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Web Store Coaching Matthew Ledford Bio TechKnowDude Radio		IDENTITY THEFT AND TECHNOLOGY ( A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS COMBINATION) • What is Identity Theft? • Statistics • How crime is committed in the technology sense? • What are signs that you might be a victim of Identity Theft? • What are some preventions of becoming a victim of this type of crime? • What are some websites and organizations that would help you? Identity Theft is one the fastest growing crime in the last few years. According to certain websites Americans lost $437 million dollars in the year 2003 attributed to this type of crime. ID theft’s basic definition is masquerading as someone else to financially defraud individuals and commit crimes in someone else’s name. Identity Theft can be committed as easily as connecting to the internet. Phishing scams, keylogger programs, and other rogue programs can be an easy conduit for these types of scams. Phishing scams is “disguising” certain websites into tricking users into thinking that they are logged on to legitimate websites. These websites are usually financial in nature and could be banking institutions. Most users do not pay that much attention to the address bar where there current internet connection is established to. Web sites could be one number or one digit off and it could trick the user into thinking they are logged on to the correct website. Most of these phishing scams are generated over email and have the urgency that the user needs to enter information or else something drastic will happen such as the closing down of your banking account or something else that is urgent in nature. Identity Theft signs could be you first notice that your usual monthly statements are not showing up. While there could be a logical explanation for this, you still should keep your eyes open. Other signs could be bill collectors calling your house for accounts you did not open or other unusual phone calls for solicitation. . Links to learn more: www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html www.ssa.gov/pubs/idtheft.htm ROOT KIT REVEALER: http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/RootkitRevealer.html Major Credit Bureaus: Equifax Experian Trans Union Free Credit report Phone-877-322-8228 www.annualcreditreport.com www.privacyrights.org https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx Today's Guest: Mr. Jeff Sluder is employed at Uptime Computer Services www.uptimecomputer.net (828) 251-1321 in Asheville, NC. He has spent the last five years in the Information Technology field in the private sector. He has earned several certificates and recognitions for Computer Forensics and Computer Security. He has also worked in the public sector with regards to the Computer Forensic field.