Identity thieves are still up to no good and are as mischievous as ever. With the continued successes in technology, identity thieves are finding more clever ways of apprehending your hard earned identity and laying waste to it as they utilize it to secure credit in your name or utilize your existing credit and financial standing to gain access to material goods.

As you know, we at SmartSecurityPeople.com have already researched and identified the origination of identity theft. You also know that a good number of paid services are available from successful companies such as LifeLock, TrustedID and Equifax to help aide you in keeping your credit and identity safe and secure.

The following are some tips recently provide by Equifax to keep us vigilant and aware of new approaches by identity thieves using the latest and greatest technology. Enjoy!

Gadget Grifters:
One of the growing types of identity theft involves stealing information through our electronic gadgets. As society becomes increasingly “wired,” it’s becoming easier to gain access to sensitive personal information on the go.

Criminals can use cell phones and PDAs to their advantage in a number of ways. If you’re not careful when using your credit card, a thief could easily and discreetly take a picture of your card with his camera phone. Similarly, it is important to watch out for peering eyes if using your computer in public. In general, take steps to safeguard your belongings; the more personal information we store on our electronic devices, the more vulnerable we leave ourselves to identity theft if those devices are misplaced or stolen.

The best way to safeguard against these kinds of crimes is to be discreet when paying with a credit card to prevent any unwanted eyes from seeing it. Additionally, make sure you use secure sites on your wireless devices and clear all personal data from them when you’re finished with your transactions. You could also consider utilizing password protection on your phone and laptop.

Tech Tactics
Identity thieves are always developing new ways to obtain sensitive personal information over the Internet. While you may have heard of phishing (fraudulent e-mails disguised as if they were from trusted sources to obtain personal information) and pharming (redirecting Web traffic to fraudulent sites to obtain information), you should also be conscious of IP spoofing.

IP spoofing, or Internet Protocol spoofing, is a technique used to gain unauthorized access to computers by tricking the computer itself into thinking the hacker’s IP is a “safe” one. Once this is accomplished, the hacker could have full access to your computer - without you even knowing. The best way to avoid this sort of fraud is by making sure your computer’s security programs are up-to-date and utilizing the most secure filter, router, or firewall offered.

New Twists on Old Techniques:
Identity thieves have relied on credit card scams for quite a while, but current economic challenges have allowed them to use new, more successful angles to get the information they need. Due to tightened credit, criminals are advertising fraudulent credit offers to victims who may be strapped for cash but aren’t qualified to apply for credit (poor credit score, lacking a SSN).

They can also obtain sensitive personal information by posing as debt consolidation experts or by offering to obtain lower interest rates for the victims. Make sure that all credit interactions you have are with reputable sources. You can always turn to the Better Business Bureau if you are unsure.

We hope you find this information useful. If you would like additional information about identity theft, please don’t hesitate to view our guide on protecting your identity. We also have some great links in the right hand tab under INFORMATION that are great resources as well.

For centuries, churches have always been considered a safe haven, a place where you can check your worries at the door, a respite from all the world’s troubles. However, given the turn of events over the years with random shootings and the like. Is it time for churches to come out from behind their “cloak if invisibility” and respond to the changes within our world for the safety and security of their parishioners?

The following is a statement from a professional in the church safety and security arena:

“I don’t think we have the luxury any longer to rely on faith,” said Bob Cirtin, owner of Safe at Church, a church security consulting firm, and director of the criminal justice program at Evangel University in Springfield, Mo.  “I am a born-again Christian,” he said, “So I understand faith in God and I understand that God can take care of us. But I also understand that God doesn’t always take care of us and God gives us common sense so that we can take care of ourselves.”

While we may not all agree with Mr. Cirtin’s statement, it has been abundantly clear that there has been a silent movement among churches to ensure the safety of their parishioners and also even the pastors depending upon their ability to get people riled up on hot topic issues.

Vaughn Baker, co-founder of Strategos Inc., a Missouri-based church security firm, said that the need for companies like his has increased in recent years.  “Unfortunately, it is a growing industry,” Baker said. “It used to be unthinkable that someone would attack a church. One of the things we have to overcome [with church leaders] is the Big D - denial - not believing it can happen here.”

Our research at SmartSecurityPeople.com has found that most churches believe that they do need some sort of security and safety policy and more than likely will be working on it at some point in the future. However, what we found to be the biggest obstacle for the church leaders is how to protect and safeguard their church from the unknown while also trying to provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere for parishioners, their families, and guest. It certainly provides for a “catch 22″ scenario and will promote great discussion amongst the congregation and the church leaders.

If you are at a smaller church and are looking for the proper steps to safeguarding your congregation, we encourage you to consider the following:

The Church Security Alliance is an organization that dedicates itself to providing assistance to churches looking to implement a church-wide safety and security policy. There services are not free but they make it pretty simple to purchase their boilerplate policies and manuals. In addition, they provide an online forum for members to discuss safety and security matters pertaining to their church. While services like these are widely available to churches, we encourage churches to also check with their local/regional/state synods and governing boards and networks to try and locate similar programs for free or greatly discounted. Generally, smaller churches are quick to share resources amongst each other if it is for the benefit of the common good.

Larger congregations can certainly utilize the same approach as the smaller churches but since your needs will be different and your resources are expectantly more abundant, you will probably want to enlist the help of a professional security consultant firm that specializes their efforts on church campuses. They will more than likely be able to do a site visit, provide training for your congregation, and follow-up to make sure that everything is going as intended. In addition, these professionals should be current and up-to-date with the most recent challenges large congregations are facing in regard to security and safety. Their experience and knowledge should make implementation of your safety and security program a breeze. However, anyone that is used to doing the work of the church knows that nothing ever comes easy. So be prepared for some challenges along the way.

So, I guess the question is still at hand.. Should Churches Have Security Policies?

SmartSecurityPeople.com thinks the answer is probably going to have to be yes. But, we think it is up to each individual church and congregation to decide what level of security and safety measures they want to implement at their church. Some churches may just post some extra greeters at the door before, during, and after service and consider that to be appropriate while others may adopt a more extensive program and employ armed security to be present at any church function. Even though these approaches are drastically different, they are both currently being used by churches…

What do you think? Should churches have a security policy? To what extent should a church go to safeguard it’s congregation?

Sometime between September 2nd and 3rd of 2009 an art collection featuring the works of famed artist Andy Warhol was stolen from the West Los Angeles home of businessman Richard Weisman . The stolen artwork consisted of ten 40″ by 40″ portraits created by Andy Warhol between 1977-1979. The portraits are all depicting famous athletes from over the years (Muhammad Ali, Chris Evert, Tom Seaver, Jack Nicklaus, OJ Simpson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Pele, Willie Shoemaker, Dorothy Hamill, Rod Gilbert). Included in the collection is also a painting of Richard Weisman that appears to be painted in a Warhol-like style. Click Here to see photos of the stolen paintings.

Richard Weisman is offering a million dollar reward for information leading to the recovery of the artwork.  Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the LAPD’s Art Theft Unit at 213-485-2524. Please be sure to tell them that SmartSecurityPeople.com sent you!

This event is still relatively new so we are sure as time evolves, more information will be made available. However, the skeptics among us are very quick to wonder if Mr.Weisman has this artwork insured and if so, how eager he really is at trying to locate these portraits. Sometimes cash in the bank goes a lot further than artwork on the wall.

Good luck to our readers at SmartSecurityPeople.com. We hope that one of you stumbles across this collection and is able to collect on the million dollar reward!

The Federal Trade Commission recently passed a law that will make it harder for telemarketers to pry their way into your homes via your telephone. At least that is the intention of the new regulations being put forth by the FTC. The legislation gives the FTC and state attorneys general law enforcement tools to combat telemarketing fraud, gives consumers added privacy protections and defenses against unscrupulous telemarketers, and help consumers tell the difference between fraudulent and legitimate telemarketing.

Beginning September 1, 2009, prerecorded commercial telemarketing calls to consumers - commonly known as robocalls - will be prohibited, unless the telemarketer has obtained permission in writing from consumers who want to receive such calls. (And it is hard to imagine that many consumers will actually be authorizing telemarketers to intrude upon their family time). After September 1, sellers and telemarketers who transmit prerecorded messages to consumers who have not agreed in writing to accept such messages will face penalties of up to $16,000 per call. Consumers will not directly benefit from these fines as it will help to fund the FTC’s continued upkeep and management of the regulations.
One significant amendment to the Telemarketing Sales Rule prohibits calling consumers who have put their phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. Another change covers the solicitation of charitable contributions by for-profit telemarketers.(The National Do Not Call Registry provisions do not apply to for-profit telefunders; rather, for-profit telefunders must keep their own Do Not Call lists and honor call recipients’ requests not to be called.)

Other key provisions:

• require disclosures of specific information
• prohibit misrepresentations Calls that Deliver Purely “Informational” Prerecorded Messages
• limit when telemarketers may call consumers
• require transmission of Caller ID information
• prohibit abandoned outbound calls, subject to a safe harbor
• prohibit unauthorized billing
• set payment restrictions for the sale of certain goods and services
• require that specific business records be kept for two years

If you encounter any telemarketers that are not following the regulations provided by the FTC, please don’t hesitate to contact the FTC directly and file a report at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).

Hope our readers at SmartSecurityPeople.com find this information useful.