Cyber Crime

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership of the Federal Bureau of Investigaiton (FBI)_ and the National Whtie Collar Crime Cneter (NW3C). The IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, dlevelop and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanind arena of cyber crime. Unfortunately, this is a rapidly growing problem all over the world. You must be very careful and be suspicious at all times. Don't give out your social security number to anyone (or a machine) that calls and asks for the last 4 digits of your SS#. I received a call once from a computer claiming to be my bank and they needed my last 4 digits of my SS#. I was suspicious since they were calling me at work on a back line. I hung up and called my bank. I went through at least 3 people and eventually they informed me that no one had called me asking for my SS#. Obviously, this was a computer just calling random numbers hoping that idiots would give out their social security number. If you have elderly parents, please warn them. They are the most trusting and are often taken advantage of by evil people. I've been paying my father's bills for over 5 years and occasionally I get some bogus mastercard or visa for an amount under $400. Since I pay all his bills, I know it's totally bogus. When I write the company on my legal stationery, I never hear from them again. Unfortunately, my father fell for this scam and I think he got on a "sucker" list. I worry about how much money he lost before I took over paying his bills. Read your bills very carefully. I have found several unauthorized charges on my credit cards. I have also received papers that look like bills but when I read the fine print they are just soliciting my business. There is one company that does a great job looking like the AT&T yellow pages but if you read to the bottom of the page in very small print it admits they are not AT&T. Same goes for "Who's Who" groups. I get "chosen" on a regular basis to be included in ....'s Who's Who. They are rip offs and a total waste of time and money. Summary, be suspicious and don't be afraid to ask for proof that you authorized this charge.