Birthdays And Identity Theft

does this have anything to do with abbies birthday?


or that mega spammer?

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I couldn't agree more, JC, but that's probably just me being paranoid.

No, I have been meaning to post this for a while.

makes hosting a birthday hard when you can't tell people what day to come on.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Anther thing not to do is: do not announce on Facebook you are on vacation, it is like telling the world no one at your home.

It is one thing for friends and family, the WWW is a whole different crowd..

Besides, the party is always on a Saturday or Friday anyway

Very true Alfred

Batman: "Tarnished reputations are unfortunate, Robin. We can live with those. However, a identity theft is a threat to all of Gotham City and something else."

The California Birth Index site (californiabirthindex.org) lists first, middle and last names, full date of birth, county of birth and mother's maiden name. Don't need much else to steal identity. Many people use mothers' maiden names as proof of identity. Sites that list personal information often state that the information is public record. I guess that means they think it should be OK for them to plaster it all over the web.

Well, mark the birthday threads private to lessen the 'threat'. Or we could just all build huts out in the Ozarks and hide from the world and stockpile can goods and bottled water and go off the grid completely.

and announcing vacation status in groups as well - like i'll be out for the next 2 weeks.

though it usually amazes me when people make up their own wiki page and list pretty much everything about themselves, including family trees and everything else.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I do an awful lot of blatting here but in reality I'm a very private person and it really ticks me off when any site lists personal information about me without my express consent.

Thank you JC!

I don't annouce here exactly when I'm going on vacation. I may mention I have a trip planned, but I don't post dates.

Never had a problem yet, but that's not to say it can't happen. We were getting spam calls about our debit card being disabled and you were supposed to punch in your account number, etc. The minute I got the first call, I called my husband and told him DON'T TO IT LOL. He's a little more gullible online than I am. He even went to the bank and took out 20 bucks just to check. I thought that was silly, I knew it was a scam. People still fall for it, though. My dad infected several computers because he trusted everybody. He even asked me once if he should send the check for $4.50 when someone wanted to process his "contest prize". It was a full-time job keeping him safe from the scammers.

Same considerations for posting about going away on holiday -- read "Dear burglars -- just look me up by my profile..."

Mary ;) In the time it took me to write my post -- posted in & saw you, Alfred,Mike posted similar content before me by mere moments.

Here's another -- when posting about being a widow, or widower...not a good plan.

Might be true for something like Linkdin or an open Spacebook page - but really, an art forum? I don't see too many (even the stupidest) crims thinking that would be a good idea. How many identity thefts would you have to make a month to break even?

Not worth the hassle.

Complacency is its own reward ;)


Carmen

I think it is much better to send that person' their birthday greetings via email than here, most of the time I have no idea who that person is.

Thanks JC

Whenever a website requires I enter my birthdate to register, I lie.

@ Carmen, my dad's been dead for three years in May this year. I still get notifications from Facebook "Do you know....." with my dad's name. Apparently, we were never friends on Facebook (I don't think he actually used it - he didn't know how). He's still up there and I guess he'll be immortalized there forever.

I don't worry about my birthday being online. That's one of the easiest things to find out. I'm careful about other stuff, however.

Melissa, you forgot the chocolate yet again....

We could celebrate very, merry unbirthdays instead..pick a date, any date and make that your special day.

Oh now I feel bad for starting a birthday thread for Abbie...at 5am it seemed like the thing to do.

Don't feel bad Val, Abbie starts them herself and I am sure she appreciates it

Just something they warn us a lot about in cyber security training and thought I would pass it on.

While artists wouldn't seem to be the most lucrative target there are certainly enough emails about buying stuff and sending someone to get it after over payment. There are people that target whatever they can find.

Besides, I never said this thread was all about the forum, now did I?

Thanks JC :)

You're right, JC. I had my full name on Facebook for a while with middle and maiden name included so people could find me. Although that's actually out there forever now, I changed it about 6 months ago back to just "Mary Bedy" so I could really get into advertising my work. No need to have the complete name there any more. I think whoever wanted to find me found me (couple of friends - one from high school and one college roommate). There's nobody else out there I care to reconnect with.

Although that said, I think I'm the only "Mary Bedy" in the states. At least I'm the only one in Michigan. When I search it, the only other one that comes up died in the 1800s.

Most of this information is out there for everyone to see. It isn't hard to find.

Your maiden name, your parent's names, relatives, birthdays, addresses, etc. are out there. Many women keep their maiden names or join them with their married names. They are in town reports, newspapers, school yearbooks, high school, college websites and more. If you live in a small town, to quote "Cheers"...."Everyone knows your name", and very likely, much more.

If someone is calling you and asking for SS, bank and credit card numbers, then I'd be concerned. I never answer my phone if I cannot identify the caller on caller ID.

Unfortunately, JC's warning is a sad commentary on today's society and truthfully so.

I don't think Val should feel bad but I was thanking JC because I don't think we should offer any information other than an art consulting phone number and email. There has been the temptation to go with an art name other than my own, but then that seems so paranoid to me. I agree that it's a nice gesture to celebrate a birthday and so no harm has been done. I've been warned so many times about cyber security at my straight job so I get exactly what JC was trying to say. You would be surprised what a birthday can get you in terms of information on an individual including receiving credit cards and more. It's very easy to figure out a drivers license number and get close to the social security just by a birthday. It's a sad commentary for sure.

And file your taxes early. I already heard of one co-worker of my wife who filed only to find out some crook beat her to it.

On most internet sites, I am a racehorse, born on 1/1/1950. (Not even the right year.) That helps with the problem. I get a lot of birthday messages on Jan 1.