Privacy Rights
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Every worry about identity theft? Worry about young people and the dangers of the web? Mind if I read your private emails? Or browse through your medical records? This section takes you into the scary world of privacy and identity theft. RealityCheck gives you straight talk when it comes to identity theft and privacy issues.
(Handout—Remar Sutton's Privacy Presentation April 2009)
 Protecting your personal and financial privacy means educating yourself to take on a complex challenge. You might say that fighting for your privacy rights is like taking on an octopus with many arms (one issue, lots of manifestations).
The resources in this info sheet will help you stay informed about privacy issues and take steps to protect your personal and financial privacy.
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 There are lots of sites on the Internet that "cover" consumer privacy. How can you determine which sites deserve your trust? Here are a few tips:
- Determine who runs the site. Look for an "about us" or "contact" page. If you can't find one or they don't clearly identify who they are then find other sites that do. If there's a list of sponsors, check it out.
- Read their privacy policy. If you can't find one, find other sites that provide one.
- Advertising. Does the site have advertising? If so, what is being advertised? Could the advertising influce the site content?
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 What is phishing (pronounced fishing)? These are scams that are trying to steal your personal and financial information. Phishing has primarily been online in the form of email or pop-up messages but can also occur over the phone or through the mail. Phishers have even started using text messages.
Phishers impersonate legitimate financial institutions—banks, credit unions—and businesses. The phishers cast a wide net that's bound to find persons that do business with the impersonated financial institution or company.
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 Besides phishing, various other scams also arrive in your inbox. Here are brief descriptions of some of the most common.
The "Nigerian" Scam also called "Advance Fee" Scam
The email is requesting help to get large sums of money out of a foreign country. They promise you big profits in exchange for your help. Before you receive any money, you'll have to provide money to cover transaction and transfer costs and attorney fees plus you'll need to provide them with your bank account numbers. The "Nigerian" Scam: Costly Compassion from the FTC has more information.
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 The many products mentioned in this section are good examples of those that are available in the various categories. You should research these and other products and decide which products fit your needs.
An important way to help enhance your computer privacy is to install and keep up to date these types of programs:
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 Opt Out of Marketing Databases
These five steps allow you to opt of certain information sharing. These steps usually take about an hour or less to complete. The reduction in marketing will be significant.
1. Opt out of prescreening by visiting OptOutPrescreen.com or by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT. Opting out of prescreening should reduce the volume of those "preapproved" credit card offers by as much as 90%. This will also opt out of "mortgage triggers."
2. Opt-out of "CPNI" sharing by calling your phone company. CPNI stands for customer proprietary network information and is the information about a consumer's telephone calls that telecommunications companies collect. This information includes the time, date, duration and destination of each call, the type of network a consumer subscribes to, and any other information that appears on a consumer's phone bill..
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 In addition to reporting fraud or identity theft to your state attorney general's office you can file a complaint with the appropriate federal agency.
- ID Theft—Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Fraud—Internet, telephone communications, retail—Federal Trade Commission
- Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)—A partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3
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 Seniors are a favorite target of scam artists and others who want to make a quick buck. For example, seniors are at risk of losing money in fraudulent investment schemes and are also at risk of losing their homes when they are used as security, in some instances unknowingly.
These 2 articles from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) describe some of the pitfalls.
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February 2009
In this challenging economic environment, you may be concerned about job, retirement or general financial security. Eager to take advantage of your legitimate concerns, a varied group of scammers and con artists are targeting your money and your personal information using a variety of online tactics. By taking a few simple steps you can protect yourself from even the latest ploy. This month's report describes the most common scam methods and describes steps you can take to avoid being caught.
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October 2007
With the phenomenal success of sites such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com, the numbers and variety of social networking websites are exploding on the Internet. Some, such as MySpace and Facebook, attract millions of varied users and others may be targeted at fewer individuals with very specific interests. All share the objective of allowing “members” to communicate, or “network,” with other members, and all require that users share some information about themselves. Social networking sites can be a great place to meet other people with your interests. They can be a fun place to meet and interact with friends. The many positives of these sites, however, come with some real dangers—if you don’t use them wisely. This report provides tips for safely using social networking sites.
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November 2006
Are you tired of finding your mailbox loaded with unsolicited credit card, mortgage, and home equity loan offers? Are you tired of your phone ringing with offers from telemarketers? Are you tired of junk mail? Would you also like to do something to take your name out of circulation for various solicitations. Then read on. This month's report provides more information about some of the topics about privacy and personal security I touched on during my recent visit to Elevations CU.
Did you know that in about an hour, you can reduce the amount of junk mail and unsolicited offers in all forms that you receive? That's about the amount of time it will take you to opt-out.
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August 2006
The Internet is a rich treasure trove of information and entertainment. Unfortunately, it's equally rich in traps for the unwary. Threats to your privacy (and your personal information) are just waiting for you online. You may have noticed recent news reports of various phishing scams and security breaches at various organizations. Are you doing all you can to protect your privacy and personal information online? In this report, we look at some tips and tools to help you enhance your online privacy and security.
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March 2006
The convenience of going wireless with your notebook computer is so tempting. Wireless computer connections free you up to work over the Internet all around the house or office or from the local coffeeshop. Many consumers are putting wireless networks in their homes. Wi-Fi hotspots are appearing in many public locations such as cafes, libraries, churches, and airports. You can go online anywhere, it seems. But unless you take the proper security precautions in using Wi-Fi hotspots and in setting up your own wireless network, you are putting your financial and personal information at risk. In this month's report we look at the dangers and the precautions you can take.
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December 2005
The good news first: This is one scam you can easily avoid. Period.
Now, the bad news: If you receive email—at work or at home—you could as easily fall for this scam today. Fall for it and you could lose thousands of dollars, your identity, and probably your sanity by the time you recover from the scam.
I'm talking about "phishing," a plague that is now hitting almost everyone who goes online at least once a week—and getting worse by the hour, literally.
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 What is phishing? These are scams that are trying to steal personal and financial information. Phishing has primarily been online in the form of email or pop-up messages but can also occur over the phone or through the mail.
Phishers impersonate legitimate financial institutions—banks, credit unions—and businesses. The phishers cast a wide net that's bound to find persons that do business with the impersonated financial institution or company.
Email and pop-up messages may have a link to click or a phone number to call. In the case of the link, it usually goes to a fake website that mimics a legitimate site.
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 How big a problem is identity theft? It's an epidemic. The Javelin Strategy and Research 2008 Identity Fraud Survey Report indicates there were 8.1 million adult victims in the U.S. in 2007 and that the total one year fraud amount was $45 billion.
Having one's personal identity stolen can be costly and frustrating. Taking steps to learn about the dangers of ID theft and to prevent becoming a victim makes smart sense. This brief report shares the basics of what you need to know and provides links to other excellent resources.
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 What is arbitration?
Arbitration is an alternative method of resolving disputes in which two parties present their individual sides of a complaint to an arbitrator or panel of arbitrators. The arbitrator, who is supposed to be neutral, then weighs the facts and arguments of both parties and decides the dispute. Arbitration may be voluntary or mandatory.
What is voluntary arbitration?
In voluntary arbitration, both sides in the dispute voluntarily agree to submit their disagreement to arbitration after it arises and after they have an opportunity to investigate their best options for resolving their claim.
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February 2005
Have you seen one of these ads or one like it? Looks real doesn’t it? Is your Internet browser trying to protect you? Well, in the lower left corner (that you really can’t see in this picture), in light gray type it says “advertisement.” It didn’t come from your browser or your security software. These types of ads want you to click quickly without considering any consequences. My review this month looks at the potential dangers of clicking on these ads.
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September 2004
Ads are everywhere—on the TV, in newspapers and magazines, in your mail, and especially online. We are so used to seeing ads that we typically pay little attention to them. But the advertisers are always trying to change that—they want to make the ads more relevant. Now as you take advantage of the Information Highway, your use of the Internet offers advertisers new ways to target your interests and personal information, and, they hope, your wallet. In a nutshell, this report tells you how they are doing that online and what you can do about it.
Advertising fuels many websites by providing the revenue that allows them to pay the bills. The more effective the ad, the better the dollars. And the more the ad is tailored to specific individuals, the more effective the ad. So marketing and advertising companies are always refining their ways to gather and use information about you.
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March 2004
Do you depend on your computer for work, school or recreation? I literally couldn't function without mine as my work takes me around the country. But the news has been full lately of the latest threats to our computers. For instance, the MyDoom virus and Netsky worm have recently been causing havoc with computer systems around the world. Maybe one of these or another has already hit your machine. Frustrating, isn't it? And these problems will likely get worse not better.
Worms and viruses, for instance, are not the only things to be wary of. Personal information on your machine can be at risk, too. Other potential dangers include spyware, browser hijackers, and background advertising programs, to name just a few. These may come cloaked in file-sharing programs, toolbars, or other files. While many articles and even a few books have been written on this subject, this brief article will give you an overview of what steps you can take to secure your computer and the personal information on it. For more information, check out the resources listed below.
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 The simplest definition is email that was not requested. It's also known as unsolicited commercial email (UCE), unsolicited bulk email (UBE) or just plain junk email. Spam can also contain scams.
How did they get my email address?
Email addresses are collected in many ways. They are collected from web pages, forums, newsgroups, chat rooms, and so forth. Some spammers send email to large ISPs using many possible name combinations to try and find valid addresses. This is called a "dictionary attack". Some websites sell the email addresses they collect from users of the site. A good rule of thumb: If it's posted on the Internet, then a spammer can probably find it.
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