I've been getting a lot of emails lately that "appear" to be legitimate invoices. See photo of attached emails. Of course, I did not purchase these alleged items so I blocked the bogus recipients' email addresses and reported them immediately to the proper authorities. If you receive these fraudulent emails, a few of my clients have reported getting lately, DO NOT CALL the number on the emails. Report them to Report Fraud Gov --> Link: reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/?pid=A
Next, I started researching how they might have gotten my email address, (name is incorrect and the shipping address is in the middle of nowhere - see screenshot of Google Satellite location - it'd be laughable if it weren't so annoying!). Here's the thing you need to know, every time you sign up for anything, however innocuous, e.g., Recipes, Cute cat videos, Organic Popcorn...I mean anything! you're exposing your information to the internet. Listen, if our government's sites - military, IRS, CIA - can be breached and they have been, any site can be breached. Data mining is hugely profitable in the recesses of the nefarious, dark underweb where your information is sold to the highest bidder depending upon your net worth, credit-worthiness, professional affiliations like LinkedIn and every single social media site. Google yourself and find out how many sites have exposed your personal data, (email addresses, DOB, residential addresses, personal property) it might shock you but no need to get paranoid - that's my job - just be proactive.
Start scrubbing your personal information from every search engine out there by unsubscribing and "opting-out" of the sites that are holding your information hostage, not to mention the massive amount of misinformation. It's time consuming, but worth it. Protect you data, and make sure your searches are restricted from being tracked; there are tons of apps and browser extensions that can do that. Clear out your browser history, cache every time you close out your browser. There are settings to do that automatically. Change your passwords often. I understand this is a pain to change and remember passwords but it is absolutely necessary.
Here are some screenshots of the above-mentioned invoice and the report I made to Report Fraud Gov. Be 'wary' cautious every time you sign up for anything including newsletters from your local Boy Scouts Chapter. Like I said, you don't have to be paranoid but you do need to be judicious with your information. Your privacy is yours and it's very valuable. Otherwise, happy Vernal Equinox.
Next, I started researching how they might have gotten my email address, (name is incorrect and the shipping address is in the middle of nowhere - see screenshot of Google Satellite location - it'd be laughable if it weren't so annoying!). Here's the thing you need to know, every time you sign up for anything, however innocuous, e.g., Recipes, Cute cat videos, Organic Popcorn...I mean anything! you're exposing your information to the internet. Listen, if our government's sites - military, IRS, CIA - can be breached and they have been, any site can be breached. Data mining is hugely profitable in the recesses of the nefarious, dark underweb where your information is sold to the highest bidder depending upon your net worth, credit-worthiness, professional affiliations like LinkedIn and every single social media site. Google yourself and find out how many sites have exposed your personal data, (email addresses, DOB, residential addresses, personal property) it might shock you but no need to get paranoid - that's my job - just be proactive.
Start scrubbing your personal information from every search engine out there by unsubscribing and "opting-out" of the sites that are holding your information hostage, not to mention the massive amount of misinformation. It's time consuming, but worth it. Protect you data, and make sure your searches are restricted from being tracked; there are tons of apps and browser extensions that can do that. Clear out your browser history, cache every time you close out your browser. There are settings to do that automatically. Change your passwords often. I understand this is a pain to change and remember passwords but it is absolutely necessary.
Here are some screenshots of the above-mentioned invoice and the report I made to Report Fraud Gov. Be 'wary' cautious every time you sign up for anything including newsletters from your local Boy Scouts Chapter. Like I said, you don't have to be paranoid but you do need to be judicious with your information. Your privacy is yours and it's very valuable. Otherwise, happy Vernal Equinox.