You know?  I must really give them a lot of credit.  These scam artists are becoming so creative.  Sometimes, I am wondering how they can come up with all of their ideas for scamming people.  How do they think of all of them?  Do they have the storm sessions where they get together and deliberate, put together a plan, prognosticate and have a trial run?  Do they have a manual of sorts on how to steal someone’s identity?  Who comes up with all of those “bright” ideas?

Since I have done some acting gigs and yes, you can find my name on www.IMDB.com, I do not think I have created a big enough of an audience yet.  Not to the point of having a fan base.  So, one day I receive an email from a “fan” gushing about my work and saying he is a big fan and he wants to request my headshot with my signature as he thinks I will get noticed sooner or later.  Isn’t it exciting? Someone actually likes my work!  “Really?”  I thought to myself, “Hmm, there is only one credit on IMDB, the rest did not make it there.  How would this man know what I have done?”  I am a very curious person by nature so I decided to email this person back.  In my response, I, as a very polite person, thanked him for noticing my work and asked him what project of mine he liked the most, which ones has he seen and so on.  I have not heard back from him.  Then, a few weeks later, he sent me an email in which he seemed very impatient with me “Why haven’t you sent me your headshot with your autograph yet? I am still waiting!”  I kindly replied saying that he has never answered my questions.  In addition, I requested his full name and his residence address.  Did I ever get a response back?  Take a wild guess.

Or, here is another example.  I have not looked for a job in about 3 years now.  Recently, I got an email from an “employer” saying that they got my employment application submission.  By the way, it was sent to my business email.  They have reviewed my application, but my qualifications did not meet their requirements.  (Darn it!  I think it would have been the best job in the world.  I just do not what exactly the job was).  Anyhow, the sender advised me that my “application and other documents” are being returned and are contained in the attached zip folder.  They were trying to infect my little computer with a giant virus!

Please people! Do not open any attachments, especially zipped files, from senders you do not know!   Please do not follow any links you are provided with.  Let me tell you this: the legitimate employer (job poster) will most likely call you if interested after you have submitted your resume.  Or, if they are not interested in what you have to offer as an employee, they may send you a thank you note, but they will never return your application.

From reading my blog, it seems that the danger is on every corner.  Almost sounds that it would make more sense to not even have a computer, not communicate with anyone, not to send any mail out and so on, but this is not what I mean when I write about the risks and dangers of an identity theft and fraud.  This crime does exist and is growing at the accelerated rate.  It does not discriminate against age, race, your social status, etc.  Anybody could become a victim.  I do not mean to make you paranoid, but I do want to make you a little bit more aware.  Do not wait until something happens to you-take steps to reduce the risk.  It is kind of like driving a car.  You know there is the risk of being in the accident every time you get on the road, but you realize it pays to be a defensive driver.  In this case, the identity theft and fraud prevention, I say “Let’s take a passive-aggressive approach!”