Be Aware of Hackers – Do not give out personal information

It appears more and more hackers have hit many online businesses including Atlantic Monthly and Adobe.

REMEMBER NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL OR PERSONAL INFORMATION. GO DIRECTLY TO THE CORRECT SOURCE YOURSELF TO VERIFY ANYTHING YOU RECEIVE VIA EMAIL, SNAIL MAIL, OR BY PHONE, AND EVEN AT YOUR DOOR.

From Adobe:

Important Customer Security Alert
To view this message in a language other than English, please click here.

We recently discovered that attackers illegally entered our network. The attackers may have obtained access to your Adobe ID and encrypted password. We currently have no indication that there has been unauthorized activity on your account. If you have placed an order with us, information such as your name, encrypted payment card number, and card expiration date also may have been accessed. We do not believe any decrypted card numbers were removed from our systems.

To prevent unauthorized access to your account, we have reset your password. Please visit www.adobe.com/go/passwordreset to create a new password. We recommend that you also change your password on any website where you use the same user ID or password. As always, please be cautious when responding to any email seeking your personal information.

We also recommend that you monitor your account for incidents of fraud and identity theft, including regularly reviewing your account statements and monitoring credit reports. If you discover any suspicious or unusual activity on your account or suspect identity theft or fraud, you should report it immediately to your bank. You will be receiving a letter from us shortly that provides more information on this matter.

We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause you. We value the trust of our customers and we will work aggressively to prevent these types of events from occurring in the future. If you have questions, you can learn more by visiting our Customer Alert page, which you will find here.
Adobe Customer Care

From Atlanta Monthly:

As we noted in the September 2013 issue of the magazine, it has come to our attention that some of our subscribers have received phone calls from people posing as staff members of The Atlantic seeking subscribers’ billing information.

These individuals are not employed by The Atlantic and were not authorized to call subscribers on the magazine’s behalf. The Atlantic does not request subscribers’ billing information over the phone. If you receive such a phone call, please use ordinary caution and do not provide financial information in response.

We take financial security very seriously and do not have reason to believe any sensitive personal information has been exposed. If you suspect that you have received a fraudulent telephone call or subscription notice regarding The Atlantic subscription, please click here to report the incident and confirm your subscription status with Subscriber Services.

Sincerely,

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Our city website also includes some tips to help keep residents safe from being a victim from a crime of this nature.

PIGEON DROP

This scheme accounts for more than half of the confidence games reported to police. The swindlers claim to have found a large sum of money and offer to share it with you. You are asked to withdraw “good faith” money from your bank. The swindlers take the “good faith” money and give you a phoney address where you are to collect your share of the money. You never see them again.

DOOR TO DOOR SALES

Many door-to-door sales are not legitimate. The City of South San Francisco has municipal laws prohibiting door to door sales without a permit. Never allow anyone to enter your residence to talk to you further or “point out” the area in your house where they tell you their product would be useful. Protect you against quick sales at your door. Enquire and be sure.

MAIL FRAUD SCHEMES

Consumer frauds
Beware of contests which require you to put up money to win, even if there is a guarantee that you will be a winner.

Home improvement offers
Beware of tempting home improvement offers, made through the mail or on-the- spot. These offers are a popular type of swindle.
Business opportunities
Business opportunities such as “Mystery Shopper” and work-at-home schemes which promise high profits after a substantial investment or registration fee are often fraudulent. Often times, the “company” will send you a fraudulent check and will ask you to cash the check. The fraudulent company will then ask you to send them a portion of the check to become involved in their fraudulent operation.

FOR YOUR PROTECTION

• Do not rush into something involving your money or property.

• Beware of something-for-nothing or get-rich-quick schemes.
• Never sign a contract until you and your lawyer, banker or other expert has thoroughly read it.
• Never turn over large sums of cash to anyone, especially a stranger, no matter how promising the deal looks.
• Do not hesitate to check their credentials of a salesman or public official.
• Report all suspicious offers to the police immediately, before the swindler leaves town in search of other victims.
• Arrange for incoming checks to be sent directly to your bank.
• Never send a Cashier’s check or Personal check

More tips can be found on the city website HERE 

Be a good neighbor and share this information.