Identity theft and online scams; are you being too social? Published March 2, 2013 By Senior Airman Christina Bozeman 94th Airlift Wing Public Affairs DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. -- We live in an instant world with handheld devices and lightning speed access to information. However, that's a two-way potentially hazard-filled street. Via e-mail and social networking sites, your information is out there for anyone to potentially get a hold of and use illegally. "There are all kinds of scams and schemes online," said Special Agent Everette F. Route, Air Force Office of Special Investigations. "The internet is not secure." We are constantly inadvertently inundated with new spam-related gimmicks and meeting new strangers. Many could be looking to take advantage of you. One popular scam asks for advanced fees paid for guaranteed loans or credit cards. Do not apply for a "pre-approved" loan or credit card that charges an up-front fee. A reputable credit card company does not charge an annual fee, but it is applied to the balance of the card, never at the sign-up. The Lottery Scam is another trend. You will receive an e-mail informing you that you've won a large sum of money and will congratulate you numerous times throughout the e-mail. However, the catch is before you can receive your millions you must pay a processing fee of several thousand dollars to claim your money. You should never have to front money in a situation like winning the lottery. Similar to the recent Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax, trust-based relationship scams are becoming common, defrauding potential victims by pretending to be Department of Defense members seeking romance or emotional companionship. "Online scammers seek to use DoD members' information, whether real or fake, for three reasons: credibility, plausibility, and emotional appeal," said Neil D. Bethune, 94th Airlift Wing antiterrorism officer. "By appealing to victim's sensibilities the criminal establishes trust and loyalty in order to boost credibility once the scam is proposed." These cyber criminals frequently obtain information for their fabricated military characters from official DoD and social networking websites where DoD families post information about their loved ones. "Use extreme diligence and assume no privacy when posting new information," said Bethune. "Only reveal what you would feel comfortable revealing in a public setting. Never reveal mission-related information, such as your unit, deployment activities, or operations tempo, and request that friends and family do the same." One of the most widespread online scams is the Nigerian Scam, also known as 419, which is where you receive an email from a member of a Nigerian family with wealth desperately trying to get a very large sum of money out of the country. There is also a variation to this scam where a woman in Africa claims her husband died and she wants to leave millions of dollars to a good church. Do not attempt to help or give out any personal information. These are attempts to gain access to your bank accounts. In this day of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it's increasingly harder to keep your personal life private. Is there such a thing as being too social? "The more information you reveal, the more criminals will have at their fingertips," said Route. Geotagging is also a new way for criminals to take advantage of you. This is the process of adding geographical identification to a photo or message. "Disable features on your social networking site or mobile device that automatically broadcast your location," said Bethune. "If you are out and take a photo and post it to a social media site, everyone knows you're not home. This makes one an easy target for Burglary!" If you, like many others, love living on the social edge, be smart about it and limit the amount of information you post about yourself. "Once an identity is stolen online, it's a very slow process to get it taken care of and restored," Route said. "A lot of the people that do these scams aren't even in the United States. The damage can be done quickly, but the recovery process is very slow."
