In the past, televisions, radio sets, and game consoles were considered good entertainment. That was all altered with the creation of the internet. Oregon’s ISP Wild Blue brings fresh media right to you at super fast file transfer speeds up to thirty times quicker than dialup. Live speeds may vary. Nobody wants to be kept from their favorite web pages, with Wild Blue you’ll be able to browse as often as you like. Want to check out MySpace? Simple. CNN.com? A breeze. Wild Blue internet makes the world your oyster. Need applications? The internet is where you’ll find them. You can choose from millions of distinct programs including free word processors, money or language converters and thesauruses.
Wild Blue internet lets you participate in things like social networking which lets you chat with your acquaintances and find more. Networking web pages such as Twitter or Facebook and video sharing web pages like YouTube are extremely popular right now. Don’t miss out. Social bookmarking web pages let you rate and check individual web pages while sharing them with others. Relish a meaty public debate? There are millions of web forums and web-based diaries ready for your input.
Finding music with the Wild Blue ISP and online audio platforms such as iTunes allows you to you enjoy the songs you hold dear while skimming the ones you don’t. Download the tunes held dearest to you without having to buy the whole album. Picking direct tv wireless internet service will open up an exciting domain of electronic fun. Access audio books, films, podcasts and many other electronic products with a click.
If you’ve missed episodes of your favorite television show or you have a desire to check out a movie but can’t get to the rental shop, Wild Blue internet lets you watch the shows you want in your own home. Streaming television programs and films is easy. You choose from free and paid web pages. Do you want to play with your pals in an MMORPG? Would you take more fun from a more informal page that offers an enormous selection of card, puzzle and arcade games? No matter what you choose, the internet made it happen. With so many available, isn’t it time you joined up with an excellent direct tv satellite ISP? If you have unobstructed views of the southern sky then Wild Blue in Mississippi can show you an affordable and highly dependable service.
Due to the utter and complete failure of the Federal Trade Commission to curb SPAM after being chosen to enforce the CAN SPAM Act the FTC has determined it needs help. The FTC therefore put forth initiatives to work with other nations in international cooperation. Originally this made sense, but upon further review it appears to me to be just another FTC scam in my opinion to spend taxpayer’s money so FTC employees can jet set around the world visiting other nations.
In a recent report to the United States Congress the FTC attempted to justify the international efforts even though SPAM had increased under their watch by stating that:
“Spammers, spyware operators, fraudulent telemarketers, and other scam artists know no national boundaries, and can strike quickly on a global scale. As a result, the FTC has implemented a comprehensive program to combat cross-border consumer protection law violations. This includes a recently released report on proposed legislation to improve the FTC’s ability to combat cross- border consumer protection law violations. In October 2004 the FTC announced the “London Action Plan on International Spam Enforcement Cooperation ” endorsed by 26 agencies from 20 countries and seven private sector organizations from four continents. The FTC continues to develop new bilateral and multilateral enforcement partnerships and to strengthen existing ones. In January 2005, the FTC announced that it had entered into a new consumer protection enforcement memorandum of understanding with its counterpart consumer protection agency in Mexico. The FTC also continues to work closely with Canadian agencies on cross-border telemarketing issues. The FTC’s goal is to ensure that consumer protection rules outside the United States focus on practices that distort consumer choice and raise a serious threat to the proper functioning of markets.”
Sounds great right? Indeed, yet when I reviewed this I noticed that homosexual employees at the FTC who might have HIV AIDS were traveling on these enforcement missions on the taxpayer’s dollar, yet I found few if any Spammers who were actually prosecuted or spyware operators who were stopped. Yes, to their credit there were a few, but in reality, SPAM continues to increase in my inbox. How about yours? My question in this personal opinion article is this; Is the Federal Trade Commission doing anything at all where we have empirical proof and results that they are in fact preventing fraud, SPAM or Spyware on the Internet? Show me the results; talk is cheap. Consider this in 2006.
“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
The Federal Trade Commission has allowed two laptops to be stolen in Scottsdale, Arizona which contained personal information of one hundred and ten employees. Yep personal information like social security numbers, date of birth, names and addresses too. Can you believe the utter incompetence of this? Remember the Federal Trade Commission is suppose to be in charge of Identity Theft not violate its own employees personal information? How can an agency which is suppose to protect the American People from things like Phishing, SPAM, SPIT and Identity Theft allow this to happen? What incompetence indeed.
The report states; ” The personal information was gathered in law enforcement investigations and included, variously, names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and in some instances, financial account numbers.” Holy Toledo, what a major screw up, this really looks bad doesn’t it? Do you feel safe now with your personal information? I sure do not? So what is the FTC doing about it now? Oh nothing really they opened an investigation to cost taxpayer’s more money on top of the stolen laptops and called the FBI to help them sense obviously the Federal Trade Commission cannot stop Identity Theft? Consider all this in 2006.
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Lance Winslow |
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Most of us take summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty that a new ominous scam has surfaced in the last several years. This new “jury duty” scam is the latest in a series of identity theft “phishing schemes”. Fall for it, and whammo, your identity has been stolen.
The first jury duty scam was reported in upper New York State in 2001. Since then it’s been reported in at least 13 additional states, including Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, California, Maryland, Illinois, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington State.
This ‘jury duty’ scheme might best be categorized as a “social engineering” scam and works something like this:
Con artists contact people by phone to assert that those they’ve targeted have evaded jury duty and warrants are being issued for their arrest. When the victims rightly protest that they’ve never received such jury duty notification, the scammer goes after what he really wants, (for verification purposes only, of course) which is his pigeons’ personal and financial information. Under threat of being hauled off to jail unless they succeed in straightening out this terrible mess, many people, (who would otherwise be more wary about what they reveal of their personal data), will find themselves reeling off their birth dates, social security and credit card numbers in an effort to convince their callers that the tp:notification had never arrived, or were never meant for them in the first place.
It’s easy to see how this might work. The victims are clearly caught off guard, and are understandably upset at the prospect of an arrest warrant being issued. It preys upon people’s general unquestioning acceptance of authority and willingness to cooperate in order to extract from them sensitive information.
How to Avoid Falling Victim to ‘Jury Duty’ Scams:
Be assured that court workers will very rarely, if ever, telephone to say you’ve missed jury duty, or that they are assembling juries and need to pre-screen those who might be selected to serve on them. So dismiss as fraudulent any phone calls of this nature. Keep in mind that about the only time you would ever hear, by telephone (rather than by mail), anything having to do with jury service, would be after you’ve mailed back your completed questionnaire, and even then only rarely.
This latest scam reinforces, once again, that you should never give out bank account, social security, or credit card numbers over the phone if you didn’t initiate the call ~ whether it be to someone trying to sell you something or to someone who claims to be from a bank or government department. If such callers insist upon “verifying” such information with you, have them read the data to you from their notes, with you verifying it, rather than the other way around.
And a word to the wise ~ Carefully examine your credit card and bank account statements every month, keeping an eye peeled for unauthorized charges. If you notice anything you didn’t approve, challenge it immediately!
DL Consultants, LLC
www.VigilanceandSecurity.com
Ask anyone who’s ever been robbed of their identity, and they’ll tell you that it typically takes years to recover from such a violation. This extremely personal crime goes far beyond using someone else’s name to make a hefty purchase at a department store. In addition to credit card charges, bank account withdrawals, social security tampering and a number of other ways in which your life would be impacted, unrelated crimes can also be committed - in your name - for which you may be held responsible.
It’s pretty safe to assume that when you hear the phrase “identity theft,” you’ll know immediately what’s being discussed. Not many folks, however, are aware that criminal identity theft takes this type of crime a step beyond simply racking up charges on someone else’s credit cards.
In fact, criminal identity theft is the term used when an individual poses as someone else when confronted by a law enforcement officer. In other words, if someone - who has taken on your identity - is arrested or approached in any way by a law enforcement official and they offer some form of ID that identifies them by your name, then the line has been crossed from identity theft to criminal identity theft.
By obtaining vital documents, such as a driver’s license, social security card and other legal documents in your name, they can effectively “become” you. In some cases, these individuals build a life for themselves in some other part of the world and, unless some red flag goes up on your end, you might never know it until something drastic takes places, such as an arrest warrant that’s issued in your name.
Obtaining a job, buying a home, taking out a loan and every other area that you can think of will be impacted if such an event takes place. In most cases, it takes a specific set of circumstances that brings about the knowledge that criminal identity theft has been committed. Some examples of this would be the discovery that there’s a criminal record in your name that renders you ineligible for a particular job, the denial of a loan or application for a mortgage as the result of unsatisfied debts that you didn’t incur or an arrest as the result of an outstanding warrant in your name when you’re simply stopped for a routine traffic violation or safety belt check.
The real tragedy here is that the burden of proof is on the victim when it comes time to clear up these issues, which can take years in the legal system and cost thousands of dollars as the judicial clock continues to count down the minutes until you’re able to prove that you are, in fact, who you claim to be and did not commit the crimes of which you’ve been accused. This particular type of criminal activity occurs more often than you might imagine and has devastated the lives of countless innocent people.
If you should be the target of criminal identity theft, here are just a few of the things that you can do in order to begin the process of clearing your name within the legal system:
- Report the misidentification to your local law enforcement agency
- File an official impersonation report
- Gain knowledge of the particular laws within your state regarding criminal identity theft and your rights as a victim
- Insist that the law enforcement agency who takes the impersonation report files a copy with the authorities in the state or county where the perpetrator resides
- Contact the Motor Vehicle Department, in the event that your license has been violated
- Check to see if your state has any victims’ rights groups or other advocates who can help you to win your case
- Hire an attorney that has experience with criminal identity theft
Don’t let someone ruin your good name - take the necessary steps to protect your documents and other means of identification. Otherwise, there may be an imposter out there who will be laughing all the way to the jail cell - yours.
The author grants reprint permission to all venues so long as the copyright and by-line are included intact.
Copyright © 2005 Preventing Identity Theft.com All Rights Reserved.
About the Author: Nikki Greene is dedicated to helping you become better informed when it comes to preventing identity theft. Sign up for her “Preventing Identity Theft Newsletter” and keep up with the latest trends, identity theft in the news, and how you can safeguard your identity: http://www.preventing-identity-theft.com/
To reduce or minimize the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud, there are some basic steps you can take.
The most important one is to ask periodically for a copy of your credit report. This is crucial because it is the surest and quickest way to determine if someone is using your name. Your credit report should list all bank and financial accounts under your name, and will provide other indications of whether someone has wrongfully opened or used any accounts in your name. Any discrepancies should send up a red flag for you.
Next, be careful about giving out your personal information to others unless you have a reason to trust them. Start by adopting a “need to know” approach to your personal data.
Your credit card company may need to know your mother’s maiden name, so that it can verify your identity when you call to inquire about your account, but a person who instead calls you does not need to know that information. Also, limit the personal information you have on your bank checks.
Be suspicious of someone who calls you on the telephone and offers you the chance to receive a credit card, for instance, and asks you for personal information. Request that he send you a written application form. If they refuse, tell them you are not interested and hang up.
If you’re traveling, have your mail held at your local post office or ask someone you trust to collect your mail while you are gone.
Do not give out personal information when you are on the telephone in a public place where people can listen in to your conversation.
Check your financial information (credit report) regularly, and look for what should be there and what shouldn’t.
And remember to ask periodically for a copy of your credit report.
To obtain the excellent credit report service, avoid becoming a Victim of Identity Theft, get FREE online Credit Report, make your Credit Score higher or correct your credit visit Legalhelper ( http://www.legalhelper.ws ).
Your credit score is important for obtaining credit. Your credit score is important to know, whether you need a new credit card, an auto loan, or a mortgage. Lenders use your credit scores to decide whether you are a good credit risk. If you have a high credit score, you are more likely to obtain the best rates.
About The Author
Alex Katz - Security Analyst
I’m here to teach you about how RSS Feeds can boost traffic for your website. You may have heard of it, but I guarantee you are not harnessing the full power of the tool. RSS Feeds are very hot, and the marketing pro’s are getting their websites listed in Google within 2 to 3 days.
What is an RSS Feed?
RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” Think of RSS this way: Whenever a writer who belongs to a syndicate writes a column, they don’t just write it for their local paper, every article goes up on the newswire and any paper who belongs to the syndicate can reprint it.
First, you have to download an RSS Reader, a program that combines all the news online in one place. You can download a reader for free at www.RssReader.com. Once you’ve downloaded a reader, you can click any topic that suits your need, and only those topics will be delivered right to you..
Why would I put RSS on my website?
An RSS feed can be thought of like this. Let’s take five news sources (Yahoo, MSN, CNN, ESPN, FOX). An RSS reader would scan all five news sources and take each headline and create a summary of the article. Now, you can actually sort the news stories and have only the ones you are interested in delivered right to your website from all five news sources.
Search Engines are crawling websites and looking for fresh content. If you have an RSS Feed, you are getting up to the minute news stories. These constantly change whenever a new story comes out. The Search Engines will give you a higher Page Rank because it thinks your page is updated on a regular basis.
How do I add one to my website?
I tried an RSS Feed for the first time, and it took less than five minutes. Here’s what it looks like:
Bush Celebrates Shuttle’s Launch (AP)
NASA sends shuttle back into space after long pause (Reuters)
Shuttle Discovery Blasts Into Orbit (AP)
NASA’s aging workhorse returns to space (AFP)
NASA Returns to Flight as Discovery Reaches Orbit (SPACE.com / LiveScience.com)
As you can see, this is my very first RSS Feed. All the news stories within the last hour regarding the shuttle launch are now listed for me and my visitors to read. Guess what? It took less than 5 minutes, and I instantly have an RSS Feed.
Why do I need one?
Search Engines are crawling your site and if you are not providing quality, up to the minute content then you are getting placed further down the rankings. Your competition who has this information is getting FREE advertising from the Search Engines who are placing their page 1st or 2nd when users search for a particular keyword.
How do I put an RSS Feed on my site?
You can now place an RSS Feed on your website in THREE easy steps.
• Step 1: Search for topics that you are currently interested in (use Yahoo).
When you see an orange RSS or XML box like the one above, you know that article is compatible with a feed. Copy the URL of the webpage.
• Step 2: Go to http://www.feeddigest.com and paste the URL in the digest for them to create a two line code for your webpage. You can also copy and paste the long page of code if you understand programming.
• Step 3: In Frontpage, Go to Insert - a web component - html markup and paste the two or three line script that RSS Digest gave you. Check it out! Your first RSS Feed!
Try it yourself right now, create your first RSS feed in under five minutes, FREE! The only way you can truly learn about them is for you to JUMP in FEET FIRST!
Kit Elliott is the author of The Traffic Toolchest. His ethical approach to marketing makes him one of the top experts in his field. His highly anticipated book Super Affiliates Guide to Riches is expected to launch by mid-August 2005 at http://www.superaffiliate.com . Check out The Traffic Toolchest at http://www.thetraffictoolchest.com to get over 70 valuable marketing tools.
