Identity theft is a major problem in the United States. Everyday millions of people's identity are fictitiously used to make a wide variety of illegal transactions. It's almost impossible to stop identity theft but the most common way to fight back is to constantly check your credit report. By Federal Law, everyone in the United States is entitled ONE free credit report every 12 months. Obtaining a credit report is just as easy as signing up for a MySpace account....so there's no excuses people.
...This brings me to my next report. Recently 11 hackers were indicted by The Department of Justice for what is known to be the largest identity theft ring in United States history. In all 41 million credit/debit cards were stolen. The hackers reportedly used a method called "War Driving" (Wardriving) to steal credit card information from several retailers such as Forever 21, Officer Max, Boston Market, Sports Authority - just to name a few. It's estimated that the hackers did well over $200 million in damages from TJMax's company alone.
So what exactly is War Driving? I'll explain.....everyone with a wireless connection is subject to being a victim of War Driving. War Driving can be done when hackers drive around with a laptop and search for unsecured wireless connections. Once a unsecured connection is found hackers are given access to all computers on that network by simply logging in. From there any information on the computer can be stolen within a matter of minutes by simply using a "baiting software." (sub7, etc.) In the case of the 11 hackers; they choose to drive around in mall outlets searching for retail stores until they found an unsecured connection. Once they had access, they were able to obtain EVERY credit card holder's information that shopped at the retail store that day.
In my own personal experience with wireless Internet connections I found that many people don't secure their network. It seems apartment complexes, and college campuses are the most vulnerable areas. I remember several years ago while visiting a local college campus I was able to hack into several wireless computer connections within a matter of minutes. My intention wasn't to steal information, I simply just needed an Internet connection to use momentarily. Even at this very moment - my neighbor's Internet connection is 100% unsecured. I found this out by simply searching every connection within the radius of my wireless connection. If any hacker wanted, they could simply log into my neighbor's computer and steal any information they wanted. Scary huh?
Well by now I'm sure your asking how do I protect myself from being a victim of War Driving? Easy....all you have to do is password protect your connection. A lot of people simply leave their connections open without setting up any kind of security via Internet Router. What's even more unfortunate is most Internet routers aren't password protected by default. Many generic passwords can be easily hacked so it's important to select a difficult encrypted password that not any Joe Blow can figure out. If you're sitting here asking your self is your wireless connection protected by a password, then most likely it's not. You'd definitely know if it was.
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Even in high school identity theft was a big deal. Lots of students I attended school with were doing bank schemes where they would forge false checks, or purposely overdraw their accounts by withdrawing large amounts of cash and report the transactions as fraudulent so the bank wouldn't accuse them of any wrong doings. This scheme would usually get them a minimum $3,000 - $5,000 in each occurrence. No matter how tempting it looked I never took the chance of going that route.
Only 2 years after graduating many of those same classmates were arrested by Federal Agents on numerous charges. See what many of those idiots failed to understand is the FEDs aren't going to arrest you on petty crimes. Instead they're going to let you continue to build onto your criminal activity until it's to the point where you've dug yourself into a hole. This is exactly what happen to many of my classmates. Some of my classmates bought cars, some bought electronics, some were even stupid enough to forward money to even more criminal activity such as drug trafficking. By the time they were all arrested, many of them had no choice but to plead guilty because of the outstanding evidence (photos from ATMs, surveillance, etc.) against them. This was sad because of many of them had moved on with their lives by starting college, or were successful in starting new professional careers. Unfortunately their past caught up with them.
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OK I'm sure most of the idiots that can't appreciate a topic on wireless Internet networks, or identity theft are looking for something more humorous, something a tad bit more idiotic. Right?! You guys are so easy to please, you remind me of my 1st childhood encounter with a Catholic Priest. Relax I'm just joking.
Call me crazy, but there's something wrong with laying on a public bathroom floor. Even if you are under the influence of drugs; some things you just don't do.
There's nothing wrong with loving your pet, just don't take it too far.
Playgirl (opposite Playbloy) announced recently that their publication will no longer be printed after January 2009. All future Playgirl publications will have to be viewed online, and no longer in the traditional setting of magazines. This is terrible news for elderly women everywhere.
This joke was removed due to the distasteful humor. Update August 9th 3AM: Bernie Mac, a Chicago native, and a comedic national legend just died. More updates to come.
Final Thought: Fast money isn't always good money. I rather go without than to live my life wondering if I'm going to jail for malicious financial schemes. Don't be tempted by the allure of con artists, it's not worth it.
