I’ve seen a number of stories, most recently in yesterday’s Times Online, that describe surprise and fear over what Google knows about its users.

This is silly, in my opinion. » Read the rest of the entry - Is Google Evil?

Derrell and Terrell Brittenum of Memphis, TN have been charged with forgery, theft by deception and financial identity fraud for purchasing a 2005 Dodge Magnum last June 2005 in Atlanta using someone else’s identity.

The twins recently appeared on the most-watched show in America - American Idol. Evidently they were excellent performers and had moved on to the next round in Hollywood, CA. Unfortunately for them they’ve now been dropped from the show based on their actions.

Here’s a before photo:

» Read the rest of the entry - American Idol Contestants Guilty of Identity Theft?

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission reported earlier today that they received more than 255,000 complaints regarding identity theft in 2005. That’s up from 247,000 reported in 2004. Total fraud reports topped 686,000.

So what trends show up in the report? Well, here are a few:

» Read the rest of the entry - FTC Releases 2005 Fraud Statistics

Can five million Britians be duped? Yes, according to a study done by the British consumer protection organization Which?. Which? contacted more than 1000 Brits to see how widespread the scam problem is in the U.K. The results?

• More than 28 million of 60 million citizens had been exposed to one or more scams.
• Five million of those 28 fell victim to a scam.
• The most popular scam related to “an automated phone call that invites people to claim a prize. A third of adults have received such a call and two million have responded, usually by calling a premium-rate number, which can cost up to GBP 1.50 ($2.70 U.S.) a minute.”

» Read the rest of the entry - British Lottery Scam

No, this won’t be a post about some political scandal in Iraq.

Instead, I wanted to post an scam email — one where a supposed American soldier wants to share some of Saddam Hussein’s booty (booty here meaning “Plunder taken from an enemy in time of war.”)

Here’s the email:

» Read the rest of the entry - Iraq Email Scam

If you’re a victim of identity theft, you will likely need to contact banks, credit card companies, and department stores. Most companies have what’s called an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) in place to “help” you.

These systems can be very frustrating, especially when you’re stressed out and just need to talk to a fellow human being to work out your problems. That’s where the IVR Cheat Sheet comes in handy.

Paul English, Boston resident and CTO of travel search engine company Kayak.com, decided to take matters into his own hands and create a cheat sheet for major institutions in the U.S. and the U.K.

Here are some examples of what you’ll find:

» Read the rest of the entry - How to Bypass Phone Systems and Talk to a Human

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing networks exist so people can download free mp3 files, DVDs, movies, etc. They work by having each member of the network share some personal files while downloading files from other people’s computers. Share and share alike, right?

This has understandably driven the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) as well as the people in Hollywood crazy. So crazy that they are suing people they catch sharing copyrighted materials. We’re not going to go into the ethics either way on this argument. Maybe some other time…

The problem is that people are not only sharing their ripped CDs and DVDs, they’re also sharing (accidently, I’m guessing) sensitive files on their hard drive like tax returns, bank statements and cancelled checks.

» Read the rest of the entry - Are You Sharing Your Tax Return or Bank Statement Online?

Now that more of you are ignoring, shredding, or opting out of the junk mail that arrives in your mailbox every day, the Direct Mail departments in companies around the world are having to get smarter and sneakier in order to survive.

Here are a few examples of what they’ll do to get you to open up that steaming piece of junk mail:

» Read the rest of the entry - Junk Mailers Getting Smarter

The Sober worm we talked about earlier will possibly start clogging email inboxes on January 6 or even January 5.

If you aren’t running anti-virus software (huh?) or haven’t updated your definitions file recently, you’ll want to so in the next day or so. If not, you could be one of the computers spreading more Nazi propoganda.

» Read the rest of the entry - Worm Set to Attack Jan. 6 - Are You Ready?

Think your check is safe after you fill it out? Think again…

Your writing can be removed using a procedure called “check washing.” A solvent is used - usually rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover - to fade out or completely remove what you’ve put on your check.

Here’s a before and after picture:

» Read the rest of the entry - Check Forgery 101