Thursday, March 22, 2018
Could Facebook's breach lead to an identity theft risk for some users?
The enormous concerns over the recent misuse of Facebook
data by British company Cambridge Analytica naturally could raise questions
about possible identity theft.
Is there really a danger?
I would think not. Most of the
data taken, even of “friends” was non-specific, such as likes or sites visited
or purchases. It generally was not PII
as usually understood. So this leak is not as "dangerous" as, say, the Equifax hack.
Some accounts say that facial images were taken. Because facial recognition software exists,
this could present a security problem for individuals. I’ve written before here that people in bars
and discos are more sensitive to photography by strangers now than they were,
say, back in 2010.
However, the Identity Theft Resource Center writes essentially that
there could be some risk from very determined foreign hackers who want to
target someone. .
Thursday, March 08, 2018
Russian identity theft scheme gets past usual fraud detection
Russia’s troll “animal farm” seems even more insidious that
we thought a month ago.
The Russians were able to match up stolen social security numbers
with driver’s licenses, Paypal, credit and bank accounts. The Verge has a more detailed story Feb. 16
by Russell Brandom, here.
That means that the normal fraud detection at institutions
wouldn’t work.
Yet it seems as though this would involve setting up fake
identities that don’t overlap the real person’s activities, otherwise it would
be quickly detected.
The recent practice of porting smartphone numbers could have
been involved.
I wonder about the phone call I just got offering me a $200,000
line of credit for no reason. Is there another
copy of me overseas somewhere? Could I
get arrested if I go overseas over this identity?
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