September 2020

September 29, 2020

Pizza in Chicago…WHAT?

Pizza in Chicago, Gift Card in Montreal WHAT? When my card was rejected at a small café in Stockbridge, MA where we had just had lunch we made a quick call to our credit card company and they asked if we had purchased… “…purchased 2 pizzas in Chicago and a $1000 giftcard to a fishing supply store in Montreal”. No Way! Clearly, we did not order a Pizza in Chicago and we had been hacked. We canceled the card immediately. But what if I hadn’t used that card that day? Then what?So began my education about Identity Theft. I vowed to look into an Identity Protection solution ASAP. I learned that Credit Card Fraud isnot the same thing as Identity Theft. Credit Card Fraud is a potential consequence of identity theft. Here, a thief steals your credit card information and then makes purchases in a store or online. Most credit […]

September 1, 2020

Online Students are Targeted

Brian Thompson General, Identity Theft

With colleges and universities beginning the new school year, online students are targeted in ID Theft and Fraud schemes! Online Fraud Schemes that we did not have to worry about when I was in school. I had the time of my life and made many lifetime friends when I attended the University of Dayton! Student life was simple, no laptops, no smartphones, no social media, socializing at the library, and the music was fantastic. But what is happening now? Now more than ever, Laptops, Smartphones, Social Media, and advanced schemes have increased the risk for students. Risks that now are more prevalent due to the majority of students studying online remotely, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, creating higher risk. And this May 27, 2020, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) article titled COVID-19 scams targeting college students confirms it. With a significant increase in phony LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media friend […]