Gift card due diligence 101

According to most statistics, the buying public spent approximately $100 billion on gift cards last year. Because of their popularity, gift cards are used to commit fraud fairly frequently, also.

Retail criminals use fraudulent credit cards, debit cards and checks to buy large amounts of gift cards. Since a lot of sites exist, where anyone can sell these cards, criminals can turn them into cash fairly easily.

Shortly after the much talked about TJX data breach -- where 90 million personal and financial records were compromised -- a group was caught in Florida buying $8 million in gift cards using credit card numbers stolen in the data breach.

In another method to commit fraud, cards are picked up off a display and taken to a more private location in the store. The numbers and PINs are then recorded -- either with a portable card skimmer, or written down by hand. The people doing this then simply call in to check the value of a particular card, and use them when they discover they've been activated.

I've seen articles written on this that recommend buying cards from behind a counter. While this may be safer, we have to remember that most retailers have a problem with dishonest employees. This is more prevalent during the holiday season, when retailers hire a lot of temporary help.

In wouldn't be too far fetched to have a dishonest employee skim the details of these cards and drain them when they are activated.

There have also been reports of employees stealing credit card numbers and then using them to activate gift cards.

A couple days ago, TwinCities.com did a story about a Target employee stealing $19,500 in gift cards.

Since gift cards can be purchased on the Internet, fraudulent payment devices are used to purchase them on websites, also.

I would be extremely wary of buying any gift card on an auction, or gift card site. These sites rarely offer very much protection for people using them. It is a lot safer to visit the site that issues the cards, if you prefer shopping on the Internet.

Simply stated, a gift card purchased on a third-party website might not work, might not have the advertised value, or you might never receive what you bought.

I'm not saying not to buy gift cards. Being a lazy shopper, I buy them myself. Saying that, here are some tips to make sure you are getting what you pay for:

Make sure you buy them from a reputable retailer.

Keep your receipt and if possible, use a credit card to purchase them. Credit cards offer a little extra protection if there is a problem.

Inspect any card you buy for signs that it has been tampered. If the card is in a cardboard holder remove it and inspect it, the PIN should be protected up with a plastic coating that has to be scratched off.

Please note that if you work at a reputable retailer be wary of people returning gift cards. Stolen blank cards are often replaced for the cards that were previously activated.

I haven't seen anything come out about gift card fraud from the National Retail Federation (NRF) this year yet, but here is an interesting press release they released on the matter last year.

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Why Buying Gift Cards on Auction Sites isn't a Good Idea

I recently did a post wondering if sites reselling gift cards would create an additional avenue for dishonest people to commit fraud. After all - gift card fraud - isn't new and eBay limits the sales of them on their sites because of the criminal activity associated with them.

The main reason eBay limited the sales on their site was pressure from the retail industry, or so I've read.

Fraud committed against retailers costs billions, and it's added into the "cost of goods sold," which means we are all paying higher prices because of it. There is a limit to being able to add the price of fraud into the cost of an item (competition) and when this happens, businesses fail.

A lot of people have lost their jobs when retail fraud couldn't be controlled.

In response to my original post, Joe LaRocca, Vice President of Loss Prevention for the National Retail Federation was kind enough to send me some links illustrating how big a problem this has become.

In November, the NRF released information that estimates retailers will lose $3.5 billion during the holiday (Christmas) season - link here.

Many retailers issue gift cards versus cash for refunds (especially when no receipt is present) and fraudsters sell them for cash. Joe provided me with an interesting link on this (story and video clip) from NBC4.com, here.

Refund fraud normally is a result of shoplifting, but when dealing with gift card fraud, we also need to include credit/debit card and check fraud. Retail fraudsters buy gift cards with their "bogus financial instruments" and then sell the cards for cash. Of course - they could be refunding merchandise bought with their bogus instruments - but it's easier (less work) for them to simply buy the "gift cards" and resell (fence) them.

Credit/debit card and check fraud are two activities that directly tie into "identity theft," which victimizes 9 million people a year in the United States, alone.

Besides the "indirect costs" we all pay - a lot of ordinary people become fraud victims after an encounter with a fraudster on an auction site. The Internet Crime Complaint Center cites auction fraud as their number one complaint and it keeps growing every year.

Besides placing yourself at risk - buying gift cards over the Internet - might be supporting the victimization of ordinary people and businesses alike!

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Store Detective Discovers Traveling Credit Card Ring

I came across an interesting story about how a store detective at Target caught a group of traveling credit card fraudsters in Washington.

The store detective noted suspicious behavior - customers purchasing large amount of gift cards and did a little checking. When he did, he discovered that the cards being used were counterfeits.

When the merry trio was arrested at a bank down the street, police discovered maps to area retailers, a lot of counterfeit credit cards and - of course - gift cards.

After being identified, the authorites determined that the fraudsters had traveled to Washington from California.

The fraudsters claim that they were using the gift cards to buy things for themselves. Let see, they travel from California to Washington and use numerous counterfeit credit cards to obtain merchandise for themselves?

And the authorities aren't buying their story either -- they are being charged with "leading organized crime."

My guess is that they were going to find a way to convert the gift cards to cash. I recently wrote about the problems associated with gift card fraud and how they are being fenced on auctions all over the Internet:

Why Buying Gift Cards on Auction Sites isn't a Good Idea

Normally - I write from a broader perspective - but this story illustrates how we might be rubbing elbows with some fairly sophisticated "criminal types," while out doing our Christmas shopping.

Jeremy Palowski of the Olympian wrote the story, which attracted my attention to this, here.

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Self service stamp machines targeted by credit card thieves

Photo courtesy of Leff at Flickr

New scams are invented daily. Here is one, where self-service stamp machines (the kind that accept payment cards) are being targeted at Post Offices.

David Bowermaster at the Seattle Times is reporting:

In mid-July, three men left their homes near Los Angeles and traveled to Seattle to buy postage stamps.

But these were no ordinary collectors. Armed with at least 27 stolen credit-card numbers, federal prosecutors say, Artem Danilov, Stephan Melkonyan and Karapet Kankanian fraudulently purchased more than 3,200 books of stamps worth nearly $24,000 from Seattle-area post offices in just more than a week. A federal grand jury Thursday charged the men with an assortment of crimes.

Following a pattern that Postal Service investigators have uncovered in at least five Western states, the men made mass purchases of stamps after normal working hours from automated postal machines, which are accessible 24 hours a day in the lobbies of many post offices around the country, prosecutors allege.

While these three were caught (two Russians and an Armenian), it appears this activity has been occurring throughout the Western United States.

The illegal stamp-buying scheme appears to be a novel breed of identity theft, one that blends high-tech thievery, online commerce and the retro currency of the U.S. mail.

James Vach, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Seattle, said investigators first encountered a wave of fraudulent stamp buys in the Los Angeles area late last year.

Since then, the Postal Service has uncovered illegal stamp-buying schemes in Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Colorado.

The Postal Inspectors suspect a larger ring is involved and some of the stolen credit card numbers used have been traced to a car wash in Southern California.

According to the article, here is how the suspects were using the stolen credit card numbers:

Danilov, Melkonyan and Kankanian allegedly used a credit-card reader to embed the stolen credit-card numbers onto the magnetic strips of gift cards from a variety of retailers, Brown said, a process that allows the gift cards to function like credit cards.

They then used the adulterated gift cards to repeatedly buy books of stamps from postage machines in one post office after another. Customers used to be able to buy dozens of books of stamps per transaction from the automated postage machines, but the Postal Service has since limited the number to try to fight such fraud.

Although the authorities don't know where all the stamps were being sold, according to a assistant U.S. Attorney, some of them are being fenced on eBay.

A lot of stolen merchandise is fenced on eBay and other auction sites. A lot of this stolen merchandise is purchased with fraudulent credit/debit card information.

Out of curiousity, I decided to see if new stamps (the kind used for postage) could be found on eBay. Amazingly enough, I found what I consider a large selection with offers of free shipping and discounted prices. What I found can be seen, here.

Of course, at a glance, it can be hard to tell what is legitimate and what is not on an auction site.

A lot of stolen gift cards (used in this instance to clone the cards used) are also fenced on auction sites. I wonder if the value on them had already been used, or if our suspects lifted them at a retailer before a dollar value was loaded on them at a point-of-sale (register)?

Seattle Times story, here.

If you spot this type of activity during a visit to the Post Office, you can report it to the Postal Inspectors, here.

Although two of the suspects apprehended were Russian, the U.S. resident was an Armenian from Southern California. Recently, Armenians (from Southern California) have been tied into similar type activity. The previous posts, I've done on these stories can be seen, here.

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(Update: TJX data confirmed as used in Florida Case) Is the information being sold in carder forums being used in organized retail crime?

Underground carder forums (selling personal and financial information) are making it too easy to commit financial crimes. Symantec released a report showing that a credit-card number (with verification number) is sold for as little as $1 to $6. Complete information to take over an identity (government ID, social security number, bank account number, date of birth, etc.) costs about $14 to $18.

Here is an example of how this stolen information might be used by criminals. I happened to run across a good example of this in the News-Press (Southwest Florida):

Six people suspected of using stolen credit cards to purchase an estimated $8 million in WAL-MART and Sam’s Club gift cards were arrested in by Gainesville Police in a four-month ongoing investigation, according to a report released Monday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The bogus credit-cards were being used to purchase high-end electronic merchandise and gift cards.

News-Press story, here.

*Update (3/23/07): An article from InfoWorld is stating that the data used in this scheme is part of the TJX data breach. InfoWorld story, here. It still isn't clear how the culprits obtained the information, or how they, had the information made into counterfeit instruments.

Symantec's report covers all the different methods information is being stolen. One of the more common methods is referred to as phishing. This normally happens when a person clicks on a link from a spam e-mail sending them to a fake site (requesting personal information).

Note that sometimes the fake sites only ask for your personal and financial details (referred to as social-engineering), but more and more, computers are infected with malware when someone is tricked into clicking on a link they shouldn't have.

Malware records people's personal details (automatically) and sends them back to the scammers.

Symantec's press release on their report, here.

If you are wondering why the retail crooks were buying gift cards. Here is a previous post, I did on that subject:

Why Buying Gift Cards on Auction Sites isn't a Good Idea

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Symantec predicts a flood of spam this holiday season!

dejaking posted this picture of the 2005 Symantec Christmas Party on Flickr. I wonder if they will be singing the "12 days of Christmas Spam" at this year's party. The words for this song (written by some creative Symantec types) are at the bottom of this post!

With Black Friday upon us and Cyber Monday a few days away, spammers are preparing to flood the Internet with their attempts to commit fraud, phishing and financial misdeeds.

There is no doubt that spam is the vehicle used to spread 99 percent of the scams on the Internet. From misleading advertising to outright criminal schemes, spam has become a potential threat to anyone who uses the Internet.

Just clicking on a spam link can download malicious software on your system, which can steal all your personal and financial details.

According to the National Retail Federation 39 percent of us are going to do some shopping on line. If gas prices continue to go up, we might see this number go up (my prediction).

If this occurs, this could be extremely lucrative for e-commerce merchants. Online sales are already predicted to be $26 billion this season -- up $5 billion from last year's figure of 21 billion, according to the Conference Board.

Spam is a big business that has a negative impact on the economy. The estimate of how much negative impact spam causes has reached $100 billion a year, worldwide. $35 billion of this is in the United States, according to Ferris Research.

According to Symantec -- a leading computer security company, who monitors 450 million inboxes for spam -- 71 percent of e-mail sent out is spam.

This is up from 59 percent of the e-mail sent out a year ago.

Symantec is also predicting the top lures spammers will be using to trap people in their web-of-deceit:

1. Laptops

2. Replica watches (historically the most popular online
holiday buy according to NRF)

3. Business cards (even Santa doesn’t leave home without them, at least that’s the case in the spam sample going around)

4. Male enhancement drugs (always a popular sale during the holidays)

5. MP3 Players

6. Discount software (who wants to pay hundreds of
dollars for that new Office suite for your new PC, when you can get it for $25?)

7. Free cellphones

8. Handheld video games

9. Weight loss solutions (playing right into the pending New Year’s resolutions of shedding those added holiday pounds)

10. Gift cards (from every imaginable large retailer and up to $500)

Here are Symantec's recommended Best Practices to Can Holiday Spam:

1. Protect your desktop with an up-to-date antivirus, firewall, and spam filter.

2. Do not click on, or reply to, any email that appears to be spam. Doing so could alert the spammer(s) that the user is replying from a legitimate email address (therefore, the spammer would find it worth the time to send more spam in the direction of that Inbox).

3. Never click on any link in a suspicious email. If it is felt that the sender is legitimate, contact the sender directly (not by email) to ensure the email message is also legitimate.

I would also add to make sure you only shop on legitimate websites that can be verified. One way to verify if a site is legitimate is to use TrustWatch. The site uses a color-coded system, which shows whether or not a site has been verified.

There are a lot of fake websites out there, which often appear to be real. While there is no way to be 100 percent sure because sites are sometimes hacked, it pays to be cautious.

Get Safe Online has a page on their site, which gives more detail on how to spot fake websites, here.

To end on a lighter note, the folks at Symantec seem to have changed the words to the 12 days of Christmas:

12 Days of Christmas Spam

On the first day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
A brand new shiny PC

On the second day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

On the third day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
Cheesy business cards,
A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

On the fourth day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
H – D - TV,
Cheesy business cards,
A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

On the fifth day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
Vi – A – Grrrr -Ra,
H – D - TV,
Cheesy business cards,
A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

On the sixth day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
A pink iPod Nano,
Vi – A – Grrrr -Ra,
H – D - TV,
Cheesy business cards,
A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

On the seventh day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
Super chee – eap software,
A pink iPod Nano,
Vi – A – Grrrr -Ra,
H – D - TV,
Cheesy business cards,
A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

On the eighth day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me,
A blue Razr cellphone,
Super chee - eap software
A pink iPod Nano,
Vi – A – Grrrr -Ra,
H – D - TV,
Cheesy business cards,

A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

On the ninth day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
Nintendo D – ee - Ses,
A blue Razr cellphone,
Super chee - eap software,
A pink iPod Nano,
Vi – A – Grrrr -Ra,
H – D - TV,
Cheesy business cards,
A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

On the tenth day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
A Canon camera
Nintendo D – ee - Ses,
A blue Razr cellphone,
Super chee - eap software,
A pink iPod Nano,
Vi – A – Grrrr -Ra,
H – D - TV,
Cheesy business cards,
A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
The perfect weight loss drug,
A Canon camera,
Nintendo D – ee - Ses,
A blue Razr cellphone,
Super chee - eap software,
A pink iPod Nano,
Vi – A – Grrrr -Ra,
H – D - TV,
Cheesy business cards,
A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
a spammer offered me
$500 gift cards
The perfect weight loss drug,
A Canon camera,
Nintendo D – ee - Ses,
A blue Razr cellphone,
Super chee - eap software,
A pink iPod Nano,
Vi – A – Grrrr -Ra,
H – D - TV,
Cheesy business cards,
A Rolex watch,
And a brand new shiny PC

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Crimes Against Businesses Contribute to Job Losses

Organized retail crime costs retailers billions of dollars. In an era, where retailers are closing stores or going completely out of business, it's logical to assume that organized retail crime is a contributing factor to retailers shutting their doors and people losing their jobs. With the sour economy inspiring more and more theft and fraud, it is becoming more critical than ever before for companies to control their losses in their struggle to remain viable.

When retailers lose money to theft, the end result can be (assuming they don't go bankrupt) that jobs are cut. Payroll is normally the largest and most controllable expense in any business. When businesses start to show negative earnings — like a lot of them are right now — payroll is normally the first place they look to cut when trying to avoid shutting their doors.

In an effort to fight what experts say is a $30 billion a year organized retail crime issue, the National Retail Federation is welcoming legislation being introduced to give them more tools to fight this problem. Yesterday, three bills were introduced in Congress to assist retailers and law enforcement in this effort.

The three bills introduced are "the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2009, sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill.; the Organized Retail Crime Act of 2009, sponsored by Representative Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind.; and the E-Fencing Enforcement Act of 2009, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Va. The measures are similar to legislation first introduced last summer" according to the press release and podcast on this matter by the National Retail Federation.

In case you are unfamiliar with "Organized Retail Crime," it involves organized retail theft activity for profit. Once the merchandise is stolen, it is fenced (sold) to get a cash value out of it. Traditionally, this merchandise was sold at flea markets/dishonest retailers, but more and more often nowadays, retail crime rings are turning to auction sites to unload their stolen goods.

The reason for this is if they sell it on an auction site, they make a lot more money than in the more traditional fencing venues. Experts believe they net 70 percent of the retail value by selling their stolen wares on an auction site versus the 30 percent of retail value they receive in more traditional fencing venues.

Another possible factor contributing the problem is that consumers — who are operating with ever-decreasing personal budgets — are flocking to these sites to stretch their buying dollars. Without knowing it, they might be adding fuel to the fire and unknowingly buying this stolen merchandise.

Even if the retailer can prove that merchandise on an auction site is stolen, it can be extremely difficult for them to get the site to cooperate in going after the criminals selling it. Due to a lot of red-tape imposed by these sites to release information, it requires a lot of time/effort to get the site to cooperate in an investigation. Because of this, the crooks are normally long gone before any effective investigative action is taken.

Another phenomenon called phishing makes the activity even more anonymous/hard to track on auction sites. Phishing is where a person (user) is tricked into giving up their credentials to an account. For years, eBay and PayPal have ranked as some of the most phished brands out there. Criminals use this information to take over an account and commit fraud using someone else's selling account. When investigating auction fraud, time is of the essence, otherwise the trail is often too cold to track. The crooks use one of these accounts for a short period of time and then move on to another phished account to avoid detection.

Organized retail crime is also taking advantage of the identity theft/financial crimes phenomenon and working with the hacking element that has been attacking the financial industry. Counterfeit payment cards (credit/debit), checks and identification are all being used to electronically boost merchandise and walk right out the store with it. In the TJX data breach — which was the largest hack of financial data to date — a group was caught using cloned payment cards to buy $8 million worth gift cards from Walmart. In the more recent data breach at Heartland Payment Systems — which looks like it might surpass TJX in the amount of data stolen — the only arrests made thus far were a group using the stolen data to clone gift cards. Since gift cards are redeemed at retailers, this is yet another example of how the financial hackers and organized retail crime types are working together. To me, this is evidence that organized retail crime is becoming more sophisticated in their theft techniques, which will likely make this problem get even worse than it already is.

The three bills being introduced will force auction sites to cooperate with retailers and law enforcement, define organized criminal activity as a federal offense and establish stricter sentencing guidelines for criminals convicted of organized retail crime. Too frequently, under current laws, criminals involved in this activity are treated like petty thieves and get a slap on this wrist when they are caught. Last, but not least, it will hold auction sites more accountable for the sale of stolen merchandise if it could have been prevented.

Besides fencing, there is a lot of other fraud on auction sites that isn't necessarily tied in to fencing and victimizes auction customers/sellers, more personally. Legitimate e-commerce sellers are frequently ripped off with bogus financial instruments. Buyers are also defrauded in a wide variety of scams on these sites. Like the major retail types, who are behind this legislation, the more ordinary victims are often hung out to dry when they try to get any assistance from the auction sites. There is little doubt (my opinion) that auction sites need to clean up all the fraud that occurs on them. While they do provide value and a fun way to buy things, there have been too many innocent people victimized on them.

While this legislation primarily focuses on fencing, it's a start in the right direction. Perhaps other groups should join in and support this legislation, which if passed, will likely set some needed legal precedents. It will also make it a little harder for the criminally inclined to operate on auction sites.

Supporting this legislation makes a lot of sense for a lot of different reasons. These are not victimless crimes and the consequences are being felt by innocent consumers and businesses.

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Will Heartland Become the Largest Data Breach in History?

According to a press release from Heartland Systems, a payment card processor, their data has been being compromised since sometime last year. On the site, Heartland set up to cover the incident, it says they promptly notified the Secret Service and hired two teams of forensic computer investigators to look into the case after they discovered their systems had been compromised.

Heartland was initially notified by Visa/Mastercard of suspicious activity, which led to malicious software being discovered in their system. The malware in question was harvesting and (obviously) transmitting data. In the press release, they state they believe the breach has been contained. Heartland claims no merchant data, social security numbers or unencrypted PINs were compromised. They were also quick to add that their check management systems, Canadian payroll, campus solutions, micropayments operations and recently acquired Network Services and Chockstone processing platforms had not been compromised, either.

It should be noted that in previous breaches, additional items were later discovered to have been compromised as the investigation progressed.

Brian Krebs at the Washington Post interviewed Robert Baldwin, Heartland's president and chief financial officer, who stated they don't know how many transactions were compromised. In the interview, Baldwin pointed out that since the card numbers compromised didn't have address information; it would be hard for fraudsters to use them in card-not-present (e-commmerce) transactions. Most e-commerce platforms validate the address tied to the card as a security measure. I thought about this for a second and remembered that Visa/Mastercard had warned Heartland about suspicious transactions. If there were suspicious transactions, I would deduct someone is using this data to commit fraud. Besides that, I doubt anyone sophisticated enough to pull this off would go to all this trouble (and potential legal exposure) if they couldn't use the information to make money. This is another thing that might suggest additional information will be discovered as the investigation progresses.

In the interview, Baldwin declined to name any of their customers, who were compromised. Heartland processes payments for about 250,000 customers and processes about 100 million transactions per month. He also said they will not be offering identity theft protection since not enough information was stolen to commit identity theft.

On the Truston blog, Tom Fragala, aptly pointed out that this equates to four billion transactions a year. Many are speculating that this will turn out to be the largest known data breach in history. Tom's company, which offers a privacy-friendly identity theft prevention and recovery service, offers a 45 day free-trial of their services. Even after the 45 days, the prevention part of the service is free.

Tom blogs on matters like this and wrote an interesting article pointing out the consumer protection features of debit and credit cards. Please note, debit cards offer less protection. The point is that if a card owner doesn't discover the fraud in a specified time period, they can be held liable for the financial loss. It's probably a good time for everyone to pay attention to their statements, carefully.

Given the mandatory notification laws, which have been passed in almost all 50 states, this is going to equate a lot of people that have to be notified. Simply stated, it's going to be a "notification nightmare." It should be noted that shutting down all the compromised cards and notifying victims is a substantial cost in any data breach.

SC Magazine also covered the story and got a quote from Rich Mogull, founder of IT security consultancy Securosis, who pointed out there is a trend of malicious software being planted somewhere in the processing system in all the high-profile data breaches seen in recent history. TJX (94 million cards compromised), Hannaford and CardSystems (40 million cards compromised) are all being cited as examples.

According to Visa, Heartland was validated as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant on April 30, 2008. They then stated this status was being reviewed. Trustwave is Heartland's PCI assessor. Hannaford was PCI compliant at the time they were compromised, also. According to the article in SC magazine, TrustWave wouldn't return calls to comment on this.

On the Heartland site, it mentions they are a founding supporter of the Merchant Bill of Rights, which advocates for and educates merchants on fair practices when they accept payment cards. Two of the biggest heartaches for merchants accepting payment cards are the interchange fees and becoming PCI compliant, which is considered an expensive process. Interchange fees are a tariff charged by the credit card companies on every transaction and according to the critics are not very equitable. Estimates have been made in the past that they equate to $30 billion in extra fees added to the cost-of-goods sold with payment cards, yearly. Ultimately, these are costs are often passed on to the consumer.

So far as PCI compliance — which now seems to have been proven ineffective in at least two instances — the National Retail Federation has responded by going on record to challenge the card issuers on their requirements to store data. Because of the cost, a lot of merchants have been slow to adopt PCI data-security standards and the merchants who are not in compliance face fines by the payment card industry.

Storing this data is required to prevent the third headache merchants face when accepting payment cards, or what is known as chargebacks. Chargebacks are when transactions are charged back to a merchant account because of alleged fraud. The NRF contends that being forced to maintain the data to protect themselves makes it easier to compromise.

Heartland is being challenged for releasing this information during the inauguration, when it was less likely to be a hot story. Although this seems to be the case, we need to realize the stakes in data-breaches are high. In the last breach involving a card processor (CardSystems), the card-issuers stopped doing business with the company and the end-result was the company is no longer in existence. Also, it should be pointed out that Heartland wouldn't be the only company that seemed to be very cautious when disclosing the fact that their data was compromised. Once disclosed, there is little doubt that the company in question faces some extremely unfavorable public exposure.

On a closing note, data breaches continue to occur at alarming rates. All sides of the equation need to come together and figure out solutions that work. One of them might be to upgrade the plastic to chip and PIN technology, which has become the standard in other countries. Nigeria was the most recent country to mandate this technology. While this might not directly stop data breaches, it would make it a lot harder to counterfeit the plastic, which is what the criminals use to cash-out the proceeds of data breaches with.

The other problem is that credit card fraud has been made too easy to commit. Card data and the tools to produce counterfeit cards are easy to obtain and even sold in chat rooms. A lot of this technology can also be bought on (what I consider) questionable sites, including eBay. Very few of these fraudsters get caught and because of this; it appears that the activity is getting more and more organized. Historically, the cost of all this seems to have been written off as a cost of doing business. In reality, a lot of these "costs" are passed on to the consumer in the form of higher interest rates and fees.

My prediction is that with the state credit is currently in with the sour economy, coupled with the increase in criminal activity, we are getting to the point where it is going to be hard to simply write-off all the financial costs. Until we start punishing the criminals effectively for this type of activity, it is going to continue to grow and probably prosper.

Update 2/13/09: It appears that the first arrests in the Heartland Data Breach have been made in Leon County, Florida. Three men (Tony Acreus, Jeremy Frazier and Timothy Johns) were encoding numbers stolen in the breach on gift cards and using them at Walmart.

The official press release from the authorities credits Walmart for supporting the investigation.

While it's great a few people got caught -- this probably only accounts for a small amount of the stolen data. My guess is that our three fraudsters bought the numbers via anonymous sources (probably on the Internet).

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NRF Survey shows Organized Retail Crime activity is growing!

According to FBI estimates, Organized Retail Crime (ORC) is a $30 billion a year business. The National Retail Federation's 2008 Organized Crime Survey shows another alarming trend, which is that the amount of e-fencing to sell stolen merchandise on auction sites like eBay and Craigslist has grown 6 percent.

Also mentioned in the survey are shady e-commerce sites being put up on the Internet to fence the proceeeds of ORC.

In case you've never heard the term, Organized Retail Crime, here is a good description of the activity:

Organized retail crime (ORC) refers to groups, gangs and sometimes individuals who are engaged in illegally obtaining retail merchandise through both theft and fraud in substantial quantities as part of a commercial enterprise. These crime rings generally consist of “boosters” who methodically steal merchandise from retail stores and fence operators who convert the product to cash or drugs, as part of the criminal enterprise. Some of the more sophisticated criminals engage in changing the UPC bar codes on merchandise so they ring up differently at checkout, this is commonly called “ticket switching.” Others use stolen or cloned credit cards to obtain merchandise or produce fictitious receipts to return products back to retail outlets.

The report acknowledges that these groups are using cloned credit cards to steal merchandise and or get the necessary receipts to refund the merchandise for cash.

In the wake of the TJX data breach, where up to 94 million personal and financial records were hacked, a group was caught in Florida using data from the breach (cloned cards) to buy a reported $8 million worth of gift cards.

Please note that TJX is hardly the only retailer, or financial services institution that has had personal and financial records hacked from their systems in recent history. Attrition.org does a good job of recording the known breaches on their Data Loss Database - Open Source .

Although not addressed in the current report, I suspect the use of fraudulent checks are used to obtain merchandise and receipts, also.

This could be fueled by another organized crime activity. Portable technology has made the counterfeiting of identification documents another growing trend. Over the past two years or so, I've had the pleasure of being able to speak with Suad Leija and her husband about this organized criminal activity on a semi-regular basis. Suad, the step-daughter of one of the top players in this game was recruited in an intelligence operation and eventually exposed a cartel operating throughout North America to the government. Prosecution of members of the cartel is ongoing in this case and Suad is currently working on a book.

These documents, which are available throughout the United States, can be easily used to support both check and refund fraud by using names that get past the data bases designed to protect retailers from these types of fraudulent activity.

Portable technology is also being used to clone payment cards and some of it is easily found on auction, or shady e-commerce sites set up to sell these devices. As of this writing, I was easily able to find credit card encoders for sale on eBay. A site called HackersHomePage.com provides an array of devices that could be used to steal and produce payment (credit/debit) cards. They also provide tools to make counterfeit checks and even, paper for fake prescriptions. They do have a "disclaimer" stating that none of their products are to be used for illegal purposes, but it is pretty obvious someone could.

There is no doubt that there is a lot of technology that is enabling a lot of criminal activity out there!

NRF's Vice President of Loss Prevention, Joe LaRocca, made what I consider a sage comment on this activity:

“Law enforcement and retailers alike are fed up with organized retail crime rings and are stepping up efforts to stop them in their tracks,” said NRF Vice President of Loss Prevention Joseph LaRocca. “The brazen and unethical behavior of organized retail crime suspects results in possible health risks for consumers, adds unnecessary fees to consumers’ purchases and funds criminal enterprises, including the mob and terrorist organizations around the world.”

When I stated that this activity hurts all of us, the reason is that retailers have to make up the $30 billion they are losing to this activity somewhere. This normally equates to higher prices, or in extreme circumstances (especially in tight economic times) cutting payroll. Simply stated, people might be losing their jobs because of this activity.

So far as health risks, the report sums up the obvious risks rather well:

For example, criminals may not keep stolen merchandise in a temperature-controlled environment, so merchandise like baby formula and over-the-counter medicines can easily spoil. When criminals sell these items online through third party auction sites consumers are left with no way to guarantee they are getting safe and reliable healthy and beauty products.

I decided to see if I could find baby formula on eBay. As you can see - there seems to be a lot of it for sale on the site at discounted prices. At the time I checked 26 pages of it were for sale on the site.

Actual cases in the report that support how organized this activity has become are a $60-$100 million dollar case in Florida involving health, beauty, cosmetic products and over-the-counter medicines. Another case mentioned involved a high ranking member Gambino Crime Family and a sophisticated ticket/UPC switching case and extortion. In this case, a planted employee was making up the labels and providing temporary credit cards to move the merchandise through point-of-sale systems.

Recent initiatives to combat Organized Retail Crime include launching LerpNET, which is a crime database available to both retailers and law enforcement. Also highlighted was legislation against ORC throughout the country to "reduce the rewards and increase the risk" to the groups involved in it. Several States have already passed this legislation and more are considering it.

Full 2008 ORC Survey, here.

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Beverly Hills...Rebecca Mader to host Christmas Lighting Celebration! UNICEF snowflake & Baccarat Crystal chandeliers spark up yuletide...

The festive tradition of the candle-lighting ceremony (a highlight of the year in tony Beverly Hills) - and a round of upbeat yuletide soirees to put holidays shoppers in a fanciful good-hearted yuletide mood - kick off this weekend in the upscale enclave amidst a lot of spirited local enthusiasm and media hoopla.

Last year's blow-out opening ceremonies - hosted by Nicole Richie and toy-boy pal Joel Madden (Ambassador to UNICEF &  lead singer for the pop band Good Chalotte) - wowed the locals who packed the streets with barely standing-room-only to catch the festive holiday extravaganza.

 The 2009 festivities are going to be bigger and better!

The Holiday Lighting

The partying gets underway on Saturday November 21st!

For starters, there will be a multitude of afternoon activities along Rodeo Drive just prior to the spectacular Holiday Lighting Ceremony at the 200 block of Rodeo later.

3:00 - 7:00 PM

Visitors to tony Rodeo Drive will be treated to free entertainment by balloon sculptors, jugglers, caricature artists, and entertaining street musicians.

Strollers will be knocked out by the striking outdoor lights and banners strung throughout the Golden Triangle this holiday season.

There will also be plentiful opportunities to have photographs taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus, too.

7:00 PM

The lighting ceremony blasts off just after the dinner hour.

 Santa will be on hand along with carolers and special celebrity guest and UNICEF supporter, actress Rebecca Mader.

Mader, was a regular on the immensely popular TV series "Lost" and recently co-starred in the box-office hit "Men Who Stare at Goats".

Mader will not only flip the switch on thousands of twinkle lights on Rodeo Drive(with the help of the Mayor), but also - rev to life the pièce de résistance - the brilliant UNICEF crystal snowflake which will soar over the Beverly Wilshire hotel during the month of December.

A grand fireworks finale caps off the evening with skyrockets arcing in the mid-heavens above the hotel.

Spectacular, eh?

Post Candlie-Lighting Ceremonies

The Two Rodeo Drive "after party" gets underway after the initial candle-lighting ceremoney has commenced with a lot of fanfare.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on hand as snowflakes float effortlessly to the ground along the cobblestone Via Rodeo walkway.

Many shoppers will take advtage of the celebrated occasion to indulge in holiday sips and bites at the chic boutiques and cozy restaurants lining the European-inspired shopping complex as holiday music from a live steel drum band entertains passers-by.

Visitors who return to shop throughout the weeks leading up to gift-giving D-Day - will no doubt take advantage of the two hours of free parking provided at the Beverly Hills City parking garages - along Rodeo, Beverly and Canon Drives (look for the turquoise blue parking signs).

Deck the Hills

BH is known for its sparkle year-round, but particularly, throughout the high-spirited holiday (Holy) season.


The well-manicured streets will be shimmering with twinkle lights and a host of colorful banners adorning lamp posts.

THE PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA

Santa and Mrs. Claus will make several appearances around town again this year as usual.

Join Mrs. Claus on the trolley the Sunday before Thanksgiving and every Saturday and Sunday thereafter between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Beverly Hills trolley pick up is at the southeast corner of Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way.

Mrs. Claus plans to enchant her captive charges with a few stories and songs first, then lead her guests over to hubbie (St. Nick) at The Paley Center for some one-on-one time with the jovial cookie-lover.

Well-wishers cans can share their deepest secrets and fervent desires with Santa on that occasion.

11:00 am to 2:00 pm (weekends)

The pair appear live on stage the following dates:

November 22nd
November 28th & 29th
December 5th & 6th
December 12th & 13th
December 19th & 20th

Trolley tickets:
 $10 adults
 $  5 children (under 12)

Regular trolley tours:
2:00 pm / 3:00 pm / 4:00 pm

Info: (310) 285-2442 for more information.

Holiday Happenings

Many of the local boutiques & Hotels are hosting special events along the lines of those posted below that you may want to participate in.
 

The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills Holiday Tasting Event

November 10th, 11th and12th
(7:00 - 9:00 pm)

Join proprietor, Norbert Wabnig, and manager/wine buyer, Tony Princiotta, at The Cheese Store’s annual Holiday Spectacular Tasting Event.
The event is known for its festive non-regional approach focusing on an excellent selection of champagnes, gourmet cheeses and all the extras you would want to serve at your own holiday celebrations.
Previous events included ports, caviar, foie gras and truffles along with guest appearances by artisanal producers.
The event will be held on Sharkey’s Patio (435 N. Beverly Drive) on three nights.
(November 10th, 11th & 12th)
 (7:00 - 9:00 pm).
The cost is $100 a person.
Reservations in advance at (310) 278-2855
Details: info@cheesestorebh.com.

Montblanc Pre-Lighting Ceremony Event

November 21st
(4:00 - 7:00 pm)

Pop into Montblanc (323 N. Rodeo Drive) on Saturday, November 21st!
This is a pre-official Beverly Hills Lighting Ceremony event.
Refreshments served during the shop UNICEF "Signature for Good" event.
10% of sales from this event (excluding Limited Edition items) will benefit UNICEF programs.
RSVP: rsvp.rodeodrive@montblanc.com.

Give Thanks at Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive

November 26th
(12 noon - 9:00 pm)

Café Rodeo Restaurant at Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive (360 N. Rodeo Drive) offers a traditional three-course Thanksgiving menu.
Choose from a Roasted Turkey and Spring Vegetable Soup or Tenderloin Steak Salad appetizer Grilled and Stuffed Turkey Breast, Pan-Seared Atlantic Sea Bass or Braised Rosemary Short Ribs entrée selection (Chocolate Lava Cake, Pumpkin Pie or Bread Pudding for dessert).
The Thanksgiving Day menu is offered at $45/adult and $20/child (10 and under).
Reservations are strongly recommended at (310) 691-7584
Info: Victoria.haylock@luxehotels.com.

Holiday Tea at Montage Beverly Hills
(225 N. Canon Drive)
November and December

Relax after the rush of holiday planning and shopping with a gracious afternoon tea in the Lobby Lounge of the exquisite Montage Beverly Hills hotel.
The cherished tradition is in full bloom from 2:30 - 5:00 p.m. daily throughout November and December. Expert tea specialists offer up a tea service which features exclusive artisan tea varieties in custom china inspired by the joyful wildflowers of California’s foothills.
A harpist adds to the soothing environment.
Reservations:  (310) 860-7800.

The Organic Pharmacy Holiday Celebration

November and December

On Friday, November 27, The Organic Pharmacy will kick off the holidays and celebrate their one-year anniversary in Beverly Hills with an in-store party.
Enjoy cake and beverages, a free gift with purchase, and an opportunity to win a fabulous four-night stay at the fabulous Capella Pedregal in Cabo.
Also, in November and until December 14th, prepare to look your best at upcoming holiday parties when you indulge in a Rose Crystal Facial ($160 for 1½ hrs.), voted one of the top 50 facials by Harpers Bazaar, and receive a complimentary vitamin and mineral scan (worth $75).
Info: (310) 272-2725

Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce On-Line Holiday Auction

November 23 – December 6th

Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce offers up a number of wonderful luxury products and services from both in and around the Luxury Capital of the world as part of its annual on-line holiday auction.
From spa treatments and massages to shopping and dining certificates, there is truly something for everyone during the holiday season!
Beverly Hills Online Auction (Holiday Edition) is the perfect way to grab a slice of luxury for yourself, a loved one, business associate, or client.
Indulge in items like a men’s suit from Brooks Brothers Beverly Hills, a $500 Mastro’s Steakhouse gift card or a three-night stay at the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort.
To bid, visit: www.beverlyhillschamber.com/auction and select ‘Register’ to set up a new account and start bidding.
View all auction items or select a specific category on the right side toolbar.
Bidding starts at 8:00am (PST) on Monday, November 23rd and closes at 10:00 pm Dec. 6th.
The last and highest bid at closing wins the item.
The winning bidder will receive an email once the auction on the item is closed.
Winning items can be picked up at the Chamber offices (239 S. Beverly Drive) or mailed.

Two Rodeo Drive

November 18th - December 18th

Celebrate the holidays in style at Two Rodeo in the heart of Beverly Hills.
Two Rodeo will be decorated with a  25-foot holiday tree and decorative penguins swimming in the Wilshire fountain.
Carolers and live musical entertainment will set the shopping mood on the Via Rodeo every Thursday - Saturday evening (4:00 – 7:00 pm)
 (Nov. 27 -- Dec. 24)
Info: http://www.tworodeo.com



Soolip Gift Wrapping Services at The Peninsula Beverly Hills
(9882 S. Santa Monica Blvd)

December 1st – 24th

The package is as lovely as the gift itself when you take advantage of Soolip's signature gift wrapping services at The Peninsula Beverly Hills.
Visit Soolip in the lobby:
 December 1 – 11 (11 am - 7 pm) & December 12 – 24 (10 am – 8 pm) Drop off  gifts and choose from an irresistible collection of Japanese silkscreened, tree-free and pattern-embossed papers along with a dizzying array of hand-dyed silk ribbons and nature-inspired gift toppers.

There is a fee for the service (depending on selected paper, ribbon and gift toppers), but wrapping for holiday gifts purchased at The Spa at The Peninsula Beverly Hills will be complimentary.

While you wait, treat yourself  to The Peninsula's infamous tea service and return a couple hours later with all your gifts enhanced with the Soolip aesthetic.

Holiday Champagne and Dessert Tea at Greystone Mansion
(905 Loma Vista Drive)

December 6th
(2:00 – 3:30 pm)

Celebrate the holiday season with an afternoon tea at historic Greystone Estate.

This traditional tea will include finger sandwiches, scones, tea, champagne and dessert, served using fine china and fresh linens.
Weather permitting, the tea will occur on the terrace with a view of the city; in the case of inclement weather, the tea will take place inside the mansion.
Holiday related musical entertainment as well as a tour of the first floor of the mansion is included.
There is limited seating, so advanced reservations are recommended.
Tickets are $50/person
Info: (310) 285-6850.

The Beverly Hills Hotel & Bungalows
(9641 Sunset Blvd)

Under the direction of Executive Chef Alex Chen, the hotel will feature gourmet prix fixe holiday dinner menus on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve in the world-famous Polo Lounge restaurant.
And whether it’s before, during or after the feast, imbibe in one of six holiday cocktail concoctions created especially for this time of year.
Try the Pilgrim Iced Tea or Pumpkin Pie Hot Cocoa on Thanksgiving, get a little naughty with Mrs. Claus’ Little Secret or Rudolph’s Red Light at Christmas,and break out the party hats on New Year’s Eve with a Twisted Sparkling Lemonade or Up All Night beverage.
Reservations: ww.beverlyhillshotel.com

Dickens’ Dining at Lawry’s the Prime Rib
(1100 N. La Cienega Blvd)

Lawry’s the Prime Rib whisks you back in time to Yuletide in Victorian England with their Dickens’ A Christmas Carol lunch and dinner.
Festively costumed actors and carolers will perform scenes from the Charles Dickens’ classic as you feast on Lawry’s famous cuisine.
The Dickens’ dining experience is available either at lunch (12 noon) or dinner (7:00 pm) on Sunday, December 6.
Enjoy Lawry’s famous Spinning Bowl Salad, Roasted Prime Ribs of Beef served with Mashed Potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding and Creamed Spinach OR Fresh Grilled Salmon served with Vegetables.
Top it off with Apple Pie drizzled in Caramel Sauce, a sweet ending to this truly special meal.
(A children’s menu is also available.)
Reservations: (310) 360-6281, Ext. 4
Monday through Friday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm.
Lawry’s website at http://www.lawrysonline.com

Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive, 360 N. Rodeo Drive

Luxe Hotel’s Bar 360 has whipped up a rotating menu of chocolate-inspired cocktails, available during the bar’s famous $3.60 Martini Happy Hour from mid-November through the end of the year.
Can you resist the Chocolate Martini, Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cocktail or Minted Hot Chocolate accompanied by chocolate-covered strawberries and chocolate chip cookies?
Chocolate is the perfect pick-me-up during the often exhausting holidays!
 Luxe website at http://www.luxehotelrodeodrive.com

Montage Beverly Hills
(25 N. Canon Drive)

Montage Beverly Hills is presenting a culinary tour de force this season with a selection of festive holiday menu options at their Parq restaurant. Parq offers elegant family-style dining on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day and multi-course prix fixe tasting menus on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
Food connoisseurs looking for a private and exclusive dining event may reserve a Couples Culinary experience with Executive Chef John Cuevas.
You and your culinary companion will meet with the chef to select your perfect holiday menu and then join him in hands-on cooking classes and demonstrations to prepare the dinner together.
Return later that evening with your guests (8-12) to savor the feast.
Reservations: (310) 860-7891.
Info: http://www.montagebeverlyhills.com

Sprinkles Cupcakes
(635 S. Santa Monica Blvd)

Sprinkles Cupcakes, purveyor of the yummiest baked treats and a regional fan favorite, has something special up their sleeve for the holidays.
In addition to their regular mouth-watering cupcake flavors (peanut butter chip, lemon coconut and red velvet, for example), they’ll be seducing customers with unique seasonal flavors during November and December.
Look for pumpkin cupcakes during the entire month of November, ginger maple and orange cranberry temptations from November 20-29th, and eggnog spice, chocolate peppermint and vanilla peppermint selections in December (through the 24th).
Info: http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com

The Peninsula Beverly Hills
(9882 S. Santa Monica Blvd)

Positively sparkling with holiday decorations inside and out, The Peninsula Beverly Hills is the perfect spot to enjoy the season.
In the Living Room, a third Afternoon Tea seating has been added to accommodate shoppers looking for respite from the throes of consumerism.
And the Club Bar serves holiday inspired cocktails - the Candy Cane Martini or Hot Cocoa with Amaretto – sure to warm you from the inside out.
The Belvedere restaurant has planned gala dinners for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and also serves a full-on holiday feast on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
(11:00 am to 9:00 pm)
Reservations: http://www.beverlyhills.peninsula.com

Shop Talk (tips from retailers)

1. Create a gift recipient list with possible gift ideas for each person before you head out on your shopping adventure.

2. Don’t “panic” shop. A getaway at our hotels will give you plenty of time to shop casually – AND you’ll get an additional night free when you stay two nights. Now that’s a holiday special!

3. Enjoy two hours of free parking at the public parking structures on Rodeo, Beverly and Canon Drives (look for the turquoise blue parking signs).

4. Step inside the Christian Audigier boutique on Camden Drive, and you’re one step ahead of the pack. The tattoo-inspired artwear (T-shirts, hoodies and even sequined dresses) turns heads and makes a statement – one that doesn’t say you’re trying too hard.

5. If it’s sweet things you’re after, make sure Asweet is on your list. This South Beverly sweet shop, decorated in pastel hues reminiscent of cotton candy, is an eclectic collection of chocolate and gourmet candy treats, baubles for your wrists and fingers and adorable tops, pants and separates to satisfy your cravings for “sugar and spice and everything nice.”

6. While you’re on SoBev, break from the shopping madness and feed your body (and soul) with a bite of lunch. Try the Roasted Baby Beets salad or Grilled Cheese sandwich at Cabbage Patch or the Famous Roast Beef and Provolone sub sandwich at Jersey Mike’s Subs.
7. Select gift items you know your family will use – or shall we say “consume.” We suggest any of the gorgeous chocolate gift boxes from Madame Chocolat, your favorite California wine from the Wine Valet or a basket of domestic and international cheeses from The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills.

8. Seems you’ve yet to fill your “shimmer and shine” quotient for the day. A stop at Judith Leiber at Two Rodeo will solve that problem. Enter the Crystal Room at this opulent accessories boutique and choose from several exclusive-to-Beverly Hills crystal minaudière clutches in that unmistakable Judith Leiber style.

9. Christopher Guy recently opened his first and only U.S. furniture gallery in Beverly Hills. From seductive, yet gracious tables and chairs to sculptural candlesticks and other decorative accents, any selection from Christopher Guy will stand out in your home this holiday season.

10. Men, wind down at the end of your shopping trip and head into Gornick and Drucker at the Montage Beverly Hills for a customized traditional shave at this old world barber shop. Ladies can indulge in the female version – the “Wrapped in Luxury” La Prairie Caviar Facial and Massage at The Beverly Hills Hotel.

Affordable Options

Consider these activities and gift suggestions as you navigate the season ahead:

1. Two hours of free parking? Hard to come by these days, but not in Beverly Hills. Look for the City parking structures, marked by the turquoise parking signs on Rodeo, Beverly and Canon Drives.

2. Pick out decorative papers to create your own festive stationery or select from a variety of sophisticated ready-made cards at Paper Source - $12.25-$22.50 per box. (9460 Brighton Way)

3. Famous Cupcakes – not just famous, but delicious, too. Try the Hot Chocolate or Black Tie varieties, for example ($3.25 each) or take home a full Merry Christmas bouquet for $74.99. (168 S. Beverly Dr.)

4. These “hills” are made for walking . . . clear your head as you enjoy the vast collection of public art and notable architecture on our Art & Architecture Walking Tour, all compliments of Beverly Hills.

5. Kisses to you from Beverly Hills. Our new limited edition sterling silver “kiss, kiss” necklace is available at Zina Beverly Hills for just $60 – perfect for you or your BFF. (470 S. Beverly Dr.)

6. Let the creative juices flow when you “design” your own tee or tank at Fashionology – tops start at about $30. Your add-ons (sequins, charms, logos) make it one-of-a-kind, with each fashion accent offered at a nominal additional charge. (342 N. Canon Drive)

7. Let L’Occitane en Provence transport you to that oh-so-charming region of France – the Shea Butter Lavender Cream ($39) or the Green Tea Eau de Toilette fragrance ($46) takes you there. (367 N. Beverly Drive)

8. Pop into The Paley Center for Media and peruse the archives. Bet your favorite Beverly Hills 90210 episode is available for screening, and it’s free. (465 N. Beverly Dr.)

9. Slip into Villa Blanca for a little Mediterranean-inspired cuisine – the Risotto with Wild Mushrooms ($16) or Fresh Lobster and Crab Salad ($18) fits the bill. (9601 Brighton Way)

10. Spice up your daughter’s wardrobe (or yours) with a hobo dress ($59) or a long tab cardigan sweater ($99) from Flaunt Boutique (266 S. Beverly Drive)

11. The children’s clothing options at Marie-Chantal Beverly Hills are too cute for words, and yet most are designed for rough-and-tumble kids’ activities. Take the boys’ long-sleeved T-shirt, for example ($48) – your little guy is ready for the playground now! (338 N. Beverly Drive)

12. All aboard the Beverly Hills Trolley Tour – at $10 per adult and $5 per child, it’s a bargain for the whole family. (SE Corner – Rodeo Drive/Dayton Way)

13. Green up your holidays with an all-natural/all-organic hand and foot refresher at Chi Nail Bar and Organic Spa. This classic manicure/pedicure combination ($60) features Green Tea Seed Oil for the softest hands and feet. (9390 S. Santa Monica Blvd.)

14. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, don’t forget about your favorite four-legged friends, Buster and Belle. How about a sweater for Buster ($65) and a Mrs. Santa Paws Dress for Belle ($48) from Beverly Hills Mutt Club? ‘Tis the season! (9872 S. Santa Monica Blvd.)

15. Take advantage of our year-round temperate climate and stroll through the many gardens here – Beverly Gardens Park along Santa Monica Blvd., for example, or Greystone Mansion at 905 Loma Vista Drive. Yep, it’s free!

16. Fashionphile sells gently used designer handbags and accessories like the Chloe rhinestone key ring ($100) at gentle-to-your-pocketbook prices. (9551 Wilshire Blvd.)

17. We know you’ve got holiday party plans! Glam it up with a pair of black suede peep-toe pumps with rhinestone accents – $90 at Aldo Shoes. (404 N. Beverly Dr.)

18. For the “foodie” in your life, pick up a non-stick pizza crisper ($21), a garlic peeler ($9) or The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook ($34.95) at Williams-Sonoma. (339 N. Beverly Drive)

19. Oliverio, the sleek, new restaurant and lounge at Avalon Hotel, serves up a variety of hearty grilled panini sandwiches ($14) for lunch and a selection of fresh, flavorful entrees (i.e. Scottish Salmon for $25 or Beef Short Ribs for $29) at dinnertime. (9400 W. Olympic Blvd.)

20. A gift from Coach guarantees “glee” around the Christmas tree. A mahogany “skinny C” merino wool hat ($68) or a small red patent Gramercy wallet ($98) should do the trick. (327 N. Rodeo Dr.)

Info: http://www.beverlyhills.peninsula.com

Happy Holidays!

Baccarat Crystal Chandeliers dusted off for Christmas!

http://www.julianarys.com

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Will counterfeit Visa Traveler Cheques be the latest bogus financial instrument spread in Internet Scams?

(Photo courtesy of Flickr)

Counterfeit Visa Travelers Cheques -- so far seen in $500.00 denominations -- are starting to appear in different parts of the United States.

In the past few years, counterfeit U.S. Postal Money Orders, MoneyGram Money Orders, and American Express Gift Cheques have all been circulated by Internet fraud activity.

If history repeats itself, we will see counterfeit Visa Travelers Cheques show up outside the United States, also.

These instruments have been passed in a lot of work-at-home (job) scams. They are also passed in secret shopper, romance, lottery and auction scams.

These advance fee (419) type scams all have a common theme. A lure (scam) -- which plays on greed is offered to entice someone into cashing these items -- and wiring the money back to the fraudster behind the scheme.

The lure (scam) is always too good to be true and makes no sense.

Since it is against the law to pass a counterfeit financial instrument, people are sometimes arrested when they present these items. Even if they aren't arrested, they are held liable, when the fraud is discovered.

Unfortunately, banks often give credit to their customers on these items. Tellers have even told their customers the items are legitimate, which doesn't make any difference (for the customer) when they return. Of course, the bank isn't liable for any of this.

These items are also being presented to merchants. Retail criminals use them to purchase items, get the balance in cash, then refund the merchandise. Of course, if they are unable to refund the items, they will probably try to get gift cards or fence the merchandise. There is a lot of stolen merchandise being fenced (pretty easily) on Internet auction sites.

Intelligence indicates these many of these items are being printed overseas, then distributed in bulk, worldwide. Once received in bulk, they are broken down and distributed to the criminals, who then use them in the manners listed above.

Visa recommends that you do the following to verify if one of the Travelers Cheques are real:

Can you see a watermark in the cheque?

Can you see the holographic thread embedded in the cheque?

Is the customer present?

Have the cheques been countersigned in your presence?

Does the original signature match the countersignature?

Has valid identification been presented and the details recorded along with the customer name on the back of the cheques?

If you are suspicious, you can call them at 1-800-227-6811 to verify an item. This can also be done on-line, here.Visa also has a good interactive tool to identify the security features of the Visa Travelers Cheque, here.

Here are some of my previous posts on counterfeit instruments circulating via the Internet:

Counterfeit MoneyGram Money Orders being passed via Internet Scams

Counterfeit Cashier's Checks Fuel Internet Crime

American Express Gift Cheques Being Circulated in Internet Scams

Counterfeit Postal Money Orders Showing Up in IScams Again

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Walmart Employee Scams Customers via Electronic Checks

Processing checks electronically is becoming a standard practice, brought about the Check 21 law, or ACH (Automated Check House) processes.

Electronic checks save businesses a lot of money in processing costs.

Walmart is one business taking advantage of electronic checks - and when a check is written to Walmart - it's scanned in their point-of-sale system - then returned to the customer. From there, everything is handled "electronically."

I read a story put out by KRTK Houston about a Walmart employee, who scammed a customer by keeping the check (supposed to be returned), then used it to purchase merchandise and gift cards numerous times.

KRTK Houston story with video presentation, here.

When the customer noticed the fraudulent transactions on her account, she reported it to the Walmart and the employee was arrested.

The story also indicates that there are other victims out there that haven't been identified yet.

According to the story, the customer isn't being made whole by her bank because she didn't discover the transaction within thirty days and Walmart isn't refunding her money, either.

When check fraud occurs, victims are normally made whole by their bank, who goes after the business by charging them back for the transaction. If a business refunds the customer for their losses, the customer might be able to have the transactions charged back to them, also.

My guess is that Walmart isn't refunding the money because the bank still might charge-back the transactions to them?

Of note, it's probably not completely fair that Walmart is the only one being mentioned in the article. There is no mention of what bank is involved. I hope Walmart and the bank have since sorted this whole thing out and taken care of the people, who were victimized as a result of this.

After all - it only makes sense to do so - processing checks electronically saves them a lot of money by not having to process paper and if more stories surface (like this one), it's likely to affect "consumer trust."

I read consumer tips all the time that we should use our credit cards versus debit cards because they offer better protection in the case of fraud.

Tom Fragala (CEO of Truston) wrote a great post about this, here.

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AHF...charitable pharmacy gives to community! "Out of the Closet" bargains galore!

Blair Underwood handsome spokesperson for Pharmacy!

The other day I sauntered into "OUT OF THE CLOSET" to flip through their used-clothing racks.

The  reasons were three-fold, actually.

For starters, the charitable organization is a great shopping outlet for bargains during tough economic times, when expendable cash for a large percentage of the middle-class has stopped up.

Secondly, a purchase at any one of their flourishing outlets, helps fund programs for the needy in the community-at-large.

Also, let’s face it, the gay dudes who donate their cast-offs each season (hardly ever worn) have impeccable taste when it comes to style and bellweather fashion trends.

For a few cents on the dollar, the savvy man-about-town can easily whip a handful of eye-catching array of wardrobe ensembles at a fraction of the cost he’d be forced to fork out at Macy’s or Bloomie’s (Bloomingdale’s).

Style newbies, who don’t have a clue, are welcome to check out a prior post in which I offered up a handful of tips to consider when springing for purchases at second-hand stores such as Goodwill and Out of the Closet.

Post: 01/05/09

http://fraudphishing-financialmisdees.blogspot.com/2009/01/mens-fashion-tipsthrift-shop-bargains.html

The trip to "Out of the Closet" also introduced me to a helpful service I was totally oblivious to 'til a scant few days ago.

Over the past year, in case you were unaware of it, the charity partnered with AHF Pharmacy.

So, now when you shop at "Out of the Closet", the professional staff at AHF can fill your prescriptions while you're cruising in-between the racks keeping an eagle-eye out for bargains!

AHF (A.I.D.S. Health Foundation) is relatively new on the pharmaceutical scene.

And, unfortunately, there are only a handful of outlets in Florida and California, as I speak.

But, thanks to high-profile individuals such as actor Blair Underwood (who is a spokesperson for their commercials on Bravo TV) their visibility in the community is gaining momentum.

I originally crossed paths with the charismatic actor during a brief stint on LA LAW many moons ago!

And, just recently included the dapper dresser on my prestigious (!) annual Men's Best-Dressed list.

Post:  01/31/09

http://fraudphishing-financialmisdees.blogspot.com/2009/01/julian-ayrs-1st-annual-worst-dressed.html

As to AHF - well - they deliver up a myriad of worthwhile services worth crowing about.

And, at no additional cost to their clients.

Here is a smattering of free services they provide to their client base:


*Prescriptions filled hassle-free.
*Speedy free delivery and shipping (confidential)
*Complimentary handling of paperwork
*Prescription billed to Medicare, Medicaid, Medi-cal & private plans
*Free consultations
*Free bill boxes to ensure clients don’t forget their meds
*Free HIV testing at select sites

Uh-huh!

Clients do not have to be HIV positive (or afflicted with full-blown A.I.D.S.) to take advantage of the services AHF provides free on a daily basis with no strings attached.

Indeed, more often-than-not, AHF staff are at-the-ready to offer up free vitamin samples, gift cards during special promotions (valid at Macy’s, Safeway, etc.) and lots of other freebies.

The day I waltzed in, the staff were not only outgoing and friendly, but anxious to toss a few practical goodies my way.

When I strolled out the door, I was loaded down with a giant container of free muscle-building protein drink, nifty designer water bottle, free vitamin samples, a couple of energy drinks, and - get this - a $25.00 gift card (in exchange for transferring a prescription to their pharmacy).

AHF (in case you were wondering from whence they came) is an affiliate of the non-profit A.I.D.S. Healthcare Foundation.

When you fill a prescription at AHF - 96 cents of every dollar collected - directly funds A.I.D.S. programs and community services domestically and overseas.

The monies generated also help provide cutting-edge HIV medical care regardless of an individual’s ability to pay or not pay.

In a nutshell, the workers at AHF are Angels, in my estimation.

God Bless each and every one!

 

 

http://www.thetattler.biz

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