You’re not the only one joyfully anticipating the holiday season. Cyber criminals are all aflutter, too, as they look forward to the killing they’ll make ripping off innocent shoppers like you. Here are some of the most common ways these thieves operate, because awareness can help you avoid becoming yet
We are constantly connected. Even while we’re “offline” on vacation, or away from our computer or mobile devices, chances are we’re still connected in one way or another. More and more, the Internet touches almost all aspects of our daily lives. Don’t believe it? Think of the systems that help
The IRS, states and the tax industry have formed an even stronger partnership in face of a constantly evolving enemy – the identity thief. In recent years, the they have helped convict nearly 2,000 identity thieves thanks to our Criminal Investigation division and they currently have 1,700 open investigations. How tax payers
As a service to the community, we host annual shred day events to help combat identity theft and raise awareness about this growing problem. By shredding outdated and expired documents, people can better protect themselves and prevent thieves from stealing personal information from mailboxes and rummaging through trash. With the
You may have heard in the news recently that a data breach at Anthem compromised over 80 million records. According to some reports, the personal information lost included names, addresses, email addresses, social security numbers and employment information. This is different from many of the recent data breaches (Schnucks, Target,
It’s that time of year — TAX TIME! And tax-related identity theft is on the rise. Scammers have gotten really good at stealing people’s Social Security numbers and fraudulently claiming their refund. The IRS tries to combat this crime with an aggressive strategy of prevention, detection and victim assistance, but
The internet bug known as Heartbleed has been making the rounds in the news lately. To help you better understand the bug and how to protect your information, here’s what you need to know: What is Heartbleed? Heartbleed is a bug in the code running on the servers of millions of
You probably have a password for your email accounts, favorite online stores, and social media sites, not to mention countless more. At West Community, we take the security of our members’ accounts very serious, but there is only so much we can do if your password is as simple as
Earlier today, the Associated Press Twitter account was hacked, posting a false tweet about an attack on the White House. The fake tweet rattled quite a few feathers today, even causing stocks to briefly drop over 100 points. The twitter account has since been suspended, and they have been working
