Worry about the right things

Many people worry about getting hacked or having their info taken. Although this does happen, it is the other lesser known activities that are going to get you taken advantage of. Let me introduce you to two versions of an ATM skimmer. These are very convincing fakes placed over ATM machines. They are used to steal your card's info so they may resell it or use the money. The problem is that they are so real-looking that it is hard to know the are even there. Before you insert your card into an ATM, see if you can get a fingernail under the card slot or the keypad. If so, DO NOT USE THAT ATM. Report it ASAP to the bank.
Below are two versions of the skimmer.
With all information, don't be afraid, just be aware.

“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” Gertrude Stein

I know I've written of Facebook scams before and the simple method of Googling some unusual link a friend posted before clicking on it. But I believe you should be a little proactive with your Facebook scam knowledge. Recently I came across a FB page called FaceCrooks that’s main purpose is to keep you up to date of the current badness going on in the FB universe. To join FaceCrooks, do what you do with any page that’s cool or interesting, hit the “like” button. Now when they post you’ll see it in your feed. By you being more aware you can warn your friends and in turn you will see less spam.

“Avoid flatterers, for they are thieves in disguise”

Recently I have been told by readers that something strange is happening with the blog. Many people who use Google alerts to keep track of this blog have noticed that the same info I write are also on other sites. The names of these sites range from something innocuous like one about statistics to a supposed porn site. The problem is a new phenomenon called sploging. Essentially a blog site is created by a person or a bot (software that is automated) and then these bots go about scraping (stealing) posts. They then use advertisers like Adsense to make it profitable. I have found my posts mixed in with hundreds of other bloggers. Sploging is becoming a similar problem to blogging in the way email has a problem with spam. Unfortunately there is only so much to be done about this so we just have to lump it and ignore those sites. So from now on if you see something suspicious I would say leave it alone. I do not want anyone going to a Malware site (site devoted to infecting your computer) because of a blog post of mine. All the info I produce whether it is the computer sheets to blog posts are open to all who would like to use them barring of course those who would use it as bait.

A thank you to all those that have alerted me to this problem.

A man is usually more careful of his money than of his principles. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

When I teach eBay classes I get very worried looks when I bring up the words credit cards online. There is a real hypocrisy when it comes to us using credit cards online versus anywhere else and I am just as guilty. The question I always ask is “Do you use your card at a restaurant?” Most people would say yes. We will give a complete stranger a key to our finances without thinking of it but we hem and haw when it comes to a secure database online. I argue that it is far safer to use it online (with caution) than in regular life. To support this I say it is easier to grab your numbers or steal your cards than it is to hack something online. Now I understand there is hacking online and some places do have problems but not to the extent that theft is there in real life. The news show 60 Minutes did a segment just recently on credit card leaks at stores. The y showed the unfortunate ease of grabbing your numbers. This means when you use your card at your favorite store, and you feel safe because it never leaves your sight, your numbers are actually flying through the air to a router and a server. Some stores have not made this secure and your info can be easily captured as we all saw when Marshals stores had been in the news. Now should you be scared all the time? I would say a decent bit of paranoia is OK but I would not build the bunker yet. Take precautions like contacting your CC company and asking them what they have in place to guard against problems. Now that I am armed with info like the 60 minutes spot and reading online I am becoming more of online shopper than ever before. I have written on this blog about some of the pitfalls like phishing and bad sellers but these are minor in comparison to the problem with the stores. So for the time being I may pay in cash in person and save my Credit Card for the virtual stores.

Alright fine I will still use my card at restaurants as well.