Do Not Be A Victim: High Tech Fraud Crimes To Watch Out For

Having a crime perpetrated against you is always a possibility, but it has never been so easy to do in the past than it is today. It seems that fraud crimes will always outdistance the deterrents put in place to stop them, but with the ever-increasing reliance of the world upon the Internet, these acts have been multiplying at an alarming rate. Thousands of people fall victim to scams and identity theft every single day, and so this does not happen to you, we will outline the most prevalent types of cyber crimes happening, and tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of them.

Common Types of Electronic Fraud Crimes

Identity Theft: Identity fraud is one of the most prevalent, and most sinister of all the cyber crimes occurring today. Every piece of information you put out on the Internet can be linked together to create a cyber identity for you, and if thieves gain access to enough of those pieces, they can use that information in a lot of ways, most of which can cause a financial crisis for you. It can ruin your credit rating, drain your bank accounts and leave you owing money you never even got to spend.

Sadly, because electronic activity can be easy to trace if the thieves are sloppy in their computer practices, some of them will go the extra mile, and do things the old fashioned way, like going through your garbage, or stealing your mail. Always monitor your mail delivery closely, and if you go away on vacation, be sure to stop the delivery. When you want to discard paid bills and other sensitive documents that could give someone your bank account information or your social security number, shred before discarding it.

Phishing: Phishing is the practice of fraud being committed through the use of fraudulent emails. They will come to your inbox on a daily basis, and they will be phrased in one of two ways: verifying secure information or announcing that you have money owed to you. The first type looks and reads, at first glance, like an official document from your bank, your credit card companies, your insurance company, or a government office. Some of these are quite sophisticated, right down to the company logo. One important thing to remember about this type of fraud is that legitimate companies that traffic in secure, personal information on a daily basis, will never just send an email. They have customer service departments that will call you personally if there is an issue.

These kinds of emails, as well as the ones that announce that you have won a lottery or are entitled to a bequest of some kind, are easily detected if you know what to look for. Read through them carefully, and the first thing you may notice is a lack of a personal address in the letter, your name will probably not even be mentioned. Second, the phrasing will seem off, somehow, especially if they are being sent by someone not completely fluent in English. They will often include a highlighted Internet link, and if you run your cursor across it, without clicking, it will reveal the web domain the thieves are using. More often than not, it will have nothing to do with the company that supposedly sent them. Delete it, and forget it.

Bogus Auctions and Sales: With the advent of the Internet, it is pretty easy to dupe someone out of their money by offering items for sale. Several instances have already arisen on sites like eBay, where a picture of the item was sent to the winner of the auction, but not the item. To avoid this happening to you, never deal with anyone whose reputation you cannot verify through the site itself.

Avoiding Prosecution

Sadly, being a victim of fraud crimes will not always stop at you losing money or having your identity stolen. It can also lead to you being prosecuted because of something the thief did while pretending to be you. Hire an attorney at the first sign that you are a victim of cyber crimes.

Want to learn more about how you can protect yourself from fraud crimes like these? The Law Office of Philip Averbuck has successfully defended victims of fraud for years, and can best advise you on how to proceed, call him today. Also check out our new page on Electronic Fraud Crimes.

Crime and Unemployment - How to Avoid Being a Victim

A growing statistic we hear little about in the mainstream media is that of rising crime rates as they relate to unemployment. As unemployment rates rise across the US, so does crime, as many formerly law abiding citizens turn to both property crime and white collar crime to feed their families.

Over the past two years as the economy took a steep downturn, crime, especially property crimes, have skyrocketed. One doesn't have to look far to find a victim of recent property crime, their numbers are increasing.

The most common type of crime is car break-in. It seems petty, but aside from what was taken, now the owner must deal with the cost of repairs such as broken windows and interior parts, these as well as lost car batteries and even tires. You may have noticed more cars driving around with plastic and taped over windows, this, usually being a result of thieves who broke in trying to make a fast buck.

There seem to be no safe neighborhoods from this sort of crime as many of the perpetrators were formerly law abiding citizens; a sad commentary on our times.  This new breed of criminal is more likely to succeed at getting away with it as many are educated, intelligent and skilled but down on their luck in a serious way. In desperation they appear better able to plan a crime and carry it out without being caught; bad news for the rest of us.

What are some things we can do to reduce the chance that we will fall victim to this sort of violation? One thing, and probably the most important, is to practice awareness of your surroundings. For instance, pay attention to who is around you and where you park,especially at night. When you go to the grocery store, or any other type of store, choose one with security cameras outside. They are easy to spot; look up on the lot's light poles and building parameters for the cameras pointed at a downward angle. The presence of these not only provides more safety for your car but for yourself as well. If they are not present where you park at work, approach your employer and ask to have some installed. You can even take up an employee collection to supplement the purchase and let the employer know you are serious. Often the cost of such a system is far less than the damage done to a vehicle during a break-in and the cost of replacing stolen items.

The same approach can be taken for the home; check your locks to make sure they are working properly and are not the type that can easily be picked. A dead bolt type with door frame reinforcing plate is your best bet.

Inexpensive surveillance systems can be added where the system dials a preset series of phone numbers such as police, security company and even your cell phone to alert you of a break-in. Windows in the home should be checked on a regular basis to make sure they are locked and have not been tampered with. In the home it is a good idea to place a can of pepper spray or even a stun gun in strategic locations in case you do meet an intruder in your home.

Cars should have alarm systems installed, especially in this economic climate. There are many new systems available but the best is one that calls or beeps you if your car is being tampered with. These systems can cost upward of $400. But can save you from loss and repair bills. For personal protection in the car you can carry a key-ring pepper spray or an inexpensive personal alarm which when activated sets off an ear piercing screech that can interrupt an attack and draw attention.

In this climate of increasing social breakdown it pays to be more vigilant and attentive to your surroundings, it could save your hard earned belongings or even save your life.

Vern Wichers is the founder of http://www.stungunstopepperspray.com/ a Bison River LLC company, as well as a level 3 practitioner and assistant instructor of Commando Krav Maga in the state of Florida.

Stunguns To Pepperspray is a retail provider of personal security products and also offers advice and training in the use of specific products on the site. Vern also offers a series of ongoing blog articles and tips at http://www.stungunstopepperspray.com/news-blog concerning self defense and personal security.

Will You Be a Crime Victim? What Are Your Odds? Refuse to Be the Victim of a Violent Crime!

Being the victim of a crime is one of those aspects in life that we tend not to think about... unless it happens to us personally. Have you ever been a victim of crime? If you have, it probably irreversibly changed your life. If you haven't been a crime victim, consider the facts that follow.

Let's face it, from birth, life is a crap shoot when it comes to being a crime victim. You roll the dice and take your chances. Day in and day out, you hear about assaults, hold-ups, home invasions, burglaries, car jackings, rape and murder. You might think, "It'll will never happen to me!"

Have you ever wondered what the odds are that you might be a crime victim, or become one again? The statistics are startling. Of course, a lot depends on who you are, where you live, where you work, your daily routine - and how lucky you are. Lifestyle has a lot to do with it but anyone, anywhere, at any time can be innocently swept up and involved in a crime.

*Consider these odds:

1 of every 39 Americans will be the victim of a violent crime THIS YEAR
1 of every 6 women will be raped in their life time (80% are unreported)
35% of adults will be a victim of a violent crime sometime in their life
there is a 100% chance that you will experience a theft in your lifetime and an 87% chance that you will experience theft 3+ times
3 of every 4 households are burglarized every 20 years

Sobering isn't it?

Law enforcement touts that crime rates have come down from their peak in the 1980's...and that's true. The crime rate has fallen 1-2%. But what they don't tell you is that the NUMBER of crimes continues to rise proportionately to our population growth. The US population in 1980 was 227 million. Today our population is 307 million, which represents a 40% increase in population AND the NUMBER of crimes since 1980. Simply put, more people - more crime.

"What can YOU do to keep from being a crime statistic?" REFUSE TO BE A VICTIM! Be Informed! Be Prepared! Be Armed!

*Source: FBI Crime Statistics

This article is presented by Stu Ross, owner of All-Out Security Solutions. AOSS publishes an e-newsletter containing tips and insights on crime deterrence, personal safety, self-defense and victim avoidance. Their e-newsletter also frequently features special offers and unadvertised discounts for selected non-lethal self-defense products. To receive their complimentary AOSS e-newsletter, go to AOSS E-Newsletter

'Misundereducated' Third Grade Class Recognizes Crime Victim as 'Hero of the Year'

COMMENTARY | In news of the "misundereducated," according to CNN, a third grade class in Memphis, Tenn., has voted for and honored 92-year-old Lester Matteson, who, in December, chewed through his duct tape restraints to free himself after being subdued by crooks during a home invasion robbery. The students honored Lester with a medal and a homemade certificate of heroism.

While I applaud Lester's resolve in freeing himself, I'm left scratching my head and wondering exactly what it is that we are teaching our children. Heroism and self-preservation are entirely different concepts. A hero is someone who does something courageous for the benefit of another person in need, whereas self preservation is just doing whatever you must, in an effort to save your own hide.

While both sorts of people are to be admired, the Hero must be held sacred. The Hero is the wounded soldier who rejects his own pain to back into enemy fire to hauls his comrades to safety. The self-preservationist is the airman shot down that manages through sheer force of will to survive for years in a POW camp. The hero is the fire fighter who runs into a burning building. The self-preservationist is the man with a broken arm and two broken legs who drags himself out of the burning building with his good arm.

It may seem, to some, an insignificant or subtle difference, but it's not. You see, heroism is unnatural. It's sacred, and deserves the highest measure of our respect and appreciation. Stories such as Lester Matteson's story of self-preservation is important in its own right, because through stories like his we can teach others how to think outside of the box to survive when they find themselves in situations that require them to save themselves for lack of available heroes, but stories of heroism have a different purpose.

For when we learn about true heroism, we learn through modeling, that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, and that helping others, even when risking ourselves to do so is noble, pure, honorable and right.

A third grade class in Tennessee honored a man who had helped himself, for a sacred honor too often misunderstood, and it leaves me to wonder why the teacher didn't seize an opportunity to teach, and just what are we teaching our kids?

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