Privacy Means Profit: Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line

Chapter 8. The Fifth Mind-Set: Evaluate the Risk

In espionage, making rational, immediate decisions is paramount. A great deal of preparation goes into making wise decisions with regard to sensi-tive information. This chapter is the first of two aimed at giving you the tools to detect acts of fraud, social engineering, and identity theft in the earliest stages.

Victim #6,777,763: Social Engineering at the Gym

One day at the gym, a woman watched over Michelle's shoulder while she dialed the combination to her locker. Having observed her habits for several weeks, the woman knew that Michelle drove a nice car and that she exercised three times a week after work for approximately an hour. The following week, just after Michelle left the locker room to work out, the woman broke into Michelle's locker and stole her wallet. And while she was at it, the thief took an extra second to make a note of Michelle's cell phone number. That's how identity thieves work: They collect small, imperceptible pieces of data until they add up to a complete, valuable identity.

When Michelle returned from working out, she discovered that her wallet was gone. She walked to her car to make sure she hadn't left it there, and as she was unlocking the car, received a call on her cell phone. The caller identi-fied herself as an agent from her bank, saying that they had caught someone trying to use her debit card to cash out her account. The agent explained that the security guard at the bank had stopped the thief, ...