by hackers who are becoming evermore sophisticated and ferocious.

This device conundrum ties directly to corporate IT culture and the question of allowing employees to use personal devices to conduct business. The solution ranges anywhere from an outright ban (which employees often ignore) to fully embracing an employee’s choice, while building corporate safeguards to block spam and corrupt application downloading. Some companies permit it with tight controls such as having the ability to wipe the gadgets clean of all information in the case of loss. Of course that means all personal data will be wiped along with business data but studies show employee satisfaction (ergo productivity) is tied to exercising personal preference of devices.

Security and legal teams wrestle with this dilemma constantly in the mobil world of today and there’s no clear cut answer. Protecting a company and its clients’ data is essential; but also, productivity, efficiency, organization and responsiveness are but a few benefits of giving employees their choice of gadget.

Arming those same employees with the safety measures to secure their devices from fraudulent activities is where IT departments can manage risk. Building a parallel strategy that serves both corporate IT and the end-user is not only necessary, it is beneficial to the bottom-line.

Please see the original article by Steve Johnson of San Jose Mercury News published in The Denver Post.

Dumb Kids Equal Easy Targets

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:50:01 +0000

Your national security depends on the job you do educating your children.

Here’s an alarming wakeup call: a task force led by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Joel Klein, former chancellor of New York’s school system has issued a stunning report. They warn that the nation’s security and economic prosperity are at risk if America’s schools don’t improve. The task force consists of 30 members with backgrounds in education and foreign affairs and was organized by the Council on Foreign Relations. As reported by the Associated Press, the report cautions that far too many schools fail to adequately prepare students and that “The dominant power of the 21st century will depend on human capital. The failure to produce that capital will undermine American security.” A shortage of skilled workers is expected to get worse as the current work force retires. The task force said the State Department and U.S. Intelligence agencies face critical shortfalls in the fields of foreign language, science, defense and aerospace. And so, it’s not a stretch to realize that no matter how diligent we are about educating people and businesses to protect their identities and information and to develop safe habits, the problem is ever so much more complex.

In my profession, just the thought of this scenario scares the living daylights out of me – it means I’ll never be put out of a job. Nothing would please me more than knowing that the sensitive information of most people and businesses – even the world as a whole – had become so secure that I’d have to tackle another topic. Rice and Klein said in interviews that they’re encouraged by efforts to improve schools such as the adoption of “common core” standards set in reading and math and the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top’ competition. But, they added, the pace to improve America’s schools must accelerate. “The rest of the world is not sitting by while we, in a rather deliberate fashion, reform the education system,” Rice said. Klein continued “I don’t think people have really thought about the national security implications and the inability to have people who speak the requisite languages who can staff a volunteer military, the kind of morale and human conviction you need to hold a country together.”

The panel makes three main recommendations:

Adopt and expand the common core initiative to include skill sets critical to national security such as science, technology and foreign languages
Make structural changes to provide students with more choices in where they can go to school, so many students aren’t stuck in underperforming schools
Create a national security readiness audit, prepared by governors working with the federal government, that can be used to judge whether schools are meeting national expectations in education

So what can we do? To protect ourselves and our children’s children, we have to jump in and actively support our school systems. Beyond the education community, we can encourage discussions that engage those in the defense and foreign policy establishments about how to improve schools.

At the same time, there are great rays of hope in education. On February 7, I spoke at The Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado and found the students to be engaged, curious, and eager to learn how to be critical thinkers. When I return in April, I anticipate they’ll put me through the paces with their intelligent observations.

These may have been some of the same students who recently heard Andrew Fastow, former chief financial officer of Enron speak to the students, faculty and staff of Leeds. Fastow contacted the university and asked whether he could speak after reading an op-ed piece, published by Bloomberg Businessweek in January, written by Leeds dean David Ikenberry and Donna Sockell, director of the school’s Center for Education on Social Responsibility. The piece was about the need for deeper ethics training in business schools. Fastow, who completed a six-year prison sentence in December, imparted the message that following the rules isn’t enough. It took him a couple of years to realize he had “used the rules to subvert the rules.” So while there are bright spots in education, it’s more important than ever that we commit to improvement at every level, from grade school, up!

ID Theft – Five Tips for Vacation Protection

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:07:52 +0000

Holiday travel brings various levels of challenge and stress. Don’t let identity theft risk add to your anxiety.

Here are five tips to help you to avoid becoming a victim while on vacation:

1. Stop your mail and newspaper. Avoid letting un-invited credit invitations sit in your mail box. You can stop your mail by phone or online at usps.com. Also, ask a trusted neighbor to watch for package & parcel deliveries and to hang on to them until you return. If you receive a daily newspaper, put your subscription on hold. A pile of un-retrieved newspapers in your driveway is a “Welcome” sign to thieves.

2. Don’t advertise that you’re on vacation. Make sure if you are going to post vacation updates on your e-mail, on social networking websites, or on your voice mail greeting, that you post generically, no specifics. Put a few lights on timers so that your home doesn’t look unoccupied for the entire time you’re gone. Replace the front porch light bulb.

3. Enroll in a protection product that safeguards your most valuable asset, your identity. You may think you have all your bases covered, but it can be harder than you think, especially once you need to recover from a theft. One way to make sure you’re protected is by using a product that monitors if you are vulnerable to having your identity stolen. A number of quality service providers offer alerts via text or email of potentially suspicious activity as well as resolution assistance to help you cut through the red tape should you need it.

4. Leave your checkbook & debit card at home. If you don’t want to use cash or credit cards, purchase traveler’s checks instead of bringing your checkbook or debit card. A stolen checkbook has your bank account number and routing number on the checks – valuable tools a thief can use to steal your identity or clean out your bank account. Traveler’s checks require a signature when you purchase them, and then another when you use them at a store or restaurant on your travels. And, usually a photo ID is required when you use them. A thief that steals them will find them much harder to use. A debit card is essentially an immediate cash transaction.

5. Give your credit card company a heads up. This is especially important if you are traveling internationally, because any activity that happens domestically will raise a red flag. If you don’t let them know, they may become concerned when they see overseas transactions and freeze your card, potentially ruining your holiday.

A good measure of common sense and basic precaution can go a long way to protect you and your family. Taking some of these simple steps can give you the peace of mind you deserve during your hard-earned vacation. Travel safely (and securely)!

John Sileo is an award-winning author and speaks worldwide on the dark art of deception (identity theft, social media privacy, data breach) and it’s polar opposite, the powerful use of trust to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply results and increase positive impact by building a culture of deep trust. His satisfied clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer, the FDIC, Homeland Security, Experian UK and Blue Cross. Contact him on 800.258.8076, follow him on Facebook and Twitter, or view his work on YouTube.