Safe and Secure

Remember the old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Then remember that you have never provided the IRS with your email address. So, when the message comes from “the IRS” that says you have a tax refund and takes you to the “IRS” website to enter credit card details - delete it or forward it to the proper authorities. The current one making the rounds takes advantage of a glitch in a government website to take you to that website first, making the email look more legitimate, but it’s really this simple - the IRS sends refund checks automatically in the mail as long as they have your current address. They don’t send refunds out by email. If you want to make sure you’re getting the refunds you have coming make sure IRS has your current address. If you’re still unsure, contact the IRS directly, but don’t click on phishy emails.

A spam e-mail message has been sent around the world telling people they are eligible for a $571.94 tax refund from the IRS. The e-mail offers a link to a fraudulent IRS Web site, but the link actually goes through a legitimate government Web site that only last month was promoted by President Bush.

“This is more advanced than the typical phish, because the Web link really does–at first–take you to the real tax benefit Web site,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for U.K. security vendor Sophos. “Unfortunately the way the government Web site has been configured allows the phishers to bounce the unwary in their direction.”

The link in the phishing e-mail goes to a forged IRS Web site that asks for a Social Security number, tax return filing code and credit card details including security code and PIN.

Phishers use IRS tax refund as bait | CNET News.com

In an ironic twist a scam artist in the Mission, Texas area has been posing as a salesman for home security service ADT. He collects cash from the homeowner to pay for an alarm installation and then is never seen again. As with any salesman, check the bona fides of alarm salesman. Call the company’s local office - using the number in the phonebook, not the one on the salesman’s business card. And don’t pay cash for something like this. Use a check made out in the company name.

One victim paid $2,300 for a security system, but has nothing more than some wires around his house.

Scam artist posing as home security salesman - NEWSCHANNEL 5

A number of consumers have run into problems with home security monitoring contracts including automatic renewals, one-sided contracts and excessive penalties for early cancellation. One widow was dunned over $1,500 for a contract signed by her deceased husband with repeated letters addressed to “Mr. and Mrs.” at her new address. As with any contract, you should read everything, but the irony here is in needing a watchdog to police those whose job is to protect our assets.

Gereg noted that a contract may have terms that will not be upheld in court. A trade official says that alarm-monitoring contracts often provide for automatic renewals, but a state law on real estate and personal property specifies how a customer must be notified of such provisions in contracts lasting more than 30 days, according to Christine Pritchard, a spokeswoman for State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

In April, Spitzer announced a settlement with a Tarrytown-based home-security company following alleged violations related to automatic renewals. “Laws governing automatic renewal clauses in contracts are designed to protect consumers against unknowingly locking themselves into open-ended contracts,” Spitzer said then.

Newsday.com: Sounding a home security alarm: Check the contract

Miami businessman Joe Lopez lost $20,000 when someone used a Trojan, called Coreflood, to compromise his computer and learn the password to his Bank of America online account. From Trojans to phishing to much simpler methods like looking over your shoulder as you type your password, cyberthieves are hard at work gaining access to your credit cards, bank accounts and investment accounts online. This is why if you do any transactions online or even fill out online forms with personal information, you simply must use the best available security techniques and, as noted here often, regularly updated antivirus and firewall software are just the start.

In April 2004, moments after logging on to his online account at work, Lopez spotted an entry revealing that someone had executed an electronic transfer of $90,348.65 to Parex Bank in Riga, Latvia. Lopez knew no one in Latvia. “I thought I was going to vomit,” he recalls.

The next day, according to bank records, a mysterious figure named Yanson Arnold withdrew $20,000 in cash from Parex Bank, leaving $70,348.65 behind. Arnold has not been heard from since.

USATODAY.com - Cyber crooks break into online accounts with ease

Concerned about customer privacy and security, as well as the cost to banks of fraud, credit card issuers are offering single use “virtual credit card” numbers for online, telephone and mail order shopping. The numbers are computer generated, used one time and then discarded. Only the customer and the issuer know the real underlying number.

Although the system slightly differs on each card, the principle is the same: For no extra charge, consumers sign up at the credit card’s Web site, often downloading software on their computers.

Then, when they’re ready to shop, they receive a randomly generated substitute 16-digit number that they can use at the online store. The number can be used once or, in some cases, repeatedly at the same store.

The Cincinnati Post - The virtual card

A recent survey by the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education, or LIFE, asked participants which of 5 fictional characters needed life insurance. Respondents overinsured two bachelors in risky jobs, while underinsuring a primary breadwinner and a stay at home mom. (Consider the cost of replacing the stay at home mom’s job with commercially available services if you don’t think she should be insured.)

So, should you or others in your family be insured and for how much?

Be your family’s superhero — get life insurance

There are two questions to ask when determining your insurance needs, according to Woods:

# How much money will your dependents need to cover immediate costs, such as your funeral arrangements and current living expenses?

# How much money will they need for the long term, such as college expenses?

If you lose a check, stopping payment is enough, right? And it’s okay to pay by check for any purchase from anyone, right? And as long as your check doesn’t have your birthday and social security number there’s no reason to worry, right?

Wrong. Identify theft and bank fraud aren’t complicated - all someone needs is one of your checks.

Armed with one check and a telephone, a thief made off with $120,000 in funds from a county jail account by reading the bank routing and account numbers off the bottom. He and his associates made payments by phone and none of the people receiving payments questioned who was on the other end of the phone line.

ocal & State

It was over the phone that, more than 250 times in one month, someone called a cell phone company, a power company, a mortgage lender and other companies and said he wanted to make a payment over the phone, Sgt. Jeremiah Davis of the Durham County Sheriff’s Office said…

The investigator suspects that, with a check from the Durham County jail in hand, the scammer read off the string of digits at the bottom, and the magic numbers started to pay bills and buy high-end goods for dozens of people throughout Durham.

With the spate of natural disasters, all eyes have been on homeowners insurance. How much is enough? How much is too much? It’s recommended to review policy limits annually. When was your last review?

When you do your review, a few other tips to bear in mind:

Check what is and isn’t included. Earthquake insurance is almost always a separate rider and flood insurance always requires a separate policy from the National Flood Insurance program.

Check the coverage amount: You may be able to save money if you have been overinsuring. “One of the biggest misconceptions about homeowners insurance is that it should be based on a house’s market value. Really, it’s all about replacement costs - the materials your house is made of and the labor that went into it.”

Consider recent improvements: Whether you’re insuring for replacement cost or market value, the numbers need to be based on the current state of your home - not your home before the 1500 foot addition with the new bathroom.

Two years of heavy hurricane activity including Hurricane Katrina have people in affected areas looking at their insurance coverage, but it shouldn’t be limited to the coasts. Floods and earthquakes are typically excluded from homeowners policies in all fifty states. Some homes that have “never flooded” in recent memory are in 100-year flood plains and should probably be insured. Even homes on hillsides can be affected by flash flooding during heavy rains and water flows in newer subdivisions can change radically as new homes are added.
Areas not recently affected by major earthquakes may still be in danger of damage, like areas of Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee that are vulnerable to a quake on the New Madrid fault.

New insurance policies generally take 15-30 days to take affect, new coverage is not generally available once a hurricane is “on the way” and flood insurance has a 30 day waiting period on new policies. Take stock of your local situation for possible risks and take appropriate action before there is a problem
Stock Market News and Investment Information | Reuters.com

The National Flood Insurance Program pays up to $250,000 for residential buildings, and another $100,000 for contents that are lost. It also pays up to $500,000 for nonresidential buildings and $500,000 for their contents.

As many as 5% of computer users targeted by “phishing” scams respondent to the realistic looking emails claiming to be from banks and creditors.

Tahlequah Daily Press

One industry organization, the Anti-Phishing Working Group, estimated that thieves collectively launch more than 14,000 such schemes monthly and that about 5 percent of computer users respond to the fraudulent messages.

“They make it look completely real,” said Jennifer Phillips, 25, of Martinsville, Ill. She was tricked into disclosing her card number, mother’s maiden name, bank routing number and more. “You wouldn’t think this could happen to anybody living in the middle of cornfields,” she said.