Home Security, Scam & Identity Theft Prevention, Robert Siciliano www.IDTheftSecurity.com

You're watching Movie Under Makeover. Now let's get you back to the movie here on TBS. Do you think your home is pretty safe? What about your bank account or your identity? Hi, I'm Mia Butler, and today on Movie Under Makeover, we're showing you how to protect the things you value most. Security expert Robert Siciliano has some crucial tips to make us more safety savvy. When we come back, he'll show us how to keep what's most important to us—our families, our homes, our cash, even our identity—out of harm's way. So stay with us. Guarding your personal and financial safety should be a priority. So joining us today is security expert Robert Siciliano, author of The Safety Minute. Hi, Robert. Hello. This is a great book, and I think the timing is perfect, especially with the state of the economy. We're all valuing what we have a lot more, and I think criminals are a lot more desperate.

And criminals value what you have too. Yeah. So they are driving by your house, they're looking for the next target. They see a big box on the curb with the trash that used to have your plasma TV in it. They know you have a plasma TV. Best thing to do is to take that box, cut it up, put it into a big black trash bag. That way they don't know you have a plasma TV.

That's really smart. So how do we protect the house itself though?

Well, real basic, you should lock your doors and your windows. A lot of people in this country don't lock their doors and windows because they think it's not going to happen to them.

But it absolutely can, as we know. Now, are there any other deterrents?

One thing you can do, which is creative and it's inexpensive, is to head to the pet store, pick up a "Beware of Dog" sign, right? "Beware of Dog" sign gives the impression that you have a big dog in the house, and get a big dog food bowl and put "Killer" on the face of the food bowl. Now, this way, you put it on your front stairs or back stairs. They think you have a big dog.

And it actually works.

It works. Additionally, pick up a home alarm system. You can get a do-it-yourself alarm for under a few hundred dollars. Comes with motion sensors that you can install yourself. You screw it into the wall, you plug it in, and you're good to go.

And that's a great, great option if you cannot afford the monitored systems. Absolutely. I love that. Okay, well, now that our homes are covered, coming up, Robert Siciliano is going to tell us how to keep our money safe, so stick around for that. Today's show is all about increasing your street smarts, and here are some valuable tips on keeping your home safe from intruders, brought to you by State Farm. Now, lighting is crucial, so install motion detector lights around your house and make sure they light all the doors and windows. Now, since doors are the preferred entry point, they should be the first priority to illuminate, followed by windows. Also, make sure there's good lighting around the place where you park. And while you're away, make sure your home looks occupied by putting some of your lamps on timers. State Farm knows your home is your castle, so check out their website for more safety tips. We're here with security expert Robert Siciliano, who's telling us how to protect our hard-earned cash. Okay, let's talk about cons and scams.

We are in a recession, and in my adult life, I've never seen so many con men and scammers coming out of the woodwork. In addition, almost 10% of the population is unemployed. What that means is a lot of people are looking for jobs right now. Scammers are posting work-at-home opportunities on flyers, on a telephone pole, on— in the Pennysaver, in classified advertisements, and online. And what they're asking for is for you to pay either for a list or some type of a product to assemble. And once you pay for a job, chances are you're gonna get scammed. If you can't describe the job on a business card it is in fact a scam.

And your job is supposed to pay you, not vice versa.

Exactly. Additionally, everybody's using a computer and everybody's getting email. A lot of emails come across where they're asking you to enter usernames and passwords. It might look like your bank or some type of other entity. When you enter your username and password into that email, chances are you're giving your private information to a scammer somewhere in the world. Those same scams are also coming in via our cellular phones Those are called "phexting," which are phish texting emails. Now when you receive them, all you're supposed to do is hit delete. As long as you do that for both, you're gonna be fine. Additionally, there's something called an affinity scam. An affinity scam is, let's say you're advertising a product for sale online and somebody says, "Okay, I'll buy that," and they send you a check for more money than what the product might cost. Then they ask you to send them back the difference. When you send them back the difference, you've already deposited the check, Eventually that check bounces, you have to pay back the money to the bank.

There's a new con born every day. Every day. Okay. In just a bit, Robert shares tips on travel safety, so stay with us. When you're traveling, your mind's not always on safety, but according to Robert, it should be.

What are you thinking about when you travel?

Getting to my destination.

Well, you really should have a, you know, mindset about safety and security, especially when you get to the airport itself. At the airport, there are distraction criminals. Distraction crimes occur when somebody comes up to your right, let's say, they start talking to you. Their accomplice comes up to your left where your laptop bag might be sitting. They take your laptop bag and they walk away. Wow. Additionally, pickpockets are a big concern. So make sure you get yourself a money belt protecting your wallet.

Okay, now how safe is it to check luggage?

There are 3 types of luggage. There is carry-on, lost, and stolen. So I'm a big believer in carrying your luggage on. And when you put it in the overhead compartment, put it across from you so you can see it.

Okay, so we leave the airport, we go to a rental car.

You get your rental car. Once you pull out of the parking lot, you pull up to a stop sign. Somebody walks up to the rental car, they knock on the window, they point to your tire. That's the flat tire scam. You get out of the car to check out the flat tire, they're gone. You get back in the car, your pocketbook is no longer on the passenger seat. Whoa, criminals are smart, huh? They really are, and they know what they're doing. Next, you head to the hotel. There is very little security in the hotel. Room itself. Never leave your valuables in the hotel room. Always take them with you. Even the hotel safe isn't all that secure. Use the hotel manager's safe if you have anything of any value. Additionally, while you're sleeping at night, make sure you invest in a portable door lock. This way no one can get in the room while you're sleeping.

Wow. Scary, but good to know. Alright, when we come back, Robert Siciliano takes on identity theft. So stick around for that. You may feel secure in who you are, but someone else may feel equally secure passing themselves off as you. Our expert Robert has some crucial tips about identity fraud. Now this is a big one.

It's a huge problem affecting about 10 million people every single year. Now the first thing you have to do is manage the paper in your life. What comes in the mail or goes in the trash can be a real problem. So make sure you invest in a cross-cut shredder, destroying any paperwork that has any personal identifying information. So contact your bank, your creditors, contact the utilities, and have them turn off your paper statements so you get them electronically. Consider investing in a credit freeze. A credit freeze locks down your credit, preventing any new accounts from being opened up under your name. So contact Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax, the 3 major credit bureaus, and they'll lock down your credit. Also, check fraud is a really big problem. It's a billion-dollar problem. Check washing happens when identity thieves get ahold of your checks that are written out to somebody else They wash out the pay-to and the amount, and they cash the checks to themselves. So pick up a Uni-ball gel ink pen, which permeates the check and it prevents check washing.

Okay, Robert, so let's say you are a victim of identity theft.

If you're a victim, first thing you have to do is to contact your creditors and you shut down any unauthorized accounts that have been opened up under your name. Check out your credit report, shut those accounts down, refute any unauthorized charges, and you have to do that within a 30 to 60 day period of time. Ultimately, you are responsible for cleaning up your identity, so pay close attention to your statements.

Okay, that's great information. Alright, you can find all of Robert's safety tips on our website at tbs.com, so check it out. Today we provided you with some vital info for keeping yourself, your home, and your identity safe from harm. A big thanks to our expert Robert Siciliano. Robert Siciliano, author of The Safety Minute, for all of his valuable tips. And for more information on staying safe, visit our website at tbs.com. And I think it's safe to say we are about done here for now. But be sure and catch us again next week. Until then, I'm Mia Butler. Stay beautiful.