Identity Theft

What's that famous line in all the spy movies where the CIA agent reminds another character as events occur and conflicts arise; "Trust No One!" Well, my friends judging by how social networking is shaping up, I'd say the Internet is also on that list. Why you ask? Because there are people, humans, and you know, there are folks everywhere behind the scenes making it work and deciding which way it has to evolve. There is a lot of money and value in information and big data, it is big business - it means power and control of over every individual, country, and yes, even the world - seriously. Okay, let's discuss this one shall we?

According to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) in a Wall Street Journal article on March 27, 2012 titled; "Regulators Urge Web Privacy Rules" by Julia Angwin; "Simply put, your computer is your property. No one has the right to put anything on [your computer] that you don't want."

Okay thanks for that clarification, but please answer another question for me if you will; if the advertisers and marketers cannot track you, does that mean that only the government can?

Now then, you might say to me, "Lance, give it a rest and stop listening to Conspiracy Theory Talk Shows like Coast-to-Coast AM every night," and yes, I get that debating point, truly I do, still, just because the American People aren't paranoid doesn't mean they aren't looking at everything you are doing. It's almost as if Big Data and Big Brother are working together to replace the "Spirit in The Sky" when you die or so Norman Greenbaum says.

Next, in case you aren't on the EFF Electronic Freedom Foundation email list, why not read this article posted on March 30, 2012 in the New York Times titled; "Conflict Over How Open 'Do Not Track' Talks Will Be," by Edward Wyatt and Tanzina Vega which stated; "Technology companies want to talk with the government about protecting privacy on the Internet. They just want those talks to be private."

Fine, more private government meetings, this after President Obama allots some $200 million in his budget for "Big Data" and more government "clouds" and data centers, along with the proverbial national security issues and anti-cyber warfare campaign. So, it's readily obvious to me, and realize I am on the side of the "good guys" but it is still obvious to me that we are going to track everyone, and keep all the data in a giant data center storage in Utah somewhere from the reports I've been reading, no not on Art Bell's Coast-to-Coast Website.

Personally, I've been observing humans in their natural habitat some four and a half centuries, and seriously, I'm not sure if I can trust one of them, well, except myself. And when it comes to groups of humans involved in making money, politics, Machiavellian rule, or crony capitalism - hmm? Doubtful. Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Controversial Internet Issues. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

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A few things you can do to stay secure are listed below:

1. Do not be greedy, just because a particular store online is offering you prices you will not receive anywhere else, does not mean it is a good deal. If you do not pay attention to certain important indicators for security and read the description of the product properly you could lose much. Be sure that the website you shop from can be trusted.

2. When you are shopping online you need be careful about phshers and scammers and there are so many of them around. Though, there is a way to dodge them by ensuring that you are on the right website, a website you can trust and not on any other website that is a scam. Check the address, make sure it belongs to the website that you can trust and then enter your personal and account details. Always open a new browser window when you get a link in an email for online shopping.

3. Secure browsing is essential. Make sure that the address of the website you are shopping at starts with 'https'. Also look for the padlock symbol to ensure that you are not at threat.

4. Using a third party payment system could offer you additional security as well. These accounts work as a buffer between you and the merchants you are shopping with. Services like PayPall and Google Checkout offer third party payment systems so that you can stay secure by serving as middlemen. This will also reduce the hassle of entering in your account information every time you make an online purchase.

5. You could also consider keeping one credit card only for shopping online. In this way if your details do fall into the hands of someone you cannot trust, the limit will be too low to exploit.

6. Pre-paid credit cards are an option that a lot of people are using today to stay secure when they shop online. There are a number of choices you have and you can choose between CVS, Walmart or a number of other stores as well. In this way, if a thief does get a hold of your credit card details, you will not lose out on a lot of money, but just the amount that is loaded up on your card.

7. When thieves get a hold of your credit card information in the real world, they can use it online. To save yourself from this threat, you have to pay special attention to safeguarding your credit information in the real world as well.

8. Make sure that you do not share your online passwords for third party payment systems like PayPal with anyone. If you get an email from a bank that is requesting you for passwords or PINs, you can be rest assured that it is someone wanting to get access to your account, so refrain from divulging that information. Banks have a standing policy not to request their customers for their passwords or PINs.

9. It is ideal to change the details of online bank accounts once every two or three months. Make sure that it is a combination of letters and numbers and it is something that is difficult to crack. Ideally, if it is a randomly generated password, it is the best, however, you may have trouble remembering it. Once you have chosen a password, make sure that you do not share it with anyone.

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If you're trying to disappear, protect yourself against identity theft, or just get a job, your information is all over the internet. And it gives you away at the click of a mouse.

One of the best gifts you can give yourself - regardless of your situation - is to clean up and clear out the information on you that's available to anyone.

After all, do you really want that burglar in the next state over knowing where you live, what you bought recently, or that you're going to be out of town this weekend?

Do you really want to help an identity thief get enough information on you so they can live the lifestyle to which they'd like to become accustomed - on your credit and salary?

Do you really want a stalker, collection agency, or skip tracer to track you down and make your life hell even if you don't have any money?

And do you really want a prospective employer to discover certain information about you - including hobbies - that might make them decide to give that job to someone else because they don't like what they found online?

I didn't think so.

And don't even think these are crazy scenarios

If you think any of the questions I asked above are far-fetched, think again. It happens all the time. And thieves, employers, lawyers, skip tracers, stalkers, and anyone else you can think of, are getting very good at checking online for anything they can find on you. And they're using it for their advantage. Not yours.

Many companies now do background checks on prospective employees - sometimes even before they offer them a job. Maybe you know you'd pass a background check because you've never been in trouble.

But what about the information and pictures you've posted on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, and all the other social media and whatever sites that proliferate the internet? Have you considered what's out there that might not make you look like the kind of employee they want?

An identity thief can take that same information and use it to put together a pretty good profile of you that will help them get their hands on enough of your information to help them live a great life at your expense.

Your online information is not private

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has said that research into what you do on your personal time does not violate your privacy - especially if it's online. Meaning, what you put out there is fair game to anyone who comes along. Whether you want them to have it or know about it - or not.

This is just like the trash you put out on trash day. Once it's on the curb, it belongs to anyone who wants to get into it. Or the phone calls you make in public. There's no expectation of privacy. So think twice before you start talking about personal information that someone else can (and probably will) overhear.

I was in a hotel lobby not too long ago and could hear a man 20 feet away giving his credit card information to whoever was on the other end of the line (and whoever else was in the lobby). It was identity thief heaven.

Once you put it out there, it's no longer yours. It's theirs. It belongs to anyone who wants it.

What you can do

Name Search

Do a search for your name on all the search engines - Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Dogpile - and see what shows up. (Dogpile is a search engine that checks ALL the search engines and gives you a lot more results.)

Social Media

Then check all the social media sites for your information.

Think about what you find. You may not consider it all that bad. But what about an employer? How would they interpret that picture or information? (And don't think searches are things only prospective employers do. Your current employer might check you out from time to time to make sure they know everything about you, too.)

Is any of it inappropriate? Immature? Does it match the image you're trying to project?

Does any of it give away where you live? Your birthdate? Where you went to school?

If it gives away too much information - remove it. You don't want any accurate personal information about you out there. It's just too easy to use against you.

Also, if there's anything out there that you don't like - get it removed.

Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's not. And sometimes it takes time.

Blogs

Do you have a blog? Do you appear in a blog? If so, take a close look at everything on there and remove all the personal information that could be used by someone else. Remove anything that might make you look to an employer.

Picture and Video Sites

Do the same for these sites. It's amazing how videos can make their way across the planet in no time at all and ruin your life.

You've probably heard about the video of the woman on an Asian train. Her dog had an accident on the train and she refused to clean it up. Someone on the train videotaped her (of course) and the story (and her picture) went all over YouTube and everywhere else and ruined her life.

It doesn't take much.

Privacy Settings

The problem with privacy settings is that the rules are always changing. So something that was private, isn't the next time you think to check.

Check your privacy settings and make sure none of this information is available. I also recommend putting bogus information on the site - especially birth date information, phone, address, or anything else personal - even though no one else is going to see it.

Use a different month, day and year. So if you were born on August 3, 1983, put down that you were born on February 18, 1985. Pick a date you can remember - maybe a cousin's birthday. Or someone famous who you admire.

You might not think it's such a big deal. But should a hacker get into my information on Facebook, they won't get anything that they can do anything with. None of the information is real. For example, the little I have on Facebook is all all private, so it's not as if I'm deceiving anyone. Except a thief or someone else with evil intentions. So even a skilled identity thief won't get very far with what's there.

Could you say that about your information? Could a hacker get anything that they could then sell to an identity thief? And actually ruin your reputation, credit, and life by pretending to be you?

And before you pooh-pooh it - it happens all the time. And there's no reason it can't happen to you.

For example, should a hacker get into my information on Facebook, they won't get anything that they can do anything with. None of the information is real. So even a skilled identity thief won't get very far with what's there.

If you put bogus info there you won't have to constantly monitor your privacy settings, nor will you have to worry about someone getting that information.

Put up positive information

Don't just remove the negative or misleading things. If you have a blog, put information there that talks about the good things you're doing. Things you would want your friends or prospective employer to know about you.

If you talk about an event, post about it afterwards - not before. A burglar can't break in if they don't know you're going to be gone. And a stalker can't show up if they don't know where you're going to be.

Always be thinking

Finally, always be thinking about what you're putting out there. Always consider what someone else might be able to do with that information.

There are a lot of people out there who will take advantage of the information you put out there.

You have to be very clear about the fact that they do not care about you. They do not care about the people they hurt. The idea that you might be hurt doesn't even cross their mind. You have what they want and that's all it's about.

For more information on what you can do to keep your personal information private, visit my website at http://how-to-disappear-now.com/ and find out how you can protect yourself and keep identity thieves from taking advantage of you by hiding in plain sight.

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You can never be too careful when it comes to protecting your privacy. And that has never been more true than in this day in age where it's so easy for us to be watched without our knowledge or our consent. Sometimes in order to protect our privacy we need a little help, and private investigators are just the people to turn to.

Private investigators are great for private citizens, public citizens and businesses as well. It doesn't matter who you are or where you are; you're susceptible to being spied on or being mislead. Investigators are great for conducting background checks on potential employees. You'll want to know who you're hiring before you hire them. Investigators can gather information about a person's work history, employment profile, neighborhood profile, contacts, corporate ownerships and more.

Bugs can be a serious nuisance whether they be the kind that fly and crawl or the kind that listen in on what would otherwise be private conversations. Electronic bugs can be concealed in ceilings, power boxes, wiring, sockets, smoke and fire detectors, clocks, stationary items, picture frames and much more. You may want a private investigator to check conference rooms for bugs as competing companies may want to learn how your company's business is progressing, business strategies and more.

Private investigators can also check to see if a company's product is being counterfeited or not. The integrity of a business goes a long way, and that integrity can be compromised and tarnished when there is a counterfeit product being produced without the company's knowledge. Business can either be lost or halted when clients and customers are worried and concerned about the product they are receiving.

Private citizens may want to use the services of a private investigator to make sure that their spouse is being faithful. It's a shame that we even have to think about hiring an investigator to make sure that our husband or wife isn't committing adultery, but knowing, although possibly painful, is better than suffering in ignorance in a loveless marriage. There are some people who hire a private investigator to check their fiancee's background before they get married so they know just what they're getting into before the make a commitment.

Although many people may be hesitant to hire a private investigator and fear that they could be growing paranoid, it's always better to be safe than sorry. And in any case, no one has to know that they hired a private detective. Keep your private life private and your business secure with the help of a qualified private investigator.

Nicholas is the owner of a online media company. The services provided includes Email Marketing System and online marketing. From time to time he writes on family related issue, including plumbing works, investigative work and more.

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