Most of the losses, officials said, resulted from the theft of personal bank account information.
"Never disclose sensitive details such as your social security number, passport or driver's license numbers, bank account information to prospective employers until you have established they are legitimate, " said the firm.
The charges arose in connection with a scheme to defraud debit-card holders by using stolen bank account information to withdraw money from ATMs. On March 20, 2012, Arakelyan and Vardanyan pleaded guilty.
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In addition to concerns about protecting data that could be sensitive for a corporation, there's an increasing emphasis on protecting personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account information and personal finances.
Gather any originals or copies of valuable documents, which might include credit card numbers, Social Security cards, birth certificates, passports, bank account information, discs of photos for insurance purposes, and a utility bill to provide proof of where your home is (or was) located.
One reason that the phishers' tactics are increasingly effective: Instead of directly asking for bank account information in scam e-mails or on Web sites, cybercriminals are using hidden malicious software downloaded to users' desktops that monitors their online activities and records bank codes, Litan says.
Perhaps more to the point, last year, 100 people were arrested in the United States and the United Kingdom for stealing bank-account information and money itself from JP Morgan Chase, Ally Financial, and PNC Financial Services Group.
WikiLeaks would serve as a kind of numbered Swiss bank account, where information could be anonymously exchanged. (The system would allow the source to impose a deadline on the reporter, after which the document would automatically appear on WikiLeaks.) Assange has been experimenting with other ideas, too.
Hackers have been after passwords, bank account data and other personal information used for identity theft or years, but now cyber criminals appear to have a new target: airline miles.
More Internet stores figure they'll be able to win over Nervous Nellies by accepting payments from services like BillMeLater, PayPal and Secure-ebill, which either allow a customer to pay directly from a bank account or allow personal financial information to be stored in one place, rather than spread out among numerous merchants.
Once the phishers purloin your account information, they can get right into your bank account and start stealing money or transferring it to other vendors to buy jewels and other merchandise.
They also try to elicit private information like passwords and bank account numbers to perform scams.
In recent years, the Internal Revenue Service has tightened its global grip by raising penalties for tax evaders and rolling out new reporting requirements for wealthy expatriates to share more information about their foreign bank-account holdings.
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The encrypted key is what is necessary, along with the user's ID and password, to obtain access to the user's account with the bank, and it reflects information about the laptop from which the user is accessing the bank's website.
The ads to most watch out for are those pretending to offer a job but are really trying to get you to give up personal information, such as a bank-account or Social Security number.
One useful tip from the IRS: For the speediest refund, you should e-file (80% of taxpayers did last year) and include direct deposit information so your refund magically appears in your bank account.
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Before dumping a co-founder, also make sure you have access to key information, such as the firm's bank account and Internet passwords, and that any intellectual property critical to the business is owned by the firm and not the person you're planning to push out, says Anthony McCusker, a partner with law firm Goodwin Procter in Menlo Park, Calif.
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Most are so-called phishing scams, where fraudsters often pose as your bank and claim they need key information from you to keep your account open.
Yodlee, also based in Silicon Valley, allows consumers to aggregate information from websites where they have an account, such as their bank or their brokerage.
The Swiss headed off unwelcome inquiries by making it illegal for banks and their employees to provide information about their clients' financial affairs, and soon found that the anonymity of a numbered Swiss bank account attracted other foreigners too.
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