CardCops.com is a somewhat controversial company that fights credit fraud by exposing and publicizing web site hacks and online fraud techniques. The controversy comes up because some are worried that they show potential crackers and hackers too much detail about how to do their dirty work.

Maybe they do go too far, but they’ve recently released an intriguing free service just for consumers. They allow anyone to type in their credit card number to match it against a database of 100,000 credit cards that have been compromised by thieves. Type in your credit card number? Huh? Is it safe? Are you crazy?

CardCops have been around since the late ’90s and work closely with law enforcement organizations like the U.S. Secret Service. Here’s a quote from Dan Clements, founder of CardCops, “We’re creating a situation where Joe Consumer can check his card on the Internet to see if it’s been possibly abused.”

Should you try this out? CardCaps is a legitimate organization and I trust their security measures, but you should make your own judgement. Even if you decide to try it, you might have to wait a while — their servers were maxed out from all the people trying out the service.

Go to the CardCops web site

You’re on this web site trying to learn how to protect your identity. One trick we suggest is to say, “put me on your do not call list” when telemarketers call during dinner. Federal law requires telemarketers to keep track of people who don’t want to be called. Now, scammers and thieves are taking advantage of what you’ve learned.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning consumers that identity thieves, masquerading as federal employees, are calling people and asking them to confirm that they’ve requested to be put on a “do not call list.” In order to make sure they have the “right person”, they are asking the victims to provide social security, bank account, or credit card numbers.

Here’s where common sense comes into play. The FTC does not have the time or the money to call every person in the United States asking if they want to be put on a “do not call list.” Plus, the telemarketing companies would probably sue the government if they tried it.

The bottom line for avoiding scams: If it sounds fishy, it probably is fishy. Just hang up.

Getting scammed is a bummer. You beat yourself up wondering why you weren’t smart enough to see through their tricks. Getting scammed twice has got to feel a lot worse.

Some telemarketing scam artists apparently have created a list of previous fraud victims and are trying to scam them again. Their pitch is that they can recover the money that was stolen in the first fraud, if they sign up for the Teleguard service and pay a fee. They try to create an air of authenticy by stating that they’re working with the Better Business Bureau or a state Attorney General’s office.

So how can you tell if the people who call you are legit or not?

USE YOUR BRAIN!

Listen how Robert Kenesky, 81, of Sanborn, NY used his brain to fight fraud. The scammers tried to prove they were legitmate by putting him on hold for a few moments and then connecting him with someone who said they were from the New York Attorney General’s office. His response?

“This guy rattled on for a while, and then I said, ‘Now wait a minute. If this is the attorney general’s office, I know it takes longer than 1 minute to get through to you people.”

Then he hung up the phone. Very smart.

If you’re a college student you’ve got on more reason to stress out. It appears that the Russian mafia may have planted keystroke tracking software on computers at Arizona State University and four other universities in Florida, Arizona, Texas and California. This software records every key that is pressed on a computer and then makes the information available to a remote hacker.

The great thing about keystoke tracking software is that it takes all the guesswork out of figuring out a victim’s PINs, account numbers, and credit card numbers. No dumpster diving is necessary. The program records everything you type before it’s encrypted and sent over the internet. So when a student uses a university computer in place to order a CD from Amazon.com or log into their bank account to check their balance, their credit card, bank account number, and PIN are sent to the hacker.

The Secret Service is investigating…