With “friends” like these – phishers on Facebook committing identity theft – who needs enemies?
Recently, identity thieves went on a “phishing” expedition on social networking site Facebook.com by using the “bait” of fake login pages to “catch” usernames and passwords. They spammed Facebook users through the site’s mail system with one-line messages containing a link to “fbaction.net,” a site that mimicked Facebook’s login screen. When users tried to login, the identity thieves stole their Facebook credentials, thus allowing them login as them and spam everyone on their Friend list.
This attack was only the latest on Facebook, and won’t be the last. Earlier this year, another Facebook user had his account hacked and his online identity stolen. Identity thieves changed his Facebook page to say he needed urgent help and hit up his friends for money. One “real” friend sent them over $1,000.
With over 66 million active users – and almost 250,000 new people signing up every day – Facebook is one of the fastest growing social networking websites in the world. At the same time, it is also a prime target for identity thieves and a variety of identity theft crimes. The format is ripe for phishers because Facebook regularly contacts its users through e-mail, and includes links in those e-mails to login pages. Phishers simply imitate Facebook e-mails and send users to counterfeit login pages that steal passwords.
Keeping your online identity and personal information secure and accurate is becoming more difficult in the Internet age. Security firms are seeing a sharp uptick in attacks on social networks, especially in the amount of phishing for login credentials. Individuals must constantly be on guard against identity theft.
The first step in protecting yourself is to protect your most sensitive personal information. Is it secure, current, and accurate? Now you can find out with a “personal” background check on yourself. While most background check companies only serve large companies, MyBackgroundCheck.com helps individuals who may want their own background checks to take control of their own personal information.
The company also provides background check services for online reputation management. By ordering your own social network or online dating background check and requesting that your new “friends” do the same, you validate both your identity and theirs, and can start your relationship with confidence.
MyBackgroundCheck.com also has recently added new features, resources, and interactivity to its site:
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New Features: Users can invite others to view background checks, share background checks with other network users, access recent activity easily, and send messages to others in network.
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New Resources: Frequently asked questions about background checks and legal issues with background checks.
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New Interactivity: Stay up to date with background check news, receive special offers, display your public profile, and share your ideas and suggestions on how to improve your user experience.
For more information on “personal” background checks, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.
Contact Us @ MyBackgroundCheck.com
tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com
*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!
With the immense popularity of online social networking gathering spots such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, companies that feature background check services should follow suit and make their own websites more interactive, user-friendly, and "social" to attract online customers.
A monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at the top online properties for March 2009 by comScore, Inc. and Media Metrix service revealed that Twitter.com more than doubled its visitor base to over 9 million and ranked as the top-gaining web property for the month. Meanwhile, Facebook.com moved up one spot in the ranking to #9 this month with 61.2 million visitors.
Members of these fast-growing social networking sites should consider ordering "personal" background checks for themselves. Why? Because they will need background checks as jobseekers, students, tenants, volunteers, home help, contractors, dates, and online "friends." Even if they are just concerned individuals interested in preventing identity theft and keeping their personal information secure and accurate, an individual background check is a good idea.
With the number of individual background checks on the rise, MyBackgroundCheck.com – a leading provider of consumer-requested and applicant-supplied background checks worldwide – has re-designed its website to include some exciting new features, resources, and interactivity.
New Features:
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Access common features through the My Account dashboard.
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Invite others to view your investigative background check reports.
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Share your background check reports with users in your network.
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Access your recent activity panel quickly and easily.
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Share your public profile or view other public profiles.
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Search for other MyBackgroundCheck.com users.
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Send messages to others within your own network.
New Resources:
New Interactivity:
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Contact Preferences: Stay up to date with background check news, industry tips, and receive special offers for MyBackgroundCheck.com products and services.
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Public Profile: Your public profile is displayed when other MyBackgroundCheck.com users search our network.
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Feedback: Your feedback is of great value to MyBackgroundCheck.com. Our goal is to empower you to share ideas and to make suggestions for how we may improve your user experience. We will make every effort to accommodate your requests and serve your needs.
With a MyBackgroundCheck.com Account, members can order customized background checks, share the results with anyone, and control their information. For more information, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.
Contact Us @ MyBackgroundCheck.com
tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com
*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!
A recent article by a Singles' Guide asked the question: “Should You Background Check Your Date?”
The author told the story of a recently divorced single mother of two in her twenties who joined a dating website and accepted a date with a man who was attractive, polite, well spoken, and nicely dressed. However, when the woman mentioned her date’s name to her co-worker the next day, she was told never to see him again because he was a convicted felon and had spent several years in jail.
When the woman confronted the man on their second date with what her co-worker had claimed, he admitted that he had been in jail three times, once for robbery and the other times for drugs – convictions that would have shown up on a routine background check. Although she felt like he deserved a second chance, the woman had two small children to think about and wasn’t willing to risk their safety, so she decided to break off the budding relationship. She was left wondering if she should background check all of her future dates.
Stories like this are more common than most people think, especially in today's technology-oriented society, where daily socialization has taken to the computer. With social networking forums like MySpace and Facebook – and a plethora of dating sites such as Match.com and eHarmony.com – you can instantly be connected to individuals around the globe. These communication bases can pose a great risk if you don't know who you are "connecting" with, and background checks are becoming a normal and necessary step for meeting people online.
MyBackgroundCheck.com – a leading provider of personal background checks for individuals – offers a solution to help you decrease risks from predators while increasing your online reputation management with affordable, accurate, and secure background checks. By ordering your own social network or online dating background check and requesting that your contacts do the same, you can validate both your identity and theirs, and proceed into your relationship with confidence.
To order MyBackgroundCheck.com’s social network or online dating background check, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com/SocialNetworking.aspx. To contact us about other background screening packages, please go to www.mybackgroundcheck.com/ContactUs.aspx. For more information about our background check services for jobseekers, tenants, and families, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.
Contact Us @ MyBackgroundCheck.com
*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!
The recent case of Clark Rockefeller…or ‘who ever he is’…could be the most clever cover up in the history of mankind. And the harsh reality is...the person who sleeps beside you each night may not be who you thought.
Every now and then a story comes up where two people meet on a dating website, in a bar, or at a church and later discover, sometimes too late, that the person is broke when they said they were rich or the person is found to be dangerous. This man, Rockefeller, spent over twenty years out of sight of the authorities. An amazing yet disturbing accomplishment, I must add. If he did actually murder someone as authorities suspect, his former wife should feel grateful she is alive.
But this case (and many others) raises a serious question as to why there are not more people taking advantage of the background check technology they have at their fingertips. Technology that overwhelmingly increases their odds of safety in today’s vast world of uncertainty.
Background checks can be ordered by anyone via the web. However, take caution in using the “instant” background check. These database portals may not reveal all of the information you need to know about a person. The price may look good, but the result could be less than accurate. Mr. Rockefeller’s past may not have been revealed in an instant background check search. If he stole someone’s identity that did not have a criminal record, a name search would not give accurate information, particularly if there were more than one Clark Rockefellers out there. A thorough social security trace, credit check, and county criminal search could have uncovered some suspicious information, particularly if he lied about where he lived or worked.
If you didn’t spend your entire life growing up with the one you intend to marry, you may not know who you are chumming up with. Getting a comprehensive personal background check is the best way to secure your happiness. Ask your partner-to-be to order a background check from MyBackgroundCheck.com and you can view it over the secure server when completed. If he or she refuses...well, maybe you should consider the single life again.
Best wishes!
*We welcome relevant comments and questions from consumers, experts, and human resources professionals. Please do not submit comments with advertisements as they will not be posted publicly. Thanks for visiting our blog!