TJX shoots the messenger reporting potential identity theft issues!

(Picture courtesy of b d solis at Flickr)One would assume after compromising an estimated 94 million people's information, a company would become a model of information security for the rest of us to aspire to. Sadly, if the following story is true, this is NOT the case at TJX.Ran into this disturbing example of a messenger getting shot for trying...

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We are a long way to full disclosure in data breaches - even if we wanted to be!

I saw an article on PCWorld, written by Robert McMillan (IDG News), that according to the research firm Gartner -- not all data breaches are being reported by retailers.I thought to myself ... here we go again ... burying our heads in the sand that all personal and financial information is hacked from retailers. Of course, that isn't to say that none...

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13 year old buying Hookers with Dad's credit card is a marketing scam!

About two weeks ago, I heard a story about a 13 year old stealing his Dad's credit card to buy XBoxes and Hookers on a morning radio show. After seeing the story surface on several mainstream media outlets, I even wrote the Police Chief of the town (Newark, Texas) where it allegedly happened because it sounded a little too bizarre to be true.Maybe it was the part of the story, where the escorts were conned into believing the boys were suffering from a disability (restricted growth) and State law dictated they couldn't be discriminated against?...

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Lifelock's identity theft protection saga racks up 339 articles in Google!

Todd Davis, Lifelock's flamboyant CEO, who flashes his social security in public to sell identity theft protection made Yahoo's top five stories of the week. When I checked Google News, there were no less than 339 articles covering the woes of Lifelock and it's CEO.Lifelock has been mired in controversy since it was revealed in the New Phoenix Times that one of his co-founders (Robert Maynard) wasn't being truthful about being an identity theft victim and was suspected of being a identity thief, himself.I covered this part of the Lifelock saga...

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Oregon case reveals the tie between software piracy and identity theft!

(Photo courtesy of naveenium at Flickr)Software Piracy is a multi-billion dollar issue. Whether it's hawked in a spam e-mail, a flea market or on a auction site -- it might not work as well as advertised -- and could even lead to identity theft.You never know what might be installed in pirated software. The person selling it to you might add a little...

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China earthquake and Burma (Myanmar) cyclone inspire another round of charity fraud!

(Photo courtesy of IslamicReliefUSA at Flickr)Last weekend, I lamented that the Western media wasn't reporting the expected fraud activity in the wake of the China earthquake and the Burma (Myanmar) cyclone.Most of the scam activity, associated with the earthquake, was being reported out of China.Having been extremely busy in my day job, I didn't get...

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International Phishing Gang, nailed with a little teamwork!

I suppose it's big news when a phishing gang gets caught. Sadly, few of them ever seem to get nabbed, or prosecuted. Phishing is a crime that is committed across borders with the click of a mouse, or "bot," which makes investigating and prosecuting this type of crime, slightly challenging.Saying that, the times might be changing, especially (more and more) when U.S. citizens are targeted. Besides this latest series of arrests, the FBI recently conducted a very successful operation against bot-herders in an effort dubbed "Operation Bot Roast."Bot-herders,...

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Chinese Red Cross Site hacked to steal donations!

Whenever a disaster occurs, there are always dishonest people trying to steal the proceeds of charitable contributions.This is always sad because it takes away from the people, who are in need.Heike over at the Dark Visitor is reporting that a Red Cross site has been hacked with the intent of "electronically" removing money intended to help the earthquake victims in China:Verified by the Ministry of Public Security, a section of the official Red Cross website has been illegally hacked. According to the report, criminal elements gained access to...

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Mortgage scams target the "already unfortunate!"

I guess I'm one of the luckier people out there. When housing prices skyrocketed, I chose to remain happy with my humble digs and watch the frenzy. Now that the bottom has fallen out of the housing boom, at least I'm still semi-whole.The reason I can only say that I'm semi-whole is that last month I mailed a check to the IRS. In reality, it's probably...

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Another law suit filed against Lifelock identity theft protection services in West Virginia

Despite all the publicity that Lifelock continues to do well, a third class action has been filed against them for misleading advertising in West Virginia.From the PR Newswire release:Marks & Klein, LLP today filed its third class action lawsuit against LifeLock, Inc., a provider of identity theft protection services, and its CEO Richard "Todd" Davis. The lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, West Virginia (Docket No. 08-C-69), on behalf of Kevin Gerhold of Falling Rivers, as well as all other LifeLock subscribers in West...

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State's top lawman takes a "Don't mess with Texas" approach to fighting identity theft

(Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot)Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, is teaching the business world not to mess with the personal information of Texans.Using a series of laws that he wrote an essay on, AG Abbot has taken legal action against Radio Shack, CVS Pharmacy and CNG Financial Corporation doing business as as Check and Go and Southwestern...

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Symantec May Spam Report reveals IRS e-mail leads to vampire game?

Symantec just released it's monthly spam report. I always find these reports a valuable tool to see exactly what trends the cybercriminal and less than ethical e-commerce communities have been up to in the past month.Although most of us view spam as a major nuisance, the fact remains that spam is the preferred vehicle of marketing garbage and ripping off human beings on the Internet.This month continues a nasty trend where spammers and phishermen (identity and information thieves) continue to manipulate Google's search engine:For some time, spammers...

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FBI reports tax stimulus phishing campaign underway

The FBI Cyber Investigations Division issued a press release that spammers are phishing for people's personal details using the tax stimulus program as bait.The Federal Bureau of Investigation warns consumers of recently reported spam e-mail purportedly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which is actually an attempt to steal consumer information. The e-mail advises the recipient that direct deposit is the fastest and easiest way to receive their economic stimulus tax rebate. The message contains a hyperlink to a fraudulent form which requests...

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Stolen information from 40 financial and medical institutions discovered on rogue server

Once in awhile, I speculate that stolen information is a lot more valuable to the criminal element before it becomes apparent that it's been stolen. I've also speculated aloud that there is probably a lot more stolen information out there than we are aware of. The good folks at Finjan are well on their way to substantiating this speculation.Yesterday, they announced the following on their malicious page of the month:While we were examining malicious code, we came across a domain which was being used as a command and control for the Crimeware that...

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Truston ID Theft protection and recovery platform rakes in another award!

It appears that Tom Fragala and the MyTruston team have raked in (yet) another award. This time from the Pacific Coast Business Times as one of the hot start-up companies coming from California's Central Coast.Tom Fragala, Truston's CEO wrote on his blog, "This recognition comes on the heels of being named a 2008 Hot Company and receiving a technology award from the Info Security Products Guide." Here is the reason why they were chosen:Truston's MyTruston® service is the only fully online identity theft recovery system. It is web-based software...

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Does the proposed class action settlement in the Certegy data breach case lack teeth?

I happened to notice, I was getting a lot of hits on some posts about the Certegy data breach and discovered that there is a proposed settlement in the class action law suit against them.Tim Wilson at Dark Reading pointed out that this settlement amounts to Certegy paying less than $1 per victim and wrote:Certegy Check Services is proposing to settle a class action lawsuit of last year's security breach on behalf of 8.4 million victims for about $4 million.According to a report in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, Certegy will also offer free credit...

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Federal Reserve backs proposing reforms on credit card rules

Credit card fees, which a lot of consumer groups, have called out as unfair and abusive are in the news again. Today, the Federal Reserve Board proposed changes, which some believe have been a long time coming.From the Federal Reserve's press release:The Federal Reserve Board on Friday proposed rules to prohibit unfair practices regarding credit cards and overdraft services that would, among other provisions, protect consumers from unexpected increases in the rate charged on pre-existing credit card balances. Without going to to the regulations...

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Internet Gangstas don't appreciate software piracy, either!

Crimeware salesmen, like most e-commerce types, take a dim view when their creations are knocked-off (pirated). To protect themselves, they warn their customers (Internet criminal types) that if their products are counterfeited, they can and will be reported to the anti-virus companies.Specifically, the verbiage used as reported on the Symantec blog...

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