Comments on: Connections #053 – A Victim of Identity Theft Speaks Out

By: Victoria Williams

Victoria Williams — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:34:17 +0000

I know this is off the topic but I found this blog by searching on Google for hotel marketing. How did you optimize your webpage to place so high in the search engine results?

By: Dave Halker

Dave Halker — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:53:50 +0000

Stan,

Great interview with Marc Freedman. I actually have had the good fortune to meet him on a few Dallas Blue Live Networing occasions. Great guy ! The show was very meaningful in terms of sending a message about security and identify protection on the various social networks.

Best regards,

Dave

By: Saquib Farooq

Saquib Farooq — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:45:06 +0000

I dont know who to thank more, Stan for the interview or Marc for coming out and admitting that a savvy person like him was a victim. It only reminds us that as time passes we get less paranoid and at times let our guard down.
Please read about this incident and what we need to take home from this on http://saquib.wbitt.com (A site about LAMP performance and web security)
The article regarding this incident is entitled “Facebook identity theft brings us back to the basics” you will find the article on the front page.

Thanks

Saquib

By: Steve Tennant

Steve Tennant — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:23:32 +0000

Hi Stan,

Listening to you and Marc Freedman made me recall a message that I got through LnkedIn a few months ago from a 1st tier member of my network, who was not personally known to me, but his earlier messages mentioned firms and locations that I knew.

I received a message from this person saying that he was in Lagos Nigeria, that he had been robbed and was looking for people to send about USD2,000 to allow him to pay his hotel bill and get an airticket home. He said that the hotel manager was trying to help him with internet access and he would provide a method for transferring funds. I ignored it and have never heard from him again.

Not sure if this was a case of identity theft or a con from the very first contact.

By: Nikhilesh Mathur

Nikhilesh Mathur — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:37:06 +0000

I remember chatting with ‘Marc Freedman’ and him asking me for money to get to US from London as ‘his stuff was stolen and he was stranded just before Christmas’. For some reason I checked his LinkedIn page and found his identity has been compromised. Suddenly things hit close home.

I think this podcast is extremely important for everyone to understand how this happens and how it can happen to anyone. Thanks to Stan for getting this information for us.

By: Pyotr Patrushev

Pyotr Patrushev — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:40:24 +0000

I wonder how Marc can manage “relationships” with his 1000’s of contacts. Seems unrealistic and so the fraud was due to the size of his group and their relative disconnectedness (as well as naivety — unless they sent no more $10 via WU — I would have done some checking on the story). My friends would have asked for parts of my body as proof before sending any dough (just kidding!).

Would be do a show just on online fraud. A good hacker can make millions a year. Many of them are from FSU. See:http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_22/b3986093.htm?campaign_id=bier_tcm
Interestingly enough, most comments on this article are by hackers looking for business or offering services!

This is going to grow. There are no morals to appeal to when we have major bankers and officials committing massive fraud. See: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch.html

My advice: Use discretion (I would not go on Facebook if you paid me) , watch your back (and front and sides, have a few PHYSICAL friends with money and clout that you can call in times of trouble. Read THE BROKEN BOUGH http://www.economicclubsf.com/resources (my old favourite, now no 1 on the reading list of SF Economics Club). Meditate on it. This is just a ripple in a long journey.