Swiped
How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Identity fraud happens to everyone. So what do you do when it's your turn?
Increasingly, identity theft is a fact of life. We might once have hoped to protect ourselves from hackers with airtight passwords and aggressive spam filters, and those are good ideas as far as they go. But with the breaches of huge organizations like Target, AshleyMadison.com, JPMorgan Chase, Sony, Anthem, and even the US Office of Personnel Management, more than a billion personal records have already been stolen, and chances are good that you're already in harm's way.
This doesn't mean there's no hope. Your identity may get stolen, but it doesn't have to be a life-changing event. Adam Levin, a longtime consumer advocate and identity fraud expert, provides a method to help you keep hackers, phishers, and spammers from becoming your problem.
Levin has seen every scam under the sun: fake companies selling "credit card insurance"; criminal, medical, and child identity theft; emails that promise untold riches for some personal information; catphishers, tax fraud, fake debt collectors who threaten you with legal action to confirm your account numbers; and much more. As Levin shows, these folks get a lot less scary if you see them coming.
With a clearheaded, practical approach, Swiped is your guide to surviving the identity theft epidemic. Even if you've already become a victim, this strategic book will help you protect yourself, your identity, and your sanity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this alarming book, Levin, a consumer advocate and founder of the consulting agency Identity Theft 911, warns about the prominent dangers of identity fraud in the increasingly digital world. Levin details the numerous ways in which individuals can "get got," citing several real-world examples, such as the ramifications of a seemingly harmless photo of a Target employee that went viral after a customer tweeted it. He explains how information is ripe for the swiping by criminals who make stealing identities their full-time job. Levin's proactive and (mostly) practical approach to combating what he considers the inevitable includes the "Three Ms": minimize your exposure, monitor your accounts, and manage the damage. He breaks down common types of identity theft sources credit card scams, data breaches, social media posts, healthcare fraud, and even so-called "smart TVs" and concludes that "when it comes to the security of our data, we are all in the same state of emergency." Appendices make up nearly one-fourth of the book with true stories of fraud and a glossary of scams. If Levin's objective was to convince readers they will become victims of identity theft, mission accomplished. This isn't as much a solution-based handbook as it is a primer on the potential dangers and what's at stake.
