http:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/audio\/2012\/05\/identity-theft-nova-dc-public-safety-radio\/<\/a><\/p>\n[Audio Begins]<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 From the nation\u2019s capital, this is DC Public Safety.\u00a0 I\u2019m your host, Leonard Sipes.\u00a0 Our program today, ladies and gentlemen, identity theft and scams, and back by popular demand, Will Marling the Executive Director of the National Organization for Victim Assistance, www.trynova.org, and Denise Richardson, she is a consumer advocate and an ID theft education specialist.\u00a0 She is at www.givemebackmycredit.org, and to Denise and to Will, welcome back to DC Public Safety.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Thank you Leonard.\u00a0 Good to be with you.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Thank you Len.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s always a lot of fun.\u00a0 I mean I was laughing hard right before I hit the record button because we have such a good time because I\u2019m amazed all the time as to the new things both of you come up with in terms of what\u2019s happening with identify theft, what\u2019s happening with computer-related\u00a0 theft, what\u2019s happening with fraud.\u00a0 But\u2014well, before getting into all that, where are we with the constitutional amendment?\u00a0 At the last program, we were talking about a federal constitutional amendment regarding victim\u2019s rights and set the stage for that most of the states in the United States do have a constitutional amendment protecting the rights of victims and now what we\u2019re doing is going for a federal constitutional amendment, correct?<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 That\u2019s right.\u00a0 Thirty-three of 50 states in our United States have constitutional amendments in the state constitutions.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of story and history and research behind all this, but we know now\u2019s the time to have a thorough and consistent constitutional amendment for victims.\u00a0 Twenty three rights for the accused in our United States Constitution, of course, appropriate to that need, but zero for victims of crime and so we see the need to change that.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s\u2014what do you think the odds are of actually getting it through?\u00a0 I mean any constitutional amendment, if anybody knows anything about constitutional history; they know that amendments don\u2019t come easy.\u00a0 It sometimes takes a long time to get a constitutional amendment through the United States Constitution.\u00a0 What are the odds of this actually happening?<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Odds are high.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you why.\u00a0 First of all, we\u2019ve been working on this, not just for months, but 20 years or more and this has made its run on numerous occasions and has not made it for different reasons, but now is the time, and I\u2019ll tell you why.\u00a0 First of all, the country needs this.\u00a0 We need a social change perspective about the needs and rights of victims.\u00a0 Secondly, we\u2019re in a unique period where the change is afoot.\u00a0 We\u2019re going into a big election year.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Yes, we are.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 And as well, I mean most legislatures aren\u2019t gonna stand against victim\u2019s rights.\u00a0 They know intuitively that\u2019s the right thing\u2014<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Especially during an election year.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Yeah, and so, but there\u2014we believe they\u2019re gonna stand with this.\u00a0 It\u2019s really building the momentum and making the case, which is appropriate for legislators to understand that this is\u2014the amendment reads well.\u00a0 It reads like a constitutional should and it reflects the constitutional rights that people inherently think should be there.\u00a0 I mean, I use this example, if I might, just historically, most people knew that slavery was wrong.\u00a0 They just knew it was wrong, and yet we had to have a constitutional change for rule of law and will firm what every\u2014but what most people already knew.\u00a0 Even people involved in it knew that it was wrong\u2014same thing with voting.\u00a0 I mean, women were not given the right to vote until not that long ago.\u00a0 We all inherently knew that women should vote, but we needed to change the constitution.\u00a0 People in the United States know inherently that victims should have rights, and that\u2019s why we simply need to inculcate that in the United States Constitution as with many other social needs and social issues and rights and so forth.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Ladies and gentlemen, the National Organization for Victim Assistance is one of the oldest and one of the most respected organizations in the United States in terms of victim assistance.\u00a0 They\u2019ve been at this for how many years Will?<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Since 1975.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Since 1975.\u00a0 And as member of the criminal justice system, when you get that call from, you know, somebody from the National Organization for Victim Assistance it\u2019s like, oh my heavens, what did we do or what did we not do.\u00a0 So you all have the clout.\u00a0 You all have the reputation.\u00a0 In fact, your reputation is so good you\u2019re now training everybody in the Department of Defense certifying their victim assistance people.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s so kind of you Len.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 No, it\u2019s true.\u00a0 It\u2019s true.\u00a0 I just wanna make sure that everybody understands the prestige of a National Organization for Victim Assistance.\u00a0 You all have done fantastic work.\u00a0 And again, for the curious, because most people associate your organization with victims of rape and robbery and other violent crimes, you got involved in this issue of identity theft because of why?<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 We got involved because we were starting to get calls for assistance, we have a toll-free victim assistance line, and we started to get these calls, and we weren\u2019t really sure what to do with them historically; violent crime was our particular area of expertise, and we realized, now wait a minute.\u00a0 There\u2019s something going on here and, of course, we got involved and said, let\u2019s do something about it.\u00a0 Have\u2014work to focus on remediation, victim assistance, but it\u2019s also opened our eyes that identity theft, and the cyber issues that we\u2019re focusing on actually touch many other crime victimization areas like domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking.\u00a0 These electronic tools can become electronic weapons much like anything else.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 It\u2019s all intertwined.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 It\u2019s all intertwined, yep.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 And give me the example that you were talking about before I hit the record button.\u00a0 I find this astounding that you were talking to a grandmother whose supposed son called her.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t done via e-mail; it\u2019s not done via a letter, but they actually called the grandmother basically saying, hi.\u00a0 It\u2019s me.\u00a0 It\u2019s Chris, and I\u2019m down here, and I\u2019ve got into a jam, and I need for you to send me $500, and they got all the information they needed to make the story credible off of a Facebook page.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 That\u2019s exactly right.\u00a0 This is a common scenario.\u00a0 Somebody gets a call.\u00a0 They purport to be a relative, like a grandchild, they speak English articulately and so the thresholds for questioning that can be lowered as the person says, okay, this might be my grandchild and because the child is in need or purports to be in need, that, of course\u2014that concern also can lower that questioning, that discernment.\u00a0 Because if your grandchild is in trouble, and they\u2019re only asking for 500 bucks to get out of a\u2014to deal with a speeding ticket that they achieved in Canada, then you\u2019re more likely to say, well, okay it\u2019s, you know, it\u2019s\u2014I want to help my grandchild.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 And if you go on the Facebook page, and if you\u2019re getting all this information, you know, and you know that they prefer to be called by their grandkids, grandmommy, and grandmommy, look, you know, I really, you know, need you, you know, I know you\u2019re all the way down there in Baltimore, but I need for you\u2014I mean, you know, they can throw in information that makes it\u2014makes the call come alive.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Well, absolutely.\u00a0 And here\u2019s the thing.\u00a0 Thirty-three percent, according to the recent research from Javelin, 33%\u2014I think it\u2019s 31 actually\u201431% of people put their full year and birthday on there.\u00a0 So you know exactly how old somebody is.\u00a0 It\u2019s not just the\u2014so there\u2019s a test for an older generation person who\u2019s probably gonna have grandchildren and then if you have all this other information, you can add those things today simply to become seemingly more credible.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Yep, looking forward to seeing you on your birthday in July.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Yeah, exactly.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Yep.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Amazing.\u00a0 Denise Richardson, consumer advocate ID theft, education specialist, Denise we\u2019ve really enjoyed in the audience, really enjoyed your participation the last time.\u00a0 It was really interesting.\u00a0 You come up with some of the most interesting things.\u00a0 Give me your perspective as to what Will just had to say.\u00a0 You know it\u2019s startling to me.\u00a0 I know about e-mail frauds.\u00a0 I know about phishing schemes.\u00a0 I know about letter\u2014kind of contacts by letter, but it takes a tremendous amount of gull to pick up the phone and call somebody.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 It does and as Will was saying, you know identity theft takes many different forms, and they can\u2014these bad guys have gotten very good at what they do and I always come at it from the perspective of my own life experiences, the consumers that come to me and tell me their stories, the consumers that share their stories on my blog, and though they always seem amazed that they had heard of this latest scam, I continue to be amazed at how little information is out there until someone has already been tripped up by it and fallen victim to it.\u00a0 My own mom\u2014I share my own life experiences too because I encourage other people to, but I shared not too long ago a situation that happened to my mom several weeks ago where her first thing she said to me when I answered the phone was you\u2019re not going to like this.\u00a0 And I thought, oh know.\u00a0 And she proceeded to tell me that, you know, she had started seeing a new doctor, and she lives, you know, in a different state, and she started seeing a new doctor and so, when she got a call from someone asking for her information, in her mind, because she\u2019s an elderly senior, she thought it was Medicare.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 And so, when she gave little bits of information, oh, are you calling about my Medicare bill, of course, they\u2019re gonna go along with what she gives them, and she ended up giving them her social security number and other information, which, of course, immediately I knew why she said I wasn\u2019t gonna like it.\u00a0 But one of the things I found out in this particular telemarketing scam, it led me to learn something that came\u2014you know when you think you see it all\u2014my mom was particularly stressed out by this and scared, rightfully so, that she did this.<\/p>\n
She was upset with herself, but in order to try to correct it quickly it made her more panicked and there\u2019s no easy way to contact the Credit Bureau and incidentally you know, notify them, put a fraud alert on.\u00a0 Because if you\u2019ve ever tried, you get these automated, you know, most places now you get these long menus that you call and that just intimidated her and made her more upset, so there needs to be some sort of way that, especially seniors or even, you know, more challenged vulnerable people in our communities, our families, have a way to access someplace quickly to notify that you\u2019ve become a victim.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Okay, let\u2019s just get into prevention measures.\u00a0 We go into a thousand different directions every time we talk\u2014because I want to get back to this concept of the fact that people are calling, and you take a look at your caller ID, and it shows a local number, which gives it credibility.\u00a0 In one case, it gives the identification of the local police department who is calling you to say that you have unpaid parking tickets, and then you\u2019re looking at your caller ID, and it says, well, you know, Baltimore Police Department and you assume that this is not fraudulent, but first\u2014I mean let\u2019s go back.\u00a0 Bottom line is don\u2019t give out any information over the phone period.\u00a0 They\u2019re not gonna call you.\u00a0 Reputable organizations are not going to call you.\u00a0 Is that the first rule?<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 And do not trust your caller ID.\u00a0 The caller ID\u2014there\u2019s a term\u2014it\u2019s being coined spoofing.\u00a0 They can spoof your caller ID and cause the display to be any entity they want.\u00a0 They could be calling from another country, and it could say the name of a bank, a credit union, or an electric company.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 So, just because it comes up as a legitimate, excuse me, as a legitimate identifier on your caller ID, does not mean it\u2019s legitimate.\u00a0 The bottom line is don\u2019t give out information over the phone.\u00a0 If your bank calls you, you say thank you very much, what is your name, what is your telephone number, and then you go and look up a number that you know is a correct number\u2014that there is no question that it\u2019s a correct number and then you call them.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Sure, check on your latest billing statements.\u00a0 You can look it up in the phone book, but call the number that you know is legitimate, and it really is someone calling from your bank or from some institution that you do business with and you tell them, you know, I\u2019m a little leery of identity theft, I\u2019d like to call you back.\u00a0 They\u2019re going to say certainly, on that extension 1324.\u00a0 You can go look up the number and then when you get that specific legitimate company\u2014<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 But don\u2019t call them back at that number though.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 No, no.\u00a0 Never call them back at the number that you receive in an e-mail, text, or voice mail or on the phone.\u00a0 Look up the number first.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Will, was it you or Denise, who said that there really was a scam where supposedly the police department called about unpaid parking tickets, and the name of the police department popped up on the caller ID?<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Yep, yep.\u00a0 We have those cases.\u00a0 Indeed, yeah.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 My God, that\u2019s so wrong on so many levels and could be so disastrous to the well-being of human beings.\u00a0 What if you got a call from the local police department saying, come out now and come down to the station, we need to talk about something, and if I saw the local police department up on my phone I\u2019d probably do it.\u00a0 I mean I keep saying to myself, I\u2019ve been involved in the criminal-justice\u00a0 system for over 40 years, and you keep telling me stuff that even I would buy into, and I don\u2019t trust anybody.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Well, the issue here that Denise is making\u2014the point that she is making, as well as I make, is that the basic issue of paying attention.\u00a0 Just paying attention and asking some questions on the very front end is completely appropriate.\u00a0 For credible legitimate people calling, which seems to become rarer and rarer, they\u2019re gonna be willing to cooperate.\u00a0 But for others, you know, they\u2019re gonna try to talk you into some quick decision, get information out of you as quickly as possible because they might be nearby, but to be honest, they might be in another country, and you don\u2019t know where they are.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 I mean it can get really complicated that way.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Mm-hmm.\u00a0 All right\u2014<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 They\u2019re very tricky at what they do and make sure when you hang up the phone with them that you hang up and pick the phone back up and hear your dial tone because there\u2019s been instances where they have stayed on the line, and someone picks up the phone, and you\u2019re dialing your number, but you really still have the scammer on the other end of the phone.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Oh, this is too amazing.\u00a0 We\u2019re half way through the program, ladies and gentlemen.\u00a0 Are we all frightened now?\u00a0 We\u2019re half way through the program with\u2014<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 And I\u2019m glad you said that Len, because really, and I know Will feels the same way\u2014these are not stories.\u00a0 These are factual things that we hear from people who contact us, but in order for us to share this information, some people may say well, you\u2019re scaring us, but really the only way you can get this information out there is\u2014<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 This is vital information.\u00a0 People need to hear this.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 And often times they don\u2019t understand it with just, you know, shred your documents or whatever.\u00a0 They need to hear about the types of scams that come across where they could easily fall for them.\u00a0 Like you said, you\u2019re a very intelligent man.\u00a0 You\u2019ve been in the justice system and you\u2014there\u2019re so savvy that they could even trick you.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 It would fool me, and that\u2019s the thing that scares me.\u00a0 All right, let me reintroduce both of you.\u00a0 Ladies and gentlemen, more than half way through the program, Will Marling the Executive Director of the National Organization for Victim Assistance, www.trynova.org.\u00a0 Denise Richardson, she is a consumer advocate and an ID theft education specialist, www.givemebackmycredit.org.\u00a0 Both of those websites will be in the show notes.\u00a0 All right, where do we go to from here?\u00a0 What\u2019s new on the identity theft and fraud horizon Denise?<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Well, the types and varying trends.\u00a0 A lot of what I\u2019m seeing and hearing\u2014you know, we\u2014we\u2019re telling people don\u2019t give your information to strangers, don\u2019t give your information to people who call you, e-mail you, or come door-to-door, but you also need to be aware that whatever information you are giving, sometimes to trusted individuals, does not mean that you\u2019re immune from an identity theft.\u00a0 In a lot of situations lately, especially where I live in Florida which is number one on the list always for all sorts of fraud unfortunately, and I think it can be somewhat attributed to if you are a criminal do you want to live in, you know, in a populated where\u2014<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Do you like snow or do you not like snow.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Exactly, exactly.\u00a0 So we\u2019re accustomed to all sorts of scams and frauds, but we\u2019re number one because we still are gonna fall for it, but not only that.\u00a0 You go into hospitals.\u00a0 You give your information to hospital employees.\u00a0 Think of all the places you give your information to trusted individuals, whether they\u2019re bank tellers, whether they work in a government office.\u00a0 Each of those\u2014<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Your cable company.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Exactly.\u00a0 Each of those places\u2014I could point you to actual arrests of rouge employees in those particular businesses who have sold the business or the organization\u2019s information.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 How do you stop that?\u00a0 All right, I mean I\u2014everything else falls under the umbrella of do not reactively give information to anybody under any circumstances regardless as to how credible they seem.\u00a0 Thank the person, stop the e-mail, stop the phone call, put down the letter, and contact that entity through a number that you know is valid.\u00a0 That\u2019s the number-one rule.\u00a0 So in terms of those people who legitimately get our information, how do you stop that?<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Well, you know, and Will may have a different view on this, but my view is you can\u2019t stop that because you never know when any company out there is gonna have a data breach or how\u2014or if there\u2019s gonna be an insider who is approached by an ID theft ring who offers you money to give them information, which has just been in the news a lot down here where there was hospital employees, or you know a lot of our police and fire had their social security numbers sold by insiders, rogue employees.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Oh, that\u2019s terrible.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 You cannot stop it, but what you can be is aware and know what to look for.\u00a0 Check your bank statements.\u00a0 Check your credit reports, you know, do what you can.\u00a0 I always say, you know, living here in Florida I can\u2019t stop a hurricane from coming.\u00a0 I certainly can\u2019t control Mother Nature, but what I do is I get batteries, and I make sure come hurricane season I have all the supplies and you know, things that I need to lessen the impact.<\/p>\n
[Len Sipes:\u00a0 All right, so the bottom line is check our statements, check your credit card statement, check your bank statement, check all statements and make sure that the information on there is accurate.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Correct.\u00a0 And if you see any red flags, you know, then you can know, you know, instinctively in advance.\u00a0 You\u2019re more prepared, and I guess that\u2019s the message.\u00a0 Just don\u2019t put your guard down.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying you have to live paranoid, but live wise.\u00a0 You know, just pay attention to your bank accounts and your credit reports and do what you can to minimize the impact if it does hit you.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Will, this harkens back decades ago when I was in the crime prevention business for the Department of Justice\u2019s Clearinghouse in the National Crime Prevention Council.\u00a0 I mean it is\u2014what we said back then is use common sense in terms of where you go, how you dressed, what your environment is.\u00a0 It\u2019s pretty much incumbent upon you to keep yourself from being victimized, so there was some responsibility for you know, not walking down the street as I did when I\u2014I remember working for the National Crime Prevention Council, and I remember getting money from somebody, and I remember walking through Fell\u2019s Point in Baltimore City, which had a crime problem, and I was counting money.\u00a0 And then I stopped dead in the street going I\u2019ve just did exactly what I\u2019ve told thousands of people not to do.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Well, yeah true.\u00a0 You know we also focus on the fact that crime victimization\u2014the blame rests with the perpetrator period\u2014period.\u00a0 I mean no woman gets blamed for how she dressed.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 No businessman gets blamed for how he\u2019s dressed.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Agreed.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 There\u2019s discretions.\u00a0 Of course, there\u2019s wisdom driving in appropriate places, but that\u2019s part of the challenge with this.\u00a0 In reality, consumers need to be educated on the front end to make a difference here.\u00a0 Let me give you a very simple principle as we move into, you know, ever increasing, ever evolving, technological tools turned to weapons here and that is the concept of if it\u2019s convenient for you, in terms of commerce, it\u2019s probably as convenient for a thief.\u00a0 For example, we\u2019re getting into wireless transmissions, transactions with our phones.\u00a0 Is your phone built for that?\u00a0 Let me give you a simple analogy.\u00a0 We used to have the Hummers that were military grade.\u00a0 And then we came out with this commercial-grade Hummer.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Let me ask, is your phone a military-grade piece of equipment or commercial-grade piece of equipment?<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 You can put\u2014I heard on a technical podcast the other day that you can put key logging software on a cell phone, which means\u2014<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Your phone can be compromised like a computer, just as easily, and it with later effect.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Your phone is a computer, and it\u2019s fairly easily compromised.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 It\u2019s more than a computer because it\u2019s got a GPS in it that your computer doesn\u2019t care to have.\u00a0 It\u2019s got a camera in it, which many computers do have.\u00a0 It, of course, has microphones.\u00a0 It has recording devices.\u00a0 So, anybody who can compromise that phone has actually access to everything that phone can do.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 And it shows your location if you activate the GPS device.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Yeah, well, and they listen to your phone calls.\u00a0 They can read every text.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 So what is the lesson?\u00a0 What is the lesson in all of this?\u00a0 So if they can do that, is it not to use your cell phone for banking?<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Well, my recommendation is to think about whether the convenience really is that necessary.\u00a0 If we think about banking, do\u2014when you build a bank\u2014you build a bank, you start with the vault, and then you build the building around it.\u00a0 I\u2019m not gonna convert my house into a bank, but basically that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing with cell phones.\u00a0 So when you think, oh, this is a really cool option, the question is, do you really want to have that option on your phone for a lot of different reasons.\u00a0 First of all, it could be intercepted.\u00a0 The phone could be compromised, lost, and\/or stolen, so there are mechanisms to help secure phones if it\u2019s been stolen and this kind of thing, but the question is, do you really need to do all of those things on your phone?\u00a0 Do you need a bank on your phone?\u00a0 I don’t, and I won\u2019t.\u00a0 I refuse to.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 No, no.\u00a0 I\u2014no, no I hear you loud and clear.\u00a0 Or what about your home computer?<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Well, you know, again that\u2019s at least internal and while, you know, there are house\u2014there are robberies that involve just people taking the computer cause they know it\u2019s gold\u2014it\u2019s, you know, the value in it, at least you can secure your computer, and people do transactions, but those can be done safely, once again, but your phone is mobile.\u00a0 And it\u2019s connected to you, and it is out there and I just have serious concerns personally about where this can go.\u00a0 Again, a lot of that could be forwarded simply by our appropriate aware use of the tools that we have.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 And also a good long complicated passcode to get into your own computer.\u00a0 Not the simple things that we use on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Well, yeah and the same thing with our phone.\u00a0 Anything that gives you an opportunity for a passcode, the deal is use it \u2018cause there\u2019s a reason that passcode was put there, as the option was there.\u00a0 People find it inconvenient to type in their passcodes on their phone, but you know, do it.\u00a0 It\u2019s a nominal inconvenience, one again, for an extra level, an extra layer of security.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Most people don\u2019t use the passcode for the phone.\u00a0 Most people don\u2019t even know they have a passode for the phone.<\/p>\n
Will Marling:\u00a0 Yeah, it\u2019s too bad too because again, you\u2019re just a low-hanging fruit.\u00a0 You know that phrase.\u00a0 And we just tell people constantly well, we know this is out there, and you can\u2019t control what other people do, like Denise said, with our information, but let\u2019s control what we ourselves do with it and let\u2019s raise our fruit.\u00a0 At least raise it up a hair.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Denise, we only have four minutes left in the program, and every time I do this program I just want to keep going and going and going because we never do cover all the ground that we said that we were going to cover.\u00a0 All right, so give me\u2014so we did say last time that in terms of places to contact, it would be National Organization for Victim Assistance at www.trynova.org, your own website, www.givemebackmycredit.org, the Federal Trade Commission, ftc.gov, for additional information and also, ladies and gentlemen, the FBI puts out a lot of information on fraud, and you should feel free to contact www.fbi.gov and look at, especially, their computer crime related sections.\u00a0 They have a lot of good consumer tips.\u00a0 Anything else in terms of sources of information?<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Well, definitely.\u00a0 There\u2019s a Federal Trade Commission identity theft hotline, especially for, you know, people who want to just make a call and report any type of scam, and you can call 1-877-438\u2014<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 877-438\u2014<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 4338.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 4338.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Exactly, and you know I just want to back Will up on what he just said as far as definitely, you know, control what happens in your life by taking care of what you can do.\u00a0 It\u2019s just like I don\u2019t want to scare anybody, I just want to raise awareness and\u2014<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Oh, scare us.\u00a0 We have to be scared.\u00a0 We have to.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 We can\u2019t stop driving on highways.\u00a0 We\u2019re\u2014an accident is just around the corner for each of us, but it\u2019s not gonna stop us from getting in our vehicles, and that\u2019s what we need to realize.\u00a0 We can enjoy these phones.\u00a0 We can enjoy our computers.\u00a0 We can\u2014not stop us, but just like when you get a new car.\u00a0 What you do?\u00a0 You put your seatbelt on, you know.\u00a0 That\u2019s what you need to do if you look at it that way.\u00a0 Contact security experts to figure out if your computer and your access points are safe\u2014same with cell phones.\u00a0 And spend a little time, I would say, on the web looking at and being up to date on these latest types of scams that we barely touched the surface of today, but at least it helps to have that awareness.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Well, don\u2019t react to anything.\u00a0 Contact the source independently through a number on the computer or through the Yellow Pages, even your local police department now-a-days, and it sounds like it\u2019s a matter of passcodes and the use of the passcodes and it sounds like it\u2019s a matter of checking up your bank statements and your credit card statements.\u00a0 It sounds like those are the three principal things that came out of this quick conversation today.<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Those are great starting points, absolutely.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 But for additional information contact www.givemebackmycredit.org, or National Organization for Victim Assistance, or I\u2019m gonna give out that number again for the Federal Trade Commission, 1-877-438-4338, 1-877-438-4338\u2014anything real quick Denise, Will?<\/p>\n
Denise Richardson:\u00a0 Talk to your kids.\u00a0 Talk to your kids who are on all these social-networking sites, Facebook, and let them\u2014and talk to your\u2014you know, your family, seniors you know.\u00a0 I say spread awareness.\u00a0 Let them know what type of risks that are out there, so they are less likely to fall for these telephone scams or door-to-door.<\/p>\n
Len Sipes:\u00a0 Okay, got it.\u00a0 Denise you\u2019ve got the final word.\u00a0 Ladies and gentlemen, this is DC Public Safety.\u00a0 We\u2019ve dealt with the issue of identity theft and scams today.\u00a0 Will Marling, Executive Director of the National Organization for Victim Assistance, www.trynova.org, Denise Richardson, consumer advocate and ID theft education specialist, www.givemebackmycredit.org.\u00a0 Ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate all the interaction that you provide us in terms of e-mails and phone calls, and guidance in terms of what you like and what you don\u2019t like and, especially, in terms of new programs, and I want everybody to have themselves a very, very pleasant day.<\/p>\n
[Audio Ends]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Welcome to \u201cDC Public Safety\u201d \u2013 Radio and television shows, blog and transcripts\u00a0on crime, criminal offenders and the criminal justice system. We currently average 90,000 page views a month. The portal site for \u201cDC Public Safety\u201d is http:\/\/media.csosa.gov. Radio Program available at http:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/audio\/2012\/05\/identity-theft-nova-dc-public-safety-radio\/ [Audio Begins] Len Sipes:\u00a0 From the nation\u2019s capital, this is DC Public […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,57],"tags":[140,283,126,128],"class_list":["post-800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audiopodcast","category-fraud","tag-computer-theft","tag-fraud","tag-identity-theft-2","tag-nova","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pBoKk-cU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=800"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":802,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800\/revisions\/802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}