Theft

Tom's cell phone rang as we were on our way to dinner last night. Because he was driving, he handed it to me to answer. It was a friend who was calling for help because he had just been scammed of several hundred dollars online -- but the real problem was that the scammers had hacked his computer and stolen his identity.

Once we got where we were going a few minutes later, Tom talked him through some basic first steps, such as contacting his bank and credit card companies. Fortunately he had done those things already. Tom gave him some other advice and then suggested he bring his computer by the house later and they would talk about what to do. So Tom spent part of last night working on that and today and tomorrow he is restoring the computer to its original settings and defaults and then updating all the software. Then our friend will have to go onto all the sites where he has passwords and reset them. His financial security seems to be protected at the moment, but he plans to get one of those ID theft protection services to cover other things.

Of course, to some extent this is a case of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped. Information is out there, but a good protection service can alert him to any unauthorized use and help him be proactive.

I don't like to spread unnecessary alarm -- that is the job of cable news networks -- but a word to the wise. This friend got himself in trouble by giving out information he should never have revealed. Don't do that!