The data of 533 million Facebook users has been published on a low-level hacker forum.The information is believed to have been copied in 2019 or earlier from Facebook user pages and includes phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, birthdates, bios and email...
Internet Scam & Alerts
Q1 2021 Data Breach Report Reveals Sharp Rise in Individuals Impacted by a Compromise
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s (ITRC) Q1 2021 Data Breach Report, data compromises are up 12 percent, and the number of individuals impacted 564 percent compared to Q4 2020. The rise is in large part to 59 late-reported...
Identity Management Day 2021 and The Increasing Threat of Credential Theft
Identity Management Day 2021 is about informing people of the dangers of improperly managing and securing digital identities. It is also designated to share best practices. The biggest threat...
Identity Theft Resource Center® Reports 564 Percent Increase in Individuals Impacted by Data Compromises in Q1 2021
While the number of data compromises is only up slightly (12 percent increase in Q1 2021), individuals impacted is on a steep rise due to more supply chain attacks in 2021 SAN DIEGO, April 7, 2021 – Today,...
Traditional Identity Theft Declines; Identity Fraud Cases Rise
According to a report from Javelin Strategies, traditional identity theft is declining. However, what one might think of as identity theft is being replaced by identity fraud.trend identified by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) in 2020. Cybercriminals...
FBI Report Shows a Sharp Cybercrime Increase Over the Last Five Years
According to the FBI’s annual report on cybercrime, in 2016, nearly 300,000 cybercrime reports were filed with the FBI. The total impact of the cybercrimes was $1.5 billion. In late 2020, the number of crimes reported more than doubled to almost...
Google Photo Sharing Scam Aims to Steal Your Credentials
A new Google Photo sharing scam is the latest attempt to steal your credentials to hack and access your accounts.You receive a message claiming to be from Google Photo that says someone is sharing a photo album with you. You’re asked to log into your account, except...
COVID Vaccine Fraud Concerns Rise as More People Become Eligible for Shots
As more people get the coronavirus vaccine, the level of COVID vaccine fraud could rise, particularly around vaccine passport and scheduling apps and vaccination cards.Right now, there are no programs in the U.S. that use or require a vaccine passport app. If anyone...
New CCPA Regulation Makes it Easier for Consumer Privacy Opt-Out
The California Attorney General announced a new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulation that bans a business practice that makes it more difficult for consumer privacy opt-out. The new CCPA regulation means businesses will...
Accellion Data Breach Involving Sensitive Information Impacts Multiple Entities
IT security provider Accellion suffered an attack on their file-sharing product. It resulted in multiple entities being impacted by the Accellion data breach, including the Office of the Washington State...
Supply Chain Attacks Continue to Impact High-Profile Companies and Agencies
While there were only a handful of supply chain attacks in 2020, there have already been three high-profile attacks in 2021 with the Accellion data breach, the SITA data breach and the Microsoft Exchange server attack. The Identity...
Unemployment Benefits Fraud Totals Could Be Over $200 Billion
ID.me shares with the ITRC in the newest Fraudian Slip podcast exploring the latest identity theft trends According to ID.me Founder and CEO Blake Hall, the ultimate unemployment...
Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) to be the Second Strongest Privacy Law in the U.S.
The Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) will be the second strongest privacy law in the U.S., modeled after California privacy laws. It is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2023. The VCDPA is not limited to people who live...
Facebook Grant Scam Baits Social Media Users Looking for COVID-19 & Tax Relief
Facebook and Instagram users are being targeted by cybercriminals promoting fake grants, particularly grants for COVID-19 relief. Recent grant scams reported to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) include requests...
SBA Loan Identity Fraud Continues to Grow into 2021
In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received nearly 100,000 business or personal loan fraud reports, many of them related to Small Business Administration (SBA) loan identity fraud.That’s more than double the number of loan fraud reports from a year earlier....
The Benefits and Risks of a Digital Wallet and Mobile Payment App
Digital wallets, an electronic version of payment cards and accounts, and mobile payment apps have become more popular during the global pandemic. U.S. users jumped from 38 percent to 55 percent of smartphone owners in 2020 because...
Big Changes for Mobile Device Privacy and its Effect on the Internet
Changes are about to happen when it comes to mobile device privacy. Privacy advocates have long sought regulations in the U.S. to mandate opt-in requirements rather than opt-out. In the spring, Apple will change their mobile operating...
Why the Rise in Phishing Attacks Continues into 2021
The Identity Theft Resource Center’s (ITRC) 2020 Data Breach Report shows 62 percent of cyberattacks that led to data breaches in 2020 involved phishing and ransomware. A Google and Stanford University study reveals that people with...
Latest IRS Text Scam Claims Your Return Has Been Rejected
An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) text scam is circulating to get consumers’ personal information, which may put them at further risk of tax identity crimes. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), imposter scams...
2020 Fraud Trends Show a Rise in Imposter, Online Shopping and Phone Scams
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), imposter scams were the top reported fraud in 2020. The FTC had approximately 500,000 reports of the scam, leading to an estimated $1.2 billion in lost funds. The Identity...
Washington State Data Breach: Steps to Take and Victim Resources
1.6 Million people who filed for unemployment claims in 2020 in Washington state have had their personal information exposed in a data breach. The Washington State data breach was due to data stolen from a third-party company,...