“The advice that Raj offered in his CNBC interview on the importance of using a two-factor ID system for email is spot-on! I use this strategy regularly and also use it for my iCloud login. Raj is also dead-on when he discusses the national banking system’s callous response to identity theft. If anything, banks more aggressively pursue the victims – their customers – to make sure they aren’t reporting false thefts than they do the actual perpetrators of the theft.
I speak from the experience of someone who has experienced identity theft issues three times in the last five years. One bank held up the return of my money for over five weeks before crediting my account. Regardless of when the bank does give back your money, they do NOT prosecute identity theft crimes. During some research for a CNN story, the top ten US banks told me that their security departments do not prosecute. When pressed, they all admitted their security teams were in business to verify the claims of theft, namely, investigations into their customers.
Finally, something all victims of these scams should know: don’t expect help from law enforcement officials. When I asked a high-ranking official of NYPD to identify my hacks, I was told that they had more important crimes to investigate ahead of mine. They went on to tell me that since I got my money back, the bank got its money back (from the vendor) and the vendor got a very useful tax write-off, everybody was made whole. They forgot to mention the criminal who got away with the crime. Raj never forgets that it is criminals behind these scams and his work to keep business owners informed is admirable. In an increasingly vulnerable cyber-climate, business owners should take note and get two-factor authentication in place yesterday!”
Dr. Gerald M. Goldhaber – President and CEO
Goldhaber Research Associates, LLC