Book Description
From cyberspace to crawl spaces, new innovations in information gathering have left the private life of the average person open to scrutiny, and worse, exploitation. In this thoroughly revised update of his immensely popular guide How to Be Invisible, J.J. Luna shows you how to protect yourself from these information predators by securing your vehicle and real estate ownership, your bank accounts, your business dealings, your computer files, your home address, and more.J.J. Luna, a highly trained and experienced security consultant, shows you how to achieve the privacy you crave and deserve, whether you just want to shield yourself from casual scrutiny or take your life savings with you and disappearing without a trace. Whatever your needs, Luna reveals the shocking secrets that private detectives and other seekers of personal information use to uncover information and then shows how to make a serious commitment to safeguarding yourself.There is a prevailing sense in our society that true privacy is a thing of the past. Filled with vivid real life stories drawn from the headlines and from Luna's own consulting experience, How to Be Invisible, Revised Edition is a critical antidote to the privacy concerns that continue only to grow in magnitude as new and more efficient ways of undermining our personal security are made available. Privacy is a commonly-lamented casualty of the Information Age and of the world's changing climate-but that doesn't mean you have to stand for it.
Customer Reviews:
Good ideas but difficult to implement.......2007-09-01
Before you even read this book, you need to bear in mind that the author lived in the Canary Islands under Franco's fascist rule, and developed his lifestyle as a response to that.
This book is fairly good but a little paranoia-inducing, and covers the idea of creating a high level of personal security and protecting your privacy. It's a good idea, whether you're running from crazy killers or trying to avoid bill collectors or just don't want everyone in the world to know where you live. However, for many readers who are immediately spurred to take action, the suggestions are a bit unfeasible. If you have been using your home address for years and suddenly switch to a ghost address (private box or other non-residential address), how are you going to expunge your residential from all your old records? Luna recommends renting over buying, in that it is easier to suddenly vacate the premises if necessary, and so he would probably recommend moving somewhere else and never using that address on any official records, but clearly, that is not feasible for most people.
Much of what he recommends is common sense, like using a cross-cut shredder to dispose of all documents, which would seem intuitively obvious but not enough people do it. Readers of the book should use it as a guideline and follow his suggestions until they feel more comfortable about their level of personal security.
some useful information.......2007-06-14
At least this author doesn't rant against the government and tell the reader not to pay taxes. It is a more reasonable book than the last one I read. Some of the information is obvious, like not receiving mail at your home. Some of it is interesting - he recommends LLCs repeatedly, and just coincidentally happens to have someone in New Mexico who can hook you up. I don't know how useful his information is for the ordinary person who needs to hide from an abusive spouse, for instance. I still think that The Gift of Fear is the best book on that subject.
Ah that balancing act between freedom and law-abiding citizenship!.......2007-06-13
Luna (as does anyone who writes a book on how to maintain your privacy in an age of vanishing private spaces), has to walk a tightrope between being a responsible citizen, who abides by our laws, vs. establishing one's personal space, inviolable and free from intrusion. Although Luna's expositions of the various strategies to establish "invisibility" in the key areas of privacy ( residence, finances, activities, conversations, travel, and personal liaisons) requires significant effort and time investment, his thoughtful and straight discussion about each area, and how his strategies have evolved, makes it clear that he knows his territory, and that his recommendations are products of a smart, pragmatic, methodical, yet prudent man, one who is neither cowed by the myriad "authorities" who endlessly demand and document, and sell, our private information to others, nor (on the other hand) influenced by any "anti-government" axe to grind, or fanaticism. Thus, I felt I could trust his advice. In fact, Luna truly presents an inspiring model to follow: he is clearly living a life both private and peaceful, while maintaining a stance of quiet tough "standing up for" himself, and sharing with his readers his "spunk" and "attitude" as to how to still find "liberty and the pursuit of happiness", free from prying eyes and big brother, in our America. Highly recommended book! Thank you Mr.Luna, you mysterious shade-sporting guy
Keep your money and your privacy........2007-06-06
This book is awesome. I have only tried a few of his methods from his book. It is well written and easy to understand. His website gives you additional information and resource tools.
how to be invisible.......2007-06-05
This book is only for someone who is running from the law, or from the government for some reason. I did not find it helpful for me. The ideas in this book are unreasonable unless for some reason you are wanted and people are really looking for you. I should have been titled how to run from the law.
Book Description
The bestselling author of The Inner Circle and Drop City returns with a timely new novel about a woman in desperate pursuit of a man who has stolen her identity
The first time Bridger saw Dana she was dancing barefoot, her hair aflame in the red glow of the club, her body throbbing with rhythms and cross-rhythms that only she could hear. He was mesmerized. That night they were both deaf, mouthing to each other over the booming bass. And it was not until their first date, after he had agonized over what CD to play in the car, that Bridger learned that her deafness was profound and permanent. By then, he was falling in love.
Now she is in a courtroom, her legs shackled, as a list of charges is read out. She is accused of assault with a deadly weapon, auto theft, and passing bad checks, among other things. Clearly there has been a terrible mistake. A man—his name is William “Peck” Wilson as Dana and Bridger eventually learn—has been living a blameless life of criminal excess at Dana's expense. And as Dana and Bridger set out to find him, they begin to test to its limits the life they have started to build together.
Talk Talk is both a thrilling road trip across America and a moving story about language, love, and identity from one of America's finest novelists.
Customer Reviews:
Another great novel from Boyle.......2007-10-07
One of the great plots in suspense fiction involves the innocent man wrongly accused, probably best exemplified by the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Of course, for most readers and viewers, the possibility of being framed for a murder is unlikely, at best. On the other hand, identity theft, which also leads to the innocent being wrongly accused, is a much more realistic event. Sure, the consequences are less than possibly life in prison, but it is truly something that can happen to almost anyone.
T.C. Boyle's Talk Talk focuses on the repercussions of identity theft. In this case, the victim is Dana Halter, a deaf woman in her thirties. One day, after getting pulled over for running a stop sign, she is arrested on a series of outstanding warrants. The charges are dismissed relatively quickly when it is apparent that someone was impersonating her, but not before Dana has spent a weekend in jail. She is now an angry, traumatized woman with a lot of financial and job problems, but a bit of cleverness allows her to get on the trail of the thief. Along with her boyfriend, Bridger Martin, she goes out to seek justice.
The criminal is a clever low-life named William "Peck" Wilson, a man with little in the way of conscience who never thinks of himself as a criminal; it is always others who push him into his acts. Although Dana and Bridger have started to track him, he is also aware that they are onto him, leading to a cat-and-mouse chase spanning from California to New York.
As is typical with Boyle, this is an entertaining read. Not usually known for writing thrillers, Boyle shows that he does it well when given a chance. His characters are all multi-dimensional and his plotting is great. It doesn't matter if you've never read Boyle before: Talk Talk is an excellent read for any fans of suspense fiction.
Reader Robbed of Delicious Denouement?.......2007-09-16
TC Boyle never disappoints when it comes to building a community of characters. People you get to know and live with. You may not like them, you may not agree with their motivations, you may not want to accept why they are who they are or why they do what they do...but there is no mistaking the details of their lives; the pieces that are revealed to you quietly nudging you to live it with them.
So, about 80 pages before Talk Talk ends, the set up was there! Dana & Bridger had him! The jerk who had stolen their identity was about to get snagged--and the people closest to the jerk, were there to watch, to witness, to understand, and then? I won't reveal the end, but it was, well...unsatisfying.
Perhaps that's the point after all? Crummy, frustrating, and all too often terrible things happen to many of us every day. Revenge is rarely satisfying, although lots of us like to think it will be. Justice is elusive and frequently out of our grasp. Maybe it's about nothing more than learning to accept what we cannot control and cannot change. And even harder, realizing that the love we've made isn't the "right" love for us. Giving yourself permission to forget, and letting yourself be open to whatever is next. Could that be the key to a fulfilling life grounded in happiness and a sense of purpose?
Read Talk Talk to learn what it means to you.
Terrible Ending!.......2007-08-08
Without being a spoiler, the ending was very disappointing. It is very frustrating to read a book that is well written and keeps your attention, only to get to a very disappointing ending. Sometimes it feels as if authors get tired of writing and just want to say "the end". That is the way that I felt with this book. Good plot... good pace... then you reach the end and "no satisfaction".
Additionally, I felt no sympathy for the villain in this book... despite what the NY Times said in their review.
Blah, Blah .......2007-08-04
First there's the boyfriend, a non-descript, shallow computer animator, thoroughly mundane in every respect. Then there's the deaf girl--the one whose identity gets stolen--who is intelligent, pretty, and well-educated, but who has a chip on her shoulder the size of Montana and who lashes out at everybody around her like a wounded wolverine. Then there is the thief, a nasty, despicable jerk, without a single redeeming quality. These are the three characters we get to spend time with in Boyle's most recent fictional foray, the overwhelmingly unpleasant, Talk Talk.
Yes, it's an identity-theft story, with the thief improbably living like a king in a three-quarter-of-a-million dollar condominium in Sausalito, California. With him is his spectacularly beautiful Russian girlfriend, Natalia--how about that for a unique Russian name!--who speaks like Natasha in the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon, but who otherwise is a cipher. Who she is, how she got there, where she came from: not explained. In fact, it's not even explained how she and the creepy thief even like each other in the first place; they spend every waking minute endlessly bickering with one another.
In any event, the deaf girl discovers her identity has been stolen after she gets pulled over by the cops for running a stop sign. They throw her in the clink for the weekend because they think she's the one wanted for auto theft, passing bad checks, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, etc. Jail is just a horrifying experience for her, beyond her worst imaginings. Unfortunately, Boyle chooses to leave her experience to the reader's worst imaginings as well, showing us practically nothing of it other than that lunch consisted of a baloney sandwich with ketchup on it, and that one of her cellmates was a stinky, mean drunk.
The jail thing causes a lot of other complications in her life, so she indignantly decides she's going to track down this identity thief with the dimwit boyfriend as her helper. Fortunately, it's real easy to find the guy; in fact, ridiculously easy, and one has to kind of wonder why the cops hadn't themselves tried to track down this auto thief, bad check passer, and assaulter with a deadly weapon, but then, there wouldn't have been much of a plot.
The bad guy manages to escape with his beautiful, voluptuous girlfriend and the two then try to catch up with them on a cross-country meander where all parties spend a lot of time going to restaurants and eating food meticulously described by Boyle, the one aspect of the novel which seems to be well-researched. By necessity, the boyfriend and the deaf girl spend a lot of time with each other in the car and the reader gets to spend a lot of time having Boyle describe how difficult it is for them to communicate with one another. The two literally can not have a normal conversation--she is deaf, he is inexpert with sign language--so every attempt at communication with one another is punctuated in agonizing fashion with "she thought he said," or "it sounded like," or, "she didn't catch the rest," and that sort of thing. The narrative doesn't exactly swim when she is on the page; this is very choppy water.
And she likes to think about words, too, which apparently is a clue as to the puzzling novel title: "Bear hug, she was thinking, distractedly, and where had that come from? Who had actually seen bears hugging?" And, "Logorrhea. Yes, another SAT word to drill her students with" There are dozens of these banalities splattered about the novel, none of which are remotely charming or even interesting.
It doesn't make sense. Boyle has by now established himself as a competent writer, perhaps not of the first rank, but competent nevertheless. Drop City, in fact, was excellent. He has clearly shown that he understands novelistic concepts such as "theme" and "meaning" and "irony." But none of these, unfortunately, are evident here. Instead, it looks like he started this novel without a plan and never got to the point where he was able to develop one. It is an unfinished, unpolished exercise, nothing more.
Do you know where your identity is?.......2007-02-19
Instant messaging, instant cash, instant buying - all good, yes? Sometimes. Instant access might be the Trojan horse of modern life. The same online convenience that offers everything out there in cyberspace, and offers it instantly can also be the portal that invites savvy thieves into our lives where they will help themselves to our hard earned cash.
Sure, a smart consumer monitors credit card charges, checks online bank accounts, and buys from secure web sites while sending up a silent prayer that `https" really does guarantee a safe transaction. Document shredding has become a way of life as we fill trash bags with revealing bits of paper that could undo us in the wrong hands. We may even check our credit reports now and then to be sure we stay on the plus side of the bottom line.
But even with all that, can we ever feel secure? Not likely, suggests T.C. Boyle, in his novel "Talk, Talk." He spins a story of identity theft by taking us into the life of Dana Halter, a deaf teacher who, in a routine traffic violation is arrested. Apparently she is wanted for a laundry list of crimes, none of which she committed. It's hard enough sorting out this kind of mess as a hearing person and endlessly frustrating for a deaf person who must first get the attention of those in charge.
Dana's boyfriend, Bridger, tries to rescue her and quickly learns what we all suspect. In the hierarchy of compelling crimes, identity theft isn't at the top of anybody's list. By the time he gets Dana released, she has been in the claustrophobic company of nasty street criminals for a few days and has nurtured a finely tuned sense of rage that fuels a relentless need for vengeance. She must find this lowlife who is walking in her hard earned shoes and doing in grand style.
Boyle knows conceits of modern life and strikes just the right balance between pathos and indignation. We feel Dana's, frustration and want her to get this guy. And when we meet him, (aka William "Peck" Wilson) we are astonished at his bravado and chameleon like ability to become someone else as effortlessly as we don on a new set of clothes. This guy knows how to live! An ocean view condo; a beautiful Russian wife accustomed to the best of everything; a shiny Mercedes in the garage; gourmet food on the table, all these are his with a keystroke. He learned the secrets of his trade in jail from a fellow inmate and they have done quite well for themselves - until now. With a little help from some shady friends, Dana and Bridger connect the dots and begin to develop an idea of their adversary.
Bridger gets lucky when he calls the cell phone number on an overdue bill with Dana's name on it. They hit pay dirt. The "other" Dana answers the phone and his practiced suspicion tells him it's time to relocate. He packs the Mercedes and they are off. Dana and Bridger follow in this cross-country quest fueled more by anger than common sense.
The chase is on, alternating between the naïvely determined Dana and Bridger, and the volatile Peck who still has friends in low places. Along the way, we learn just enough about identify theft to know it can happen anytime, no matter how careful we are. Who wins in the end? That depends on your idea of winning. But at the very least, you will want to check your bank balance with a tad bit more regularity.
Average customer rating:
- PRIVACY CRISIS is an exceptional privacy reference tool. A must read for 2007.
- PRIVACY CRISIS provides information on banking secrecy in the U.S.A.
- Worth a Hundred Times the Price
- A timely guide to preventing stalking and identity theft
- A Must-read for Privacy-conscious Americans!
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Privacy Crisis: Identity Theft Prevention Plan and Guide to Anonymous Living
Grant Hall
Manufacturer: James Clark King, LLC
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ASIN: 0978657306
Release Date: 2006-12-01 |
Product Description
Privacy Crisis? Easy to believe if you ve ever had your identity stolen (America s fastest-growing crime). Or if you ve ever had snoops rifling through your credit files, hackers stealing your most personal computer information, or investigators trying to track you down for something you never did. To say nothing of being hunted by an obsessive stalker, discovering your phones are subject to government wiretaps, that your e-mail is being monitored, or that you re the target of scam and con artists. Your identity, your personal life, is your business and no one should be invading it without your permission. If you want to protect your personal privacy and freedom, this book can tell you exactly how to do it. Threats to privacy are growing rapidly. In the name of security, government intrusions into personal privacy are unprecedented and will only increase. Meanwhile, common criminals are finding, in identity theft, their own personal gold mine. Banks and merchants pry ever more deeply into your personal affairs before they will do business with you. Don t be a victim. Don t be a doormat. Protect yourself. Take back your personal freedom. This book is your guide.
Customer Reviews:
PRIVACY CRISIS is an exceptional privacy reference tool. A must read for 2007........2007-04-12
PRIVACY CRISIS was written by an author who has proved that through diligence, effort and a working knowledge of the system, one can have privacy in their life.
Grant Hall has opened new doors for those of us who previously believed that the road to financial privacy must be traveled by transferring assets to offshore 'havens' in an attempt to control our assets. In fact, Hall uses business resources that cater to the privacy seeker combined with knowledge of the financial system and negotiating skills to keep bank and brokerage funds hidden from those who may want to find them. Hall recommends using a company that rents safe deposit boxes without identification, tax i.d. or Social Security numbers-not even a name for those who want total secrecy. There's examples of cashing checks that leave no trail to the payee. Hold assets and property in total secrecy. These methods were eye openers for me.
I liken this book to an information enemy to the powers that want to control freedom loving Americans. Those who choose to become invisible to identity thieves, stalkers, private eyes can do it by practicing Hall's principles in PRIVACY CRISIS.
This is the best book on the subject I have read and I highly recommend it to those who desire personal privacy.
PRIVACY CRISIS provides information on banking secrecy in the U.S.A........2007-03-22
I have completed Privacy Crisis and this book answered many questions about privacy and the challenges we face today.
Grant Hall has covered all of the important money privacy issues and it is possible to make your assets and money disappear through the application of the principles outlined in the book. And this can be done in the U.S.A. What a break from the other authors who guide readers toward offshore banks and advise giving control to others.
I appreciate the attention to detail. Obviously, Hall has walked where other privacy writers have never gone. I would highly recommend this book to those who fear their bank accounts will be stolen or seized by government agencies or others. Thorough, complete and worth the money many times over, Privacy Crisis will become a big deal in the arena of Privacy Reference books.
This book may be the greatest investment a person could make to escape the threats of stalkers, identity thieves or others who wish you harm.
Buy this book.
Worth a Hundred Times the Price.......2007-03-02
Personal privacy is under siege these days. Mine was first invaded when cyber-crooks drained my checking account in a single day. If you don't take steps to protect yours, it too will go up in smoke. For you, maybe it's when an obsessed former spouse or fan starts stalking you. Or the government--claiming "national security"--begins wiretapping your phone. Maybe it's when your employer snoops on all your emails, a gumshoe rifles through your credit files, or you have to supply your most personal information just to open a checking account or buy a home.
You don't have to give up your God-given privacy. Believe me, this book will tell you everything you'll ever need to know about how to protect it--whether in just one area, or an entirely anonymous lifestyle. This author knows his stuff. He's practiced everything he writes about. So his book is far in advance of other privacy books that just recycle armchair theories or even worse, suggest you do things that are outright illegal.
Protect your identity. Protect the privacy of your home and business transactions--your computer, phone, mail, travel, bank account, stored items, credit files, hard assets, and investments. One invasion of your privacy will cost you ten or a hundred times the price of this one-of-a-kind book.
I wish I'd known about it before they emptied my bank account.
A timely guide to preventing stalking and identity theft.......2007-01-26
During this era of skyrocketing identity theft crimes, violence and death to innocent victims by stalkers, and government's tracking and monitoring of citizens' business, money and communication, Americans are seeking privacy for personal security and survival. Grant Hall writes on how to live an anonymous lifestyle in his new book, Privacy Crisis: Identity Theft Prevention Plan and Guide to Anonymous Living. And he should know. He used a non-traditional 'defense' to avoid a civil court case by disappearing for four years. A number of privacy tactics outlined in Privacy Crisis belong to Hall. I have never seen these in print-and I began reading privacy books prior to the publication of W.G. Hill's first PT book. Privacy Crisis may be the best book of its kind ever written.
According to Hall, privacy living is the answer to preventing identity theft. One can escape from a stalker or disappear-for any reason by using the information in Privacy Crisis. Alternate identification, renting and owning a home in secrecy, driving and working under the radar and establishing a clandestine communication and computer system are covered in detail. This book is thorough and complete and cites case histories and challenges the author of 'How to be Invisible' on the use of nominees.
Hall provides insight on anonymous banking, cashing checks privately, alternate name debit cards and provides a resource for obtaining a safe deposit box requiring no name or Social Security number. There's information on how to keep investments, property and businesses a secret. All of this can be accomplished in the U.S.A. of all places-a welcome change from the many books offering unrealistic, inconvenient, expensive, offshore remedies for domestic privacy problems.
A Must-read for Privacy-conscious Americans!.......2007-01-14
It goes without saying that personal privacy is a rare commodity in America today. Identity theft has become the country's fastest growing crime. Con artists relentlessly target us while greedy lawyers and vengeful ex-spouses threaten to drain our bank accounts and assets. Our personal computers have become open doors into the most discreet corners of our lives. And that doesn't begin to address threats to our privacy from the government, eavesdropping employers, nosey snoops with hidden agendas, eavesdropping employers, and increasingly intrusive marketing-crazed companies.
Privacy Crisis is easily one of the best books on privacy ever written. Through his eye-opening inside perspective, as someone who evaded private investigators and attorneys for four years by living "below the radar," Grant Hall has brought us an authoritative how-to guide for the average American who wants to protect his or her privacy on an practical level. Far superior to the many theory-laden books on privacy, Privacy Crisis is a revealing step-by-step manual written by someone who has walked the walk. This book is required reading for anyone concerned about their personal and financial privacy in an ever-threatening society.
Phillip Townsend
International Consultant and Privacy Expert
Book Description
The charismatic forger immortalized in the film Catch Me If You Can exposes the astonishing tactics of today’s identity theft criminals and offers powerful strategies to thwart them based on his second career as an acclaimed fraud-fighting consultant.
Consider these sobering facts:
*Six out of ten American companies and government agencies have already been hacked.
*An estimated 80 percent of birth certificate requests are fulfilled through the mail for people using only a name and a return address. So I could take your name and use my address, and get your birth certificate. From there I’m off to the races.
*Americans write 39 billion checks a year, and half of these folks never reconcile their bank statements.
*A Social Security number costs $49 on the black market. A driver’s license goes for $90. A birth certificate will set you back $79.
When Frank Abagnale trains law enforcement officers around the country about identity theft, he asks officers for their names and addresses and nothing more. In a matter of hours he can obtain everything he would need to steal their lives: Social Security numbers, dates of birth, current salaries, checking account numbers, the names of everyone in their families, and more. This illustrates how easy it is for anyone from anywhere in the world to assume our identities and in a matter of hours devastate our lives in ways that can take years to recover from. Considering that a fresh victim is hit every four seconds, Stealing Your Life is the reference everyone needs by an unsurpassed authority on the latest identity theft schemes.
Abagnale offers dozens of concrete steps to transform anyone from an easy mark into a hard case that criminals are likely to bypass:
• Don’t allow your kids to use the computer on which you do online banking and store financial records (children are apt to download games and attachments that host damaging viruses or attract spyware).
• Beware of offers that appeal to greed or fear in exchange for personal data.
• Monitor your credit report regularly and know if anyone’s been “knocking on your door.”
• Read privacy statements carefully and choose to opt out of sharing information whenever possible.
Brimming with anecdotes of creative criminality that are as entertaining as they are enlightening, Stealing Your Life is the practical way to shield yourself from one of today’s most nefarious and common crimes.
Customer Reviews:
Good Christmas gift.......2007-09-22
Got this book from the library, read it and then ordered copies for each of my three grown kids. It's a little scarey at the beginning, makes you wanna crawl in a hole and avoid the world. However, it does give a number of good ideas on ways to protect your indentity later in the book. Enjoy
Mr. Abagnale tells it like he sees it! Informative & Important!.......2007-08-27
The truth is -one can't appreciate the vast amount of time it takes nor the physical and mental angst that comes with finding out you've been violated, and essentially stolen...until it lands in your own life! I applaud Mr. Abagnale for speaking out and using his wealth of knowledge and life experiences to shed light on this growing and alarming crime.
Typical and common myths that leave many people vulnerable include:
"I don't have to worry about identity theft because I live in a small town like Mayberry, RFD!"
or "I only use one credit card so I don't have to worry about it."
or "I only use cash or my debit card."
Or even... "I don't have to be concerned about my credit -I have excellent credit!"
The reality is -data breaches will continue to happen as "hacking" gets more sophisticated, and criminals will continue to be at least one step ahead of us at all times. Once upon a time, our personal information was just that -ours and personal! Not anymore! Give Me Back My Credit!
Excellent overview of the scourge of identity theft.......2007-07-18
It's a fallacy that our elected officials take forever to get things done. Two examples where Washington acted with speed are with the National Do Not Call Registry and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
The National Do Not Call Registry was slated to take effect on October 1, 2003, but various marketing associations challenged its legitimacy and even if the FTC had the jurisdiction to enforce it. Notwithstanding, President Bush speedily signed the bill authorizing the no-call list to go into effect in September 2003 and the United State Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the registry in February 2004.
On June 25, 2002, WorldCom revealed it had overstated its earnings by more than $7 billion by improperly accounting for its operating costs. Senator Paul Sarbanes then introduced Senate Bill 2673 that same day where it passed 97-0 less than three weeks later. The House and Senate formed a Conference Committee to reconcile the differences between Sarbanes's bill and Representative Michael Oxley's bill (HR 3763) and on July 24, 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was passed.
The bottom line is that when politicians really want votes and PR, they can act swiftly. The frustration is exacerbated when politicians choose to do nothing when it comes to identity theft. In Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan, Frank Abagnale details the frustration that consumers face (and will face in the years to come) when their identities are stolen, the ease at which the criminals carry out such crimes, and the months and often years of effort required to regain ones identity.
Abagnale's tenure on the criminal side long ago gives him the advantage that he knows firsthand how criminals think and such an outlook is pervasive throughout the book. Looking at the current state of identity protection, he states that he is personally horrified at how easy identity theft is. In fact, he calls it "a crook's dream come true". The book details incident after incident where criminals and criminal gangs obtained credit in someone else's name with ease.
What makes this worse is that the book shows how we haven't even scratched the surface of the identity theft problem. Everyone, including the FTC agrees that current identity theft figures are quite low, due to the fact that so many cases go unreported or undetected.
The book notes that lenders often miscategorize a good deal of identity theft because it looks like delinquent bills, as opposed to a crime. Only later does the victim realize what has been going on and complains, at which time it becomes apparent that fraud was involved. But by that time, the money has been written off as a credit loss and then appears as negative information on the victim's credit report.
Like many other books on the subject of identity theft, Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan covers the main issues, and makes numerous suggestions on how to control your identity. What is interesting about the book is that Abagnale also focuses on why identity theft is so popular for today's criminals. One of the main reasons it that the person committing the crime has the odds significantly stacked in their favor. The book quotes a Gartner study that found that identity thieves have roughly a 1 in 700 chance of getting caught by law enforcement, which is a figure any criminal would jump at.
The books 13 chapters are written in an easy to read and compelling style. The early chapters detail the prime causes of what makes identity theft such a problem and astutely notes that a large part of the problem is that financial services companies are conducting business today by doling out credit like candy and do almost nothing to ascertain that people really are who they say they are when applying for credit. In addition, issuers of credit in their haste to rack up more business frequently accept a social security number from an applicant at face value, without demanding proof. The book lists many examples of where children and dead people have been given credit.
In chapter 6, the book lists 20 steps one can take in the hope of preventing identify theft. The author notes that since the punishment for identity theft, and the recovery of stolen goods from identity theft are so low, the only viable source of action is prevention by the individual. All 20 steps are fundamental, from protecting your social security number and examining your financial statements, to using a shredder and more.
Chapter 8 lists one of the more important points of the book, in which Abagnale writes that all credit and personal information should be opt-in based, as opposed to the prevalent opt-out requirement. Such an approach is what one would hope Congress would mandate, but does not have the tenacity to do. The problem is that if a consumer does not opt-out, they are giving the financial institution permission to share their personal information with the hundreds and often thousands of affiliates they share data with.
Companies obviously prefer opt-out, which shifts the burden to the consumer to take action to keep their information from being shared. With opt-in, the burden shifts and the financial services company has to prove that consumers granted their consent to have their personal information shared. National opt-in requirements would significant stem the flow of personal information, which is in part why identity theft is so easy to carry out.
Aside from a glaring error in chapter 12 where Abagnale erroneously writes that true authentication is impossible on the Internet and occasionally hawking companies he has financial dealings with, Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan is an interesting and entertaining book on a subject of the fasting growing crime in the USA.
The book details what happens when an apathetic Congress and financial services industry do almost nothing to protect their constituents, and the thieves who have never had it easier. These identity thieves are able to acquire gigabytes of personal information without ever having to leave their workstations. When you factor in that the odds are in their favor of never being prosecuted, it leaves nearly every individual at risk for identity theft.
With Congress dropping the ball and doing nothing, Abagnale shows that it is up to each individual to take responsibility for protecting their own personal information. Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan is indeed a great place to start such an approach.
Outstanding work by the expert.......2007-06-04
Frank Abagnale has hit the nail on the head in his new book, "Stealing Your Life." It covers everything one needs to know to protect themselves from one of the most insidious crimes today, identity theft. It costs thousands of people time, money and the one thing many hold dear, privacy. Abagnale has done the world a service by putting into everyday language things people should do to protect themselves from becoming a victim. I have already read the book and intend to make it a gift to my three adult children so they too can know what they have to do to prevent this crime. Thanks to Mr. Abagnale for his excellent contribution to everyone who reads the book.
What You Need to Know About Identity Theft.......2007-05-30
This book can help you to learn everything you want to know about protecting your personal information. Abagnale, a former counterfeiter and now consultant to the FBI and many large financial institutions around the world, gives an inside look at the various types of identity theft and how to reduce the likelihood of it.
He goes into technology oriented identity theft schemes such as pharming and phising as well as discussing more low tech methods such as dumpster diving. It's highly recommended that you shred any personally identifiable information prior to throwing it away. Looking through a person's garbage though it might seem disgusting but is an actual method some thieves use to steal a person's identity. Abagnale also advises mailing bills from an official Post Office box rather than raising your mailbox flag which also alerts a potential thief that there might be information worth stealing inside. Another tip is to always choose to opt out when a financial institution sends you a privacy policy. This helps prevent the spread of your personal information and the potential for it to be stolen.
Surprisingly, personal information such as social security numbers is still used on some driver's licenses or as employee ids. One should avoid this when possible due to the windows an SSN can open for a thief. Abagnale also recommends limiting your usage of checks due to the large number of hands and eyes that will handle it throughout the processing. A dishonest person along the way can grab this information and either sell it or use it himself.
Abagnale indicates that the most important thing one can do in guarding against identity theft is to pull your credit report from the three major credit reporting institutions. (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax) This can be done for free at annualcreditreport.com.
One minor downside of the book is the author's promoting of his own products or products he endorses throughout the book. While they may be good resources to help in fighting identity theft, it seemed at times to be a sales pitch rather than an informational resource.
Overall, I learned several tips and had reinforced the need to be conscious of giving out personal information and guarding it from prying eyes.
Book Description
The best-selling Stealing the Network series reaches its climactic conclusion as law enforcement and organized crime form a high-tech web in an attempt to bring down the shadowy hacker-villain known as Knuth in the most technically sophisticated Stealing book yet.
Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow is the final book in Syngress ground breaking, best-selling, Stealing the Network series. As with previous title, How to Own a Shadow is a fictional story that demonstrates accurate, highly detailed scenarios of computer intrusions and counter-strikes. In How to Own a Thief, Knuth, the master-mind, shadowy figure from previous books, is tracked across the world and the Web by cyber adversaries with skill to match his own. Readers will be amazed at how Knuth, Law Enforcement, and Organized crime twist and torque everything from game stations, printers and fax machines to service provider class switches and routers steal, deceive, and obfuscate. From physical security to open source information gathering, Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow will entertain and educate the reader on every page. The books companion Web site will also provide special, behind-the-scenes details and hacks for the reader to join in the chase for Knuth.
· The final book in the Stealing the Network series will be a must read for the 50,000 readers worldwide of the first three titles
· The companion Web site to the book will provide challenging scenarios from the book to allow the reader to track down Knuth
· Law enforcement and security professionals will gain practical, technical knowledge for apprehending the most supplicated cyber-adversaries
Customer Reviews:
The SQL Injection Adventures of Pawn.......2007-06-14
Did you enjoy the previous three Stealing the Network books? Are you looking for more? Then move along now, nothing to see here.
The prior books were interesting because they introduced the reader to new ideas or new angles on old ideas, then moved on without belaboring them. If you wanted more details, there were often URLs provided. The last two tied the stories together with the intriguing Knuth character. But the folks running the project chose to switch to a new format, with fewer characters and stories, not to mention fewer authors, and fewer ways to split the profits.
After three books with the same (proven) formula, it's understandable the authors would want to try something new. Alas, it's a disaster.
Welcome to "How to Own a Shadow," aka "The SQL Injection Adventures of Pawn." Pawn is one of the new characters in this volume, and is the first StN character I hoped would get shot to death by the cops in a mini-mall parking lot. Yes, he's that irritating. Particularly after reading 40 pages about his childhood as a high-functioning autistic (or something like that), and around 100 pages of him performing SQL injection attacks. Most of which is totally unrelated to Knuth. Note to the authors: SQL injection is interesting, but if you want to write a book about it, just write a book about it. I even gave you a title, what more do you want? You can even recycle much of this book, like you recycled part of the last one here.
Oh, you noticed the real subtitle of the book, "The Chase for Knuth." First, one chases _after_ fugitives, and hunts or searches _for_ them. Not that it matters, because there's not much chasing or hunting going on in this book. There isn't much Knuth, either. We see him in the first hundred pages, which is mostly about his son analyzing poker software. That's the last we see of either of them. Because, really, this is "The Biography of Pawn." We do get 50 pages of Knuth at the end of the book, but don't get excited: it's all from the last book, added as obvious filler.
Speaking of filler, there's a 17 page advertorial thrown in for BiDiBLAH, which is commercial software by SensePost. Oddly enough, they're listed as technical advisors for the book. I'm sure it's a fine app, but the authors have forgotten about Knuth again, since it has nothing to do with the story. If it had been relevant, it might have been a less obnoxious addition.
Not everything is bad. There's a brief bit about RFID, which of course turns into how to use RFID for SQL attacks. We get to meet Knuth's supposedly dead wife, and a charming shrew she is. All in all, though, this book isn't worth reading unless you're a truly devoted fan of the series, or SQL. I'm still a fan of the previous books, and I hope the authors can recapture what made them so intriguing for their next book. I won't be buying that one until I'm sure it's not Book Two of the Pawn Saga, however.
Author "review".......2007-04-13
Let me first say that I am one of the authors on this book. I don't think authors can objectively review their own work in a forum such as this, so I won't. This won't stop me from rating it five stars to help reinforce the law of averages. ;-)
I will, however, address a few reviews posted here. First and foremost, I am a huge fan of the Stealing series, and the authors that worked on each of the three previous books. But based on customer reviews and our own feelings on the matter, the authors unanimously agreed that boosting the story value of the book was a priority. After all, even security geeks deserve a good plot and decent characters if they take the time to read technical fiction. Books of this genre should also teach. By all fair reviews, this book does both. If you're interested in straight fiction, or straight tech, you'll find this book to only be half-good. If you're willing to be entertained, and are looking to learn something cool about hackers and how they operate, this is the book for you. And there I go, drifting into a review.
So let me address one other complaint: the lack of a "real" ending. Well, that's our fault. There's more to the series, and we know how it's going to end, but we adamantly refused to slip another deadline, so the book went to print with a cliffhanger ending. Now we're not out to sell more books or make your life miserable by leaving you hanging, but this book had to either wrap up where it did, or it would have been scrapped by the publisher, who had no real choice in the matter. As authors, we missed our deadlines, but we did it in order to improve the final product. I'm personally proud of the end result, and the reviews show that we have good reason to be proud.
So to long-time Stealing readers, this book is different because we grew in our craft, and our EXTREMELY capable story editor (Scott Pinzon) held us to the standard of mainstream fiction. Will we make the New York Times best-seller list because of our efforts? No. But this book isn't for those readers. It's for those in and around technology that have read one to many straight technical books.
So we would love to hear what you think. Post a review if you'd like, or if you just want to chat about the book, head over to the "book talk" section of my web site's forums (you know where to find it- Google is your friend). I'd love to hear from you.
j0hnny
One of the better installments when it comes to plot and pacing..........2007-04-05
It's nice when recreational reading overlaps with technical material, and the Stealing The Network series qualifies for that designation. The latest installment is Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow - The Chase For Knuth by Johnny Long, Timothy Mullen, Ryan Russell, and Scott Pinzon, and it's an enjoyable read that is heavy on the technical how-to while maintaining a decent plotline.
There's basically two story-lines here... The first involves Robert Knoll Jr. and his father, and is a continuation from the last book. All the police surveillance and investigations are taking a toll on Junior's life, so he decides to act on his father's cryptic message to head down to Mexico with nothing much more than the clothes on his back (and a large amount of cash). He is contacted by people who work for his father, and is taken down to Costa Rica where Senior runs an on-line poker site. Everything that Junior wants is provided (top of the line, too), and he starts doing some programming and network intel for his father. But he really doesn't have a clue as to what Senior is really up to...
The second story-line involves an autistic kid by the name of Paul Wilson. As he grows up, he starts gaining an interest in computer hacking and solving puzzles involving gaining access to various network sites. He's befriended by an on-line entity known as Rafa who is amazed at how Paul can pick up concepts almost immediately. It helps that he has a photographic memory and is wired such that these types of problems engage him. Rafa starts paying him for "research assignments", and Paul is thinking that he's actually doing legit security work. That, coupled with his intense interest in the martial arts, pretty much absorbs all his time. But he starts to understand a bit of what's really going on when he starts to hack a mysterious local business in order to help out a woman in his dojo. She has an ulterior motive for wanting to use his phenomenal hacking skills, but it may get them both arrested or killed.
From a plot pacing standpoint, I was pleasantly surprised. The other books tended to be a bit more "vignette" in nature, so the overall story suffered. At least here, the plot and technology actually supported each other. Again, it's not New York Times best-seller action-adventure, but it works for this type of approach. Paul seemed to be a bit over-the-top in his skills, but that element was supported by his autism. It stretched credibility at times, but not so much that you started to laugh (or at least I didn't). My biggest disappointment is that there was no plot resolution to either story-line, so it's a given that you'll need to read the next one to see how it turns out. The plotlines are converging, and the next book *should* be pretty good. Still, I would have liked a bit more payoff at the end.
Regardless, this is an interesting book about hacking techniques (complete with code) all wrapped up in an action/adventure plot. I'll be interested to see how they merge the story and carry it on in the next installment...
Entertaining way to learn.......2007-04-05
This book was excellent for someone interested in technology but has a hard time reading dull technical books. I have been interested in digital security for a while, but until recently hadn't played around with SQL injections. I was interested in learning more about them and pleased to see that this book offered an excellent primer on SQL injections in the form of a story, which held my interest. In addition there was a cool primer on RFID hacking which I really enjoyed. The supporting story was intriguing and kept me reading to find out what happened next.
There was a cliffhanger ending, and now I'm really looking forward to the next one.
Best One Yet.......2007-03-14
You can definately see the influence of the infamous Johny Long in the writing of this one. The book is incredible i was 150 pgs into it before I could take a bathroom break. :D get it and the rest.
Average customer rating:
- Great continuation of the series
- One of the most innovative adn unique books on the mindset of a hacker
- More fun from the most imaginative security writers on the scene
- How about some proofreaders?
- Entertaining and shocking
|
Stealing the Network: How to Own an Identity (Stealing the Network) (Stealing the Network)
Timothy Mullen ,
Ryan Russell ,
Riley Eller ,
Jay Beale ,
FX FX ,
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Brian Hatch , and
Johnny Long
Manufacturer: Syngress
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Similar Items:
-
Stealing the Network: How to Own a Continent
-
Stealing the Network: How to Own the Box
-
Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow (Stealing the Network) (Stealing the Network)
-
Silence on the Wire: A Field Guide to Passive Reconnaissance and Indirect Attacks
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The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders & Deceivers
ASIN: 1597490067
Release Date: 2005-05-01 |
Book Description
The first two books in this series Stealing the Network: How to Own the Box and Stealing the Network: How to Own a Continent have become classics in the Hacker and Infosec communities because of their chillingly realistic depictions of criminal hacking techniques.
In this third installment, the all-star cast of authors tackle one of the fastest growing crimes in the world: Identity Theft. Now, the criminal hackers readers have grown to both love and hate try to cover their tracks and vanish into thin air "Stealing the Network: How to Own an Identity" is the 3rd book in the "Stealing" series, and continues in the tradition created by its predecessors by delivering real-world network attack methodologies and hacking techniques within a context of unique and original fictional accounts created by some of the world's leading security professionals and computer technologists. The seminal works in TechnoFiction, this "STN" collection yet again breaks new ground by casting light upon the mechanics and methods used by those lurking on the darker side of the Internet, engaging in the fastest growing crime in the world: Identity theft.
Cast upon a backdrop of "Evasion," surviving characters from "How to Own a Continent" find themselves on the run, fleeing from both authority and adversary, now using their technical prowess in a way they never expected--to survive.
* The first two books in the series were best-sellers and have established a cult following within the Hacker and Infosec communities
* Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the world, and financial loss from identity theft is expected to reach $2 trillion by the end of 2005
* All of the authors on the book are world renowned, highly visible information security experts who present at all of the top security conferences including Black Hat, DefCon, and RSA and write for the most popular magazines and Web sites including Information Security Magazine, and SecurityFocus.com. All of these outlets will be used to promote the book
Customer Reviews:
Great continuation of the series.......2007-02-07
I give it 5 stars because not only is it a great hacker thriller but the use of character names from the 80s movie Real Genius cracks me up. Its like the movie's sequel.
One of the most innovative adn unique books on the mindset of a hacker.......2006-11-01
This book is hard to put down! It was like looking into a window of the underground world that most people, even those in the Information Security Industry, are unaware exists. The technical aspects in thoe book gave the storyline a credibility that other books lack. The characters were colorful and well developed. The book opened my eyes to the very real threat of identity theft and how identities are "harevsted" and used as currency on the blackmarket by organized crime and malicious entities such as terrorist organizationa. Great read that will not diassapoint you.
More fun from the most imaginative security writers on the scene.......2006-03-11
I reviewed the first Stealing book in May 2003, and the second in September 2004. I liked the two earlier books, and the third book -- Stealing the Network: How to 0wn an Identity (STNHT0AI) -- is also a fun read. The book is most impressive when it outlines plausible scenarios for identity theft, penetrating wireless networks, and compromising Hushmail. Although some of the writing is rough, I still recommend reading this book.
I'd like to point out a few aspects of the book that hooked my attention. First, Ch 3 explains how to assume a college student's identity. 1. Steal pre-approved credit card applications from neighborhood mailboxes. 2. Identify a likely target, and find that person's date of birth and parent's names using online family tree databases. 3. Buy NetDetective and obtain the target's SSN. 4. Get a real driver's license from a thief who stole DMV equipment. 5. Intercept at mail box the credit card applied for in step 1. 6. Apply for a real birth certificate using the credit card obtained in the previous step. 7. Intercept at mail box the real birth certificate mailed to the target's home. Aside from the SSN acquisition, that scenario is plausible and incredibly scary!
The second scenario that left a lasting impression appears in Ch 8. Jay Beale explains how to compromise and read mail exchanged through Hushmail. The crux of the matter is obtaining control of Hushmail's DNS servers. At the end of his chapter, Jay notes that Hushmail's DNS servers were compromised in April 2005. I thought his chapter contained the best mix of story and clear technical explanations found in STNHT0AI.
It is very helpful to have read at least the previous Stealing book prior to STNHT0AI. At times it felt like I was watching the second Back to the Future movie, where Marty sees different aspects of events that took place in the first movie. I was also completely shocked by the hints left at the end of the book, and the abrupt ending left me waiting to resolve the cliffhanger. I look forward to reading Stealing the Network: How to Own a Shadow later this year.
How about some proofreaders?.......2006-02-01
Good story, followed through pretty well from STN:Continent, which I haven't read in quite some time, so I didn't really do much cross-referencing, so take that comment for what it's worth. My two major issues with the book were:
1) Apparent lack of proofing whatsoever. In some cases it appeared that the author had stopped typing mid-sentence and picked up some time later, forgetting what exactly they had said because they had previously stopped typing mid-sentence. (re-read for example) At one point a whole paragraph was in there twice in a row. This sort of thing frazzled me a bit as I was reading it, and took away from the immersion to an extent. Each chapter was written by a different author so this is not a consitant trend through the entire book. There is some good writing in there as well.
2) More story, less technical stuff. This seemed a bit more 'novel-y' than the previous books, I kind of didn't like that aspect of it. That was just me though. Some of it was pretty good though, and a fun read, like the chapter about Knoll Jr. as well as the Blacktower chapter. All-in-all, I'd have to say that I liked the first STN [:box] the best, but that's just me. The cohesiveness of the story between chapters seemed to be better in this one [Identity] than STN:Continent, though.
Overall I give it three stars because I am a grammar nazi but you might enjoy it more. I recommend it if you've read the previous ones.
Entertaining and shocking.......2005-12-05
This book is disturbing-it's so insanely simple to steal an identity. But this shock is not without purpose. Through reading the very entertaining anecdotes about social engineering, hacking, and just plain fraud, you get a sense of what can be done to protect your identity.
The book is different from what you might expect. Rather than chapter after chapter about how to do this or that, this book reads more like a novel. Through the story you get a little entertainment, learn a little about security, and learn a little about identity theft. It's a very different type of book than I was expecting, but I think it works well. In fact, I wonder if the only way you could write a "how-to" book of sorts on identity theft would be to write it the way this book is written.
This certainly isn't a book that I'd pull out and read over and over, like many of my reference books. This is a book I would read once, then think about for a very long time. Like I said, it's unlike anything I was ever expecting-in a good way. Do check this one out.
Book Description
Blind dates give everyone the shivers...with or without a murder attached to them. Jo Tulip is a sassy single woman full of household hints and handy advice for every situation. Her first romantic outing in months is a blind date—okay, the Hall of Fame of Awful Blind Dates—but things go from bad to worse when the date drops dead and Jo finds herself smack in the middle of a murder investigation.
With the help of her best friend, Danny, and faith in God, Jo attempts to solve one exciting mystery while facing another: Why is love always so complicated?
Customer Reviews:
An even better read than the first.......2007-07-07
Blind Dates Can be Murder. Just from the title alone you can tell you're in for a good read. I found the second installment in the Smart Chick Mystery series to be better than the first. Though, the story still drags a bit in the beginning, the pace quickens earlier. Plus Danny is planning on telling Jo that he loves her!! Danny is such a sweet and endearing character; my favorite parts in the story are when he's together with Jo. Even though you're just reading the words- the extent of his love is very obvious, it brings out the sappy smiles. Awww...
The mystery is also a little more developed here than in Trouble with Tulip. Jo has her own household tips website and is answering questions and chronicling her days in her blog. Her agent has decided that it would be good publicity for her to try a dating service and relate her experience to her readers. Her first (and only) blind date turns into a big disaster and a possible murder. Jo, of course, becomes Nancy Drew/Martha Stewart again, using household clues to try and solve the mystery.
Overall a good read; it's hard to put down once you're at the halfway mark. You want to make sure everything works out in the case and if Jo loves Danny too. It ends on a cliffhanger, so make sure to have the final installment, Elementary, Dear Watkins ready and waiting!
I love it!.......2007-06-14
I adore this series by Mindy Starns Clark. I read this whole book in one sitting because I absolutely HAD to see how it ended! Jo and Danny are such lovable characters. Read it!!
Dead Dates Tell No Tales.......2007-04-27
After finally getting over being left at the alter Jo has decided to move on by joining a blind dating service. Her first date isn't at all what she expected him to be and then even worse: he dies during their date! Suddenly Jo finds that she's the target of kidnapping, stalking, and death threats. She has no idea why but clues seem to lead back to her deceased date. Along with best friend Danny (who is now hopelessly in love with Jo) the two set out to find out why Jo is being victimized.
Once again Mindy Starns Clark has written a winner. I absolutely adore Jo, she is one of the best recent female characters I have read. Just like in Trouble With Tulip, you can find household hints sprinkled throughout the book (now in email format!) and which also help to solve the mystery. I'm really glad that Danny was able to talk to Jo, now the ball's in her court. It'll be interesting to see how all that happens. I found the blind dating service to be very interesting since I have never used one before. I was really chilled and frightened while reading this book. Especially near the end, I couldn't put the book down because I feared so much for Jo. It was totally like watching a movie: mystery, action, romance, suspense, drama, characters you hate- such a well developed story line. Actually I really think they should make this series into a TV show, you could learn household tips and be entertained at the same time. Sort of Heloise meets Alias type of deal. This was such an excellent book, I thought it was even better than the first one in the series. And with the cliffhanger at the end of this book, I can't wait to get started on the third which is in my TBR pile. VERY highly recommended.
Cliffhangers Can Be Murder.......2006-12-15
Mindy Starns Clark's Blind Dates Can Be Murder was a fun read. Mindy has a way of putting the reader into the characters' minds--disconcerting when the character is a sociopath.
Also disconcerting is the way she ends this page-turner. Who in their right mind wants a cliff hanger ending to a suspense novel? Sure, a sequel is in the works, but do I have to wait and see where it's going? 'Tain't fair!
I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN........2006-10-15
This book was so good. I can't wait until the next one comes out. I'll have to buy the other series of Clark's. She has me hooked on her books now.
Book Description
- Twenty-seven million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last five years and the total cost of identity theft approaches $48 billion per year (total costs to businesses are $43 billion and the direct cost to consumers is $5 billion)
- These staggering statistics have prompted security consultant Michael Arata to provide readers with the resources they need to guard themselves against identity theft
- In this valuable book, Arata offers easy-to-follow, straightforward advice on understanding identity theft, minimizing risk, maintaining vigilance, choosing who to share personal information with, selecting hard-to-guess PINs, determining victimization, reviewing a credit report, charting a course of action, resolving credit problems, reclaiming good credit, and much more
- Explains how to recover successfully if identity theft does occur
- Author Michael Arata, CISSP, CPP, CFE, ACLM, is a veteran of the security industry with more than fifteen years of experience
Download Description
* Twenty-seven million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last five years and the total cost of identity theft approaches $48 billion per year (total costs to businesses are $43 billion and the direct cost to consumers is $5 billion)
* These staggering statistics have prompted security consultant Michael Arata to provide readers with the resources they need to guard themselves against identity theft
* In this valuable book, Arata offers easy-to-follow, straightforward advice on understanding identity theft, minimizing risk, maintaining vigilance, choosing who to share personal information with, selecting hard-to-guess PINs, determining victimization, reviewing a credit report, charting a course of action, resolving credit problems, reclaiming good credit, and much more
* Explains how to recover successfully if identity theft does occur
* Author Michael Arata, CISSP, CPP, CFE, ACLM, is a veteran of the security industry with more than fifteen years of experience
Customer Reviews:
Entry-level information.......2006-12-21
This book runs 200 pages, and for the most part,
consists of generally available information, common
sense (e.g. "don't carry your social number with you")
and a lot of info from newspapers, I would guess.
Next, it carries a few chapters on how to handle
a scenario wherein, you are victimized by ID theft,
and what to do about it, who to speak to, call, visit,
etc. This might be of value to the reader, whereas,
the other parts, can be obtained from general knowledge,
off the internet, reading the papets, and so on.
Some info might be incorrect, such as " You have 60
days to dispute a charge from when you receive the
monthly invoice". Is it 30 or 60 days ? It might depend
on your country, state, or territory of residence.
At over $10, I would consider the book overpriced....
Required Reading.......2005-01-25
There's an old joke about two campers who hear a menacing bear in the woods. One camper asks for the other's sneakers. "You can't outrun a bear", he is told. The first camper responds, "I just need to outrun you". This book will give you sneakers. It will make you a harder target for those people who want your good name and money, because having read the book, the author's recommendations will henceforth seem just good common sense. One day I was walking my dog and bent over to pick up a torn copy of my wife's brokerage statement that had blown half a block from our trash barrel. Get a shredder! Some companies may even allow employees to add their own documents to their secure disposal service bins for sensitive data marked for destruction. Mail that has our names, birthdates, social security numbers, account numbers, etc. can be used by others with fraudulent intent to open accounts for their benefit. Many of us have seen our credit reports, but did you know that a combined report from the three major credit agencies is available and why it might be important to see this side-by-side comparison? Bottom line: If you are a victim of identity theft this book will give you practical advice on who to contact and what forms to fill-out. The information in this book is important and it is presented in a straightforward, highly-readable format. (Editorial note: Chapter 15's "Ten Common Scams..." lists the "Nigerian letter", but neither it nor its more recent email mutations are discussed in what follows.)
AN EASY/MUST READ !.......2004-12-02
Althought I've never personally been touched by the horror of I.D. Theft I have heard far too many stories on the subject. Over the years I've collected a number of books, tapes, cd's, etc. on the subject ( alot of work) and I'm glad that Mr. Arata has taken on the challenge of putting together the PERFECT reference book.
This books contains everything you need (in one place) to better position yourself against becoming a victim. The information is presented in language you can understand and apply immediately. If this book had been available when I first started collecting information, my collection would be housed in the form of this book and this book only. IT HAS EVERYTHING YOU NEED! Way to go MR. ARATA.
Must-read for everyone!.......2004-08-21
After watching my sister go through the nightmare of having her identity stolen, I was determined to do everything I could to protect my family and friends in the future. I read Mr. Arata's extremely helpful and easy-to-follow advice from cover to cover... I now make everyone I know read a copy! So many people think that identity theft won't happen to them - but as this book reminds us, it's so easy for theives to take our most valuable information, unless you take proper precautionary steps. Thank you Mr. Arata for helping all us of!
Average customer rating:
- Humanizing Identity Theft
- This could have been so much better
- Almost Like a good mystery book, but real
- The risk is very real!
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Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic
B. Sullivan
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0471648108 |
Book Description
The crime of the twenty-first century doesn't discriminate: ID theft has hit ordinary citizens and celebrities alike, from Oprah Winfrey to Steven Spielberg, and costs the economy $50 billion a year. Your Evil Twin covers this exploding crime from every possible angle. It includes exclusive whodunit details from mastermind identity thieves who have pilfered money from half the members of the Forbes 400, as well as exclusive interviews with a myriad of criminals in the Internet's underground, such as Russian hackers who have extorted money from U.S. banks. The book also issues a scathing indictment of the credit granting industry, from credit card issuers to the secretive credit reporting agencies, who have misunderstood the crime from the start, have been slow to respond, and bear much of the responsibility for the epidemic. Finally, Bob Sullivan, author and identity theft expert, probes the tepid solutions now being cobbled together by the industry and government.
Bob Sullivan (Snohomish, WA), senior technology writer for MSNBC.com, is the nation's leading journalist covering identity fraud. He has written more than 100 articles on the subject since 1996, and is a regular contributor to MSNBC, CNBC, NBC Nightly News, the Today show, and various local NBC affiliates. With colleague Mike Brunker, Sullivan received the prestigious 2002 Society of Professional Journalists Public Service Award for ongoing coverage of Internet fraud.
Download Description
The crime of the twenty-first century doesn't discriminate: ID theft has hit ordinary citizens and celebrities alike, from Oprah Winfrey to Steven Spielberg, and costs the economy $50 billion a year. Your Evil Twin covers this exploding crime from every possible angle. It includes exclusive whodunit details from mastermind identity thieves who have pilfered money from half the members of the Forbes 400, as well as exclusive interviews with a myriad of criminals in the Internet's underground, such as Russian hackers who have extorted money from U.S. banks. The book also issues a scathing indictment of the credit granting industry, from credit card issuers to the secretive credit reporting agencies, who have misunderstood the crime from the start, have been slow to respond, and bear much of the responsibility for the epidemic. Finally, Bob Sullivan, author and identity theft expert, probes the tepid solutions now being cobbled together by the industry and government.
Bob Sullivan (Snohomish, WA), senior technology writer for MSNBC.com, is the nation's leading journalist covering identity fraud. He has written more than 100 articles on the subject since 1996, and is a regular contributor to MSNBC, CNBC, NBC Nightly News, the Today show, and various local NBC affiliates. With colleague Mike Brunker, Sullivan received the prestigious 2002 Society of Professional Journalists Public Service Award for ongoing coverage of Internet fraud.
Customer Reviews:
Humanizing Identity Theft.......2005-09-07
Much has been written about identity theft, and what people have to go through to clear their credit reports. But what I had never given much thought to is that identity theft goes much beyond stealing identities for financial gain. In fact, what is much more difficult to deal with is when your identity is stolen and used by criminals in general. Try to clear a supposed criminal record. And if you are in the United States, try to do that if you are black or Hispanic. That is just part of the excellent discussions you will find in Bob Sullivan's Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic (August 2004, John Wiley & Sons, 314 Pages, ISBN 0471648108).
A journalist by training, Sullivan presents an easy to read, if unsettling, narrative talking about different aspects of identity theft that do not often get discussed. Some of the material is material found in magazines and other journals, but the strength of this book is that it beings many different pieces into one place. Sullivan starts out by showing that no one is immune to identity theft, whether it be a CEO or even Eldrick "Tiger" Woods. He goes into some detail explaining who was taken advantage of and how, though he does not offer solutions for the problems.
But this does not mean he is afraid to take on the real villains in identity theft, the credit card companies and retailers who push easy credit every chance they get. Sullivan makes the excellent point that the availability of easy credit is actually better for the bad guys than those who do the right thing. He also does not shy away from calling out the credit reporting agencies and their role in this problem. Why should they be charging people for "Credit report watches", when they helped create the problem? It was fascinating from a historical perspective to read how the three major credit reporting companies came to be. It is a heck of a trivia question to ask how a railroad fits into the scheme of things.
You will, or at least should, find yourself challenged by the reality that the race factor plays in how victims are treated. Like it or not, we live in two Americas as clearly shown in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Discussions of this topic in the book really offer a time for reflection and thought in the area of identity theft.
One should not expect this book to answer every possible question about identity theft, but should be considered as part of a larger library on data privacy and identity theft. It provides a human perspective that other titles on the subject often lack.
Who Should Read This Book?
This book, while not a "must read" would be of interest to people who want to explore more of the human side of identity theft and would like some additional historical/political perspective.
The Scorecard
Birdie on an average Par 4
This could have been so much better.......2004-11-12
To begin with, I was terribly distracted by all the typographical/spelling and editing errors that ran rampant in this book. Why would anyone put a book out for sale that hasn't been proofread?
But most of all, this book covers an extremely important subject, one of potential interest to just about everyone, and yet it was so shallow. I have been better informed about identity theft, what it is, what is being done about it, and what we can do if we are targeted as victims in local newspapers and in
Asset Protection : Concepts and Strategies for Protecting Your Wealth
Hide Your Assets and Disappear: A Step-by-Step Guide to Vanishing Without a Trace
Cover Your Tracks Without Changing Your Identity: How to Disappear Until You WANT to Be Found
How to Use Limited Liability Companies & Limited Partnerships
