It’s no secret that fraudsters increase their activity and fraud attempts during the holiday season when many merchants are at peak volume, but considering other fraud factors ACI Worldwide predicts a more than 40 percent increase in fraud this holiday season. Meanwhile the FBI warns of fraudulent merchants, mobile apps with malware and work from
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Following a data breach involving over 500 million accounts and a delay in notifying the public or impacted parties, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) started an investigation into the Yahoo data breach at the request of a Senator. Later at a Senate Committee meeting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cited the Yahoo breach reiterating
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A recent study cataloging prices across English- and Russian-language fraudster forums examined 320 purchases for stolen payment, identity and log-in information earning hackers between $1 million and $2 million, while the fraudsters using this information from less than half of these transactions were able to steal between $1.7 million and $3.4 million. These estimates
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Multiple studies have recently shown that across all age groups it is Millennials who are most likely to fall victim to scams carried out via telephone or SMS, as well as fall prey online while displaying careless habits. These digital natives are the most comfortable with mobile devices and eCommerce, but also the most trusting
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While the number of data breaches that occurred in 2015 stayed nearly the same as from the year before, the number of personal records compromised in data breaches almost doubled to over 169 million, the highest total since 2009. Some of the largest breaches in 2015 were in the health care industry which often included
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Between February and May fraudsters used compromised consumer information to obtain more detailed tax payer data via the IRS’s “get transcripts” web service for consumers. The IRS estimates there were 200,000 unauthorized attempts or lookups to gain access to copies of previous year tax returns, more than half of which were successful, leading to as
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The late 2013 data breach impacting 70 million Target customers continues to cost the company which in their latest financial statements reported $4 million in related expenses for Q4 2014. The total loss to Target for 2013 and 2014 related to the data breach was $162 million, but would have been even larger if not
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This week the White House proposed the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, which seeks to set a national standard for data breach notification requirements replacing the patchwork of separate laws across 47 states. If passed into law, this act would strengthen and more clearly define what is required of organizations that suffer data breaches,
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Less than $10 can purchase a scan of a false passport, driver’s license, or credit card with online delivery within seconds. Cyber criminals take false identities to a new level through do-it-yourself websites selling scans of fake passports, ID cards, utility bills, and credit cards that fraudsters purchase and use to commit identity fraud. Read
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Tax refund fraud is a growing crime that costs the federal government billions each year. Eleven members of an identity fraud ring responsible for millions in fraudulent tax refunds were recently arrested in South Florida, an area where identity theft and tax refund fraud are significantly higher than the national average. Read More
