Losing someone you love is devastating and difficult to go through. Now, imagine the horror of discovering their identity has been stolen, their memory tainted by fraud and deceit. What’s even worse is that this isn’t a rare occurrence. In fact, it’s a growing threat.

Scammers prey on the vulnerable, and they don’t discriminate, either.  They steal from the young and old, the rich and poor, tearing apart the lives of those already grappling with immeasurable loss. 

Identity theft after death is not a victimless crime. The consequences are devastating and far-reaching. Consider the financial ruin these predators unleash. Bank [...]

Social media has become the hotspot for scams. It’s easy for a scammer to imitate someone else and create profiles for free. There are endless resources for scammers to generate a free profile; all they have to do is save photos of someone else and create a convincing persona. 

Throughout their history, many social media apps and sites have dealt with bots automatically making posts, adding users, or messaging other users. They followed a set script and would be designed to gain followers, advertise a site or product, or engage in some type of scam. Scammers usually see their efforts thwarted, but they come up with ways to circumvent the roadblocks to prevent them from [...]

Social media sites are nothing new, with their roots going back to the early days of the public internet. At this point, 62.6% of the world is on some form of social media platform. That’s a fairly large portion of the population, meaning that most people can be easily traced online between social media platforms or other publicly available databases. 

Methods of communication and staying in contact with others through the internet are commonplace. Chat rooms, forums, and email all preceded the eventual invention of social media. But with this reach comes a risk of identity theft. 

The kick-off point for most people’s experience with social media [...]

Our phone numbers act as a direct line to us, now more than ever. They’re used as a method of contact and security purposes through two-factor authentication. While giving out your phone number isn’t as serious as providing your social security number, it can be used in ways you might not have imagined. 

A lot of sensitive information can have your phone number attached in some form. With systems like online banking or social media, you may be required to receive text messages to prove you’re the one trying to log in. Scammers can access some of your most sensitive information using just your phone number.

Here’s a quick look [...]