Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Tax Time Makes Laptop Computers Especially Valuable to Identity Thieves
Phishers' websites, feigning to represent the Internal Revenue Service, threaten—as similar sites have in the past—to dupe citizens this tax season into divulging personal information.
Tax season is a frenetic time for most Americans. When we're extra busy, we run the risk of being extra careless—something identity thieves like. And with the growing number of taxpayers completing their IRS paperwork online, many from their laptop computers, the risk for foul play increases ever more. Guard your belongings, particularly any computer equipment containing your tax information, and never give your personal identifying information to an unknown source. Never to trust online messages that purport to be from the IRS, which never initiates communication with taxpayers via e-mail.
But the problem isn't just phishing sites. With more and more consumers doing their taxes online, and with research from various sources showing a marked increase in laptop computer sales, this means lots of laptop computers, machines that are prone to theft, are home to their owners' sensitive tax-related information. Consider use of MyLaptopGPS™, a product that combines Internet-based GPS tracking, which is more affordable and user-friendly than other types of GPS tracking, with encryption and additional technologies to put laptop owners' minds at ease when theft occurs.
Labels: gps software, gps tracking, Identity fraud, Internet security, laptop gps, laptop security devices, laptop security software, national security, personal security and identity theft expert speaker
