PlanAHeist.com

You may remember last December when Facebook began prompting users to make their shared content and status messages publicly visible. With the announcement, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, encouraged Facebook users to follow suit by changing his own "old" privacy settings and posting this statement:  For those wondering I set most of my content on my personal Facebook page to be open so people could see it. I set some of my content to be more private, but I didn't see a need to limit visibility of pics with my friends, family or my teddy bear :) A few months later Facebook pushed the privacy boundaries again with its latest program, “Instant Personalization”. This service allows other... 

If you hadn't heard, identity theft company LifeLock agreed to pay $12 million dollars to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission and 35 states. The FTC felt that LifeLock ads were deceptive and overstated the protection provided by the service. Personally, I think the charges are valid and I had to chuckle a bit when I read this email from CEO Todd Davis sent out to his partners. Mr. Davis certainly has his public relations firm working overtime to write something like this. Here's the Message: Take a read for yourself. I've got a few more comments below. Important Message From Todd Davis, LifeLock CEO ... 

Now you can know what Big Brother knows about you and get access to the same dirt everyone from your boss, landlord, insurance agent, to your favorite casino has on you. Here is a comprehenisve list of websites and phone numbers for most of the “specialty” consumer reports, like your employment, rental, and check writing history. Be sure to check them out and correct any errors, before a crisis hits. via consumerist.com Employment History Reports The Work Number ChoicePoint (866) 312-8075 Acxiom Abso Tenant History Reports ChoicePoint (877) 448-5732 First Advantage SafeRent (888) 333-2413 Tenant Data Services RentBureau UD Registry (818) 785-3905 Auto & Home Insurance Claim Reports ChoicePoint Insurance... 

With the new year come the new worries about taxes - what kind of taxes will you need to file before April 15th, how much money will you have to pay, what bracket did you place in, etc. Unfortunately, you also need to worry about protecting your identity. As Privacyrights.org notes, your IRS information returns might constitute an identity thief's "dream." None of us want to become a "dream" target for any kind of thief, let alone an identity thief. So while you're figuring out the right returns to send to the IRS, this is also a great time to take steps to ensure the protection of your identity. Five Recommendatations for Keeping Tax Info Safe Guard your mail. Once your mail leaves... 

If you're a Facebook addict - and chances that if you have a parietal lobe and a mouse, you are - then you'll be interested to see this eye-opening article about how easy it is to hack through the privacy settings in your profile. According to ZDNet.com, an Israeli security research firm recently demonstrated just how easy it is to hack Facebook and bypass the privacy settings that so many of us hold dear. Claims the man: I could write malicious application that steals users personal info or even simple application that build for me a bot net users for malicious purposes like hacking systems for SQL Injections and DDOS attacks. Using ClickJacking i also could fool users to click whatever I want: adding me as their... 

In a few days, it will be a month since Christmas has come and past, and that usually means a month since you've opened up those new computers and laptops. While you're enjoying the free trial offers of expensive anti-spyware and virus protection programs, you're probably also aware (or even repeatedly reminded) that they're about to expire. If you don't want to pull out the credit card but don't want to lose the spam and virus protection, it's time to look at a third alternative - free programs. Yeah, yeah, I know. You get what you pay for, right? Some people may even be so dead-set against free anti-spyware that they simply pay for the more expensive suites just to feel comfortable. Don't be that person. Let's... 

As if there weren't enough worries about identity theft in this era high-tech, password/encrypted technology, we have to remind ourselves that identity theft still happens because of the hard technology and documents you expose to the world. Consider the case of William Pollock, a young man from Texas who was looking to find a solid moving company to help move his family to Pennsylvania. Pollock shopped around for a few different movers, as most of us would do, and when he wasn't happy with their price quotes, he turned to Craigslist.  There he found Moo-Ving.com, a company with a professional enough web site and, what's more attractive, a far lower price quote. Caveat emptor.  As it turned out, the company... 

A Fight Identity Theft visitor forwarded this email to us today and it was so creative I just had to post it here. The email supposedly comes from Robert Mueller - the current head of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations. Not only was it sent by the FBI, the scammers try to get you to believe it's been vetted by the Anti-Terrorist and International Fraud Division. Unbelievable. Why Do They Send These Emails? What they're really after is the fee they want you to pay in order to collect your $850,000 - that's why they call this an "advanced-fee fraud." The fee is sent by money order which makes it very difficult to trace and impossible to recover. Here's the money paragraph: This letter will serve... 

We know everyone is looking for that best deal online, especially during the Black Friday shopping blitz. Here are some quality online shopping tips from Intersections, Inc. (provider of the Identity Guard identity theft protection service). We also recommend a post from the always excellent Privacy Rights Clearinghouse - "Holiday Shopping? Ten Timely Tips" Don’t Let Would-Be “Grinches” Steal Your Financial Health and Identity During the Busiest Shopping Season of the Year! As the biggest holiday shopping days of the year quickly approach, consumers everywhere will be lining up at stores on "Black Friday" for pre-dawn sales that will hopefully net great bargains and savings... 

The spirit of giving has hit Google. They are generously providing free Wi-Fi at 47 airports from November 10, 2009 to January 15, 2010. That's great, but there are a few precautions you should take to keep yourself safe. Google's Free Wi-Fi Using the free service is simple. You simply select the free Wi-Fi and accept the terms of service and there's no need to give any form of payment. However, Google wants you to catch the giving spirit and give a donation to any of the three non-profit organizations they've partnered with. But, donate once you're using a secure Internet connection at home - not on the Wi-Fi network. In addition to providing free Wi-Fi, Google's having a photo contest. You could win a prize just...