Identity theft

[floyd]

It's that holiday season again and time to be aware of the annual massive increase in identity theft.
The common M.O. is to get your credit card information and use your card to pay for all sorts of gifts.
The gift recipients think he is just the greatest guy around, while those on your list get nothing from you.
He gets all the accolades while you are stuck with a huge bill come January.
He wears various disguises and uses a few different alliases but he commonly looks like the photos below...

[CindyL]

Change a few of your passwords too! I got hacked by someone on either my iTunes account or my Paypal account. Not fun! Now everything has a different and complicated password. My previous one was also unique but used for too many things, although I am not sure if that is the reason I got hacked. I am not so sure that paypal is as secure as it proclaims. Someone got hold of an Apple ID I did not even know I had (Apple does not let you delete old ones, at least not that I can find!) and tried to answer my security questions too many times, so change those too!

CindyL

[floyd]

Originally Posted by CindyL

Change a few of your passwords too! I got hacked by someone on either my iTunes account or my Paypal account. Not fun! Now everything has a different and complicated password. My previous one was also unique but used for too many things, although I am not sure if that is the reason I got hacked. I am not so sure that paypal is as secure as it proclaims. Someone got hold of an Apple ID I did not even know I had (Apple does not let you delete old ones, at least not that I can find!) and tried to answer my security questions too many times, so change those too!

CindyL

Read it again...
IT WAS A JOKE! (serious subject, but a joke non-the -less)
Sorry to hear about your misfortune!

[CindyL]

Sorry, just a bit sensitive right now after losing $400.00. It was refunded but took a little fight from Paypal.

CindyL

[Kevin A]

Sorry for missing the joke, Floyd. The pictures of your "thieves" didn't show up in my browser until I re-opened the posting. Now I see your "thief." Funny AND serious topic at the same time!

[Donna D.]

Hey, I recognize that Santa... he looks exactly like my dad did when I was five years old! . Funny how he never aged either...

[Bruce H]

Here is a tip for identity thieves: Be careful who's identity you steal.

Years ago I was a police officer. One night we got a call to an industrial area to check out a person who had been occupying a car for several hours parked on a rail road track near a factory that operated all night long. I located the car and the occupant was intoxicated. I ask him for his identification. He said he did not have any. Ok, what is your name and date of birth? I relayed his answer to the dispatcher who ran it through the computer. The dispatcher came back and said he is wanted for murder in St. Louis. He matched the physical description given on the warrant so I arrested him. He acted shocked and immediatly proclaimed his innocence. He got to spend that night and most of the next day in jail until detectives faxed his mug shot to St. Louis and they advised he was not their suspect. He had pulled the name and date of birth out of thin air and got a hit on it as a murder suspect.

[CindyL]

Now that is funny. I wish that there was a way to do something similar to those who are hacking my paypal, kind of like a virus. It seems to have been alleviated now though. We added additional security to paypal.

CindyL