Equifax and BBB Identity Theft Alerts

From this month's Equifax member newsletter comes the frightening news of a recent trend in ID theft at airports via free Internet connections.  Be sure to click through the link at the bottom of this excerpt for advice on keeping yourself and your identity safe.

Travelers Beware: Free Wi-Fi Scam Strikes at Airports

In order to keep up in today’s world, travelers need to stay connected, even on the road. Many airports and other public spaces offer free wireless, or Wi-Fi, connections for the public to log onto the Internet from their laptop computers. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns that hackers are now taking advantage of this convenience by setting up fake Wi-Fi connections designed to steal your personal information and files without you even knowing. Find out how it works and what you can do to safeguard yourself.

How it works
Although hackers can and have set up fake Wi-Fi connections in a number of venues, usually they will target consumers at airports. When searching for connections, consumers may see a network connection available that could be simply named "Free Wi-Fi." Thinking it’s the free connection offered by the establishment, they’ll log on. Unfortunately, the network may actually be an "ad-hoc" network, or a peer-to-peer connection. The user will be able to surf the Internet, but they’re doing it through the hacker’s computer. And the whole time, the hacker is stealing information like passwords, credit card and bank account numbers, and social security numbers. Beyond simply stealing keystroke information as the user enters various types of data, if the PC is set to share files, the hacker could even steal whole documents from the computer.

Read this entire article

Comments

[Joshua of Catholic Tech Tips]

Beware of another scam that is going on right now! I received this (http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=11169) in the mail yesterday. DO NOT CALL THE NUMBER! People are receiving similar letters by mail, e-mail and even by text message! There are red flags all over this scheme, but people are falling for it left and right. It is a good idea to Google any unfamiliar phone number before you call it. These scams are so successful, because they play on your emotions and fears. Always stop and think before you do anything.