Category: John Sileo

The IRS admittedly has little control over protecting your tax returns against identity theft. The problem is too big, the data too widely available, prevention too rarely attended to until it’s already too late. Your tax returns are the Holy Grail of identity theft because they contain virtually every piece of information a fraudster needs [...]

By John Sileo, CSID consumer security expert It’s nerve racking to realize that the IRS increasingly struggles to control taxpayer identity theft. Since 2008, the IRS has identified 470,000 incidents of identity theft affecting more than 390,000 taxpayers. “Victims of tax-related identity theft are the casualties of a system ill-equipped to deal with the growing proficiency [...]

By John Sileo, CSID consumer security expert The post appears like it’s coming from a known friend. It’s enticing (“check out what our old high school friend does for a living now!”), feeds on your curiosity and good nature, begs you to click. A quick peek at the video, a chance to win a FREE [...]

By John Sileo, CSID consumer security expert Let’s say you ordered winter boots for your spouse on Zappos.com (now part of Amazon), which has world-class customer service. You don’t really even shop the competition because someplace in your brain you already trust Zappos to deliver as they always have. Your unquestioned confidence in Zappos is [...]

By John Sileo, CSID consumer security expert Information is the currency and lifeblood of the modern economy and, unlike the industrial revolution, data doesn’t shut down at dinnertime. As a result, the trend is towards hyper-mobile computing – smartphones and tablets – that connect us to the Internet and a limitless transfusion of information 24-7. [...]

By John Sileo, CSID consumer security expert Identity theft rates skyrocket for travelers. As USA Today noted in a recent article about the topic: Experts say business travelers are especially vulnerable because they increasingly rely on electronic devices that easily can be lost or hacked. Credant Technologies, a data-protection company, found that travelers have lost [...]

By John Sileo, consumer security expert College is the perfect period of life to begin sound financial practices including protecting privacy. Not only are college students vulnerable, but they are impressionable and well positioned to learn strong habits that will last them a lifetime. As students launch into independence, we, as parents, hope to give them [...]

By John Sileo, CSID consumer security expert Data theft has serious implications for business travelers, including a high risk for identity theft. I have a personal experience with identity theft while traveling – it occurred during a trip to Orlando to, ironically, give a speech about avoiding identity theft. Read more about that experience in [...]

By John Sileo, consumer security expert I recently posted the first three  of my seven easy measures to help prevent personal identity theft, including monitoring accounts, using surveillance and opting out of financial junk mail. Below are the remaining four tips, which I encourage you to pass onto your employees after they have begun to [...]

By John Sileo, consumer security expert Businesses everywhere are under assault. Thieves want to access your customer databases, employee records, intellectual property and ultimately your bottom line. More than 80% of businesses surveyed have already experienced at least one breach. Combine this with the average cost to repair data loss—a stunning $7.2 million per incident—and [...]