Another kick to the stomach from today's big news on the Equifax cybersecurity breach. For those who may not know, Equifax announced that cybercriminals got the names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, addresses, and in some cases driver's license numbers, of about 143 million Americans. Yeah, you read that right...they got everything but the kitchen sink for about 44% of the US population.
When the 2016 tax season began, I blogged a heads-up in Those Tricky Tax Scammers about various techniques the scammers were using to part you from your money.
Check out this Live Map at Visual Capitalist showing cyber attacks in real-time. It's kind of like Star Wars overlaid on a map of the world. Both interesting and sobering, as it seems this may be the realm in which much future warfare will be waged.
Want to protect yourself from the latest scams attempting to part you and your hard-earned money? Do you have elderly friends or family that might fall prey to these shysters? The US Senate Special Committee on Aging recently produced a user-friendly, 48-page booklet explaining the top 10 scams targeting seniors. It also provides tips to protect yourself and weblinks and phone numbers to call to report a scam or get help if you've been taken. As I've previously reported, the #1 scam is still getting a phone call from some slimeball impersonating the IRS (some of you will think there's redundancy in that line). The caller lies about back taxes you allegedly owe, demands immediate payment, and often threatens arrest or home foreclosure if you don't pay up.