This  one came from a senior center member:

The latest scam is at the register.  After the order is rung up, some cashiers are adding some money to the bill, say, $20 or $30 to the bill.

The cashier is saying the credit card machine is broken, adding  extra  to the receipt as if you asked for a  cash sum added to the bill.

One shopper caught the cashier and asked for the supervisor.   The cashier was told to cancel the order and redo  the entire order.

Had the shopper left the  line before checking the receipt, it would have  been difficult to prove the machine wasn’t broken, as the cashier tried to say.  This goes for all stores, gas stations, restaurants, hotels, and the like.

There is always something new,  but if I  hear about it  I  will try to let you know.

Be safe,

Deborah E  Joyce

“Identity Theft: A  Victims  Search For Justice”  DB103152 also BARD 

Look for my column in Consumer Vision  Magazine by  Bob Branco

I am a member of AARP fraud watch network in my state. Each month, we have a phone conference. I want to let the veterans out there know about a new resource. This comes from Jeff Abramos, who heads up our veteran’s military and families work which just had a huge launch with the new “Veterans Scams Resource Center.” Jeff had a conversation with Troy J. Broussard,  AARP Veterans’ Fraud Center. The center sent out a survey, where they found that one in three military veteran adults reported that they were losing money to scams that were trying to take advantage of the trust they have in the military community. They found veterans and active-duty service Members and their families were 40% more likely to lose money to scams and fraud than the civilian population.  In response to the survey, the fraud Center was set up.

The main focus is on how they can make folks aware of it, giving them a one stop shop tool which is extremely important. Jeff works with AARP and the office of Community Engagement.  He also co-leads with Pete Jeffries in the Veteran’s Military and their families initiative.  He is a Desert Storm veteran as well. He feels it’s very important that we produce these types of resources to protect those who have protected us. The AARP Veteran Fraud Center is designed to alert veterans and their families about these latest games and how to avoid them.  It was found the biggest growth was benefit buyouts turning over to the US Department of Veteran’s Pension and Disability Benefits for this supposedly lump sum, 47% which was huge. Another 32% was for fraudulent record scam paying for updated military records and then to fake charities.

The Fraud Center includes free resources, like the new AARP Watchdog Alerts and book “The Veterans Additions.” It’s going to highlight those tips to detect the most common scams. They work very closely with AARP Fraud Watch Network, with Jeff and the team,

To make sure that they can provide these resources, this one stop shops and also operation “Protect Veterans”, which is a program that works together with the United States Postal Inspection service, puts everything for veterans on one landing page where they can share with each other

Another resource is the following’

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)
3033 Wilson Boulevard, Third Floor, Arlington, VA 22201
TAPS is always here for you with compassion and care 24/7 at  202. 588.TAPS (8277)
www.taps.org

In my book, “Identity Theft: A Victims Search for Justice,”  I wrote about a family friend who happened to be a colonel in the Army. She  was an Army nurse who helped bring me into the world over 60 years ago. My mother was gone, she was all I had left, even though she wasn’t technically a blood relative. A woman answered the phone saying she was my friend’s daughter. I knew she didn’t have children.

It turned out she was a major who worked with my friend, who ended up having a brain tumor, and passed away. She told everyone she was my friend’s daughter, which she wasn’t, and pretty much took everything. Police wouldn’t get involved because she was military, military wouldn’t get involved because they didn’t know me, they wouldn’t even listen to the private detective I hired who proved everything I said was true.

I never understood how it could happen, until I listens toMr. Broussard’s webinar.

I had spoken to some veterans while researching my book. Finding out this information helps me to understand a little better how this woman could have gotten away with what she did. I wanted other service members to know about these resources. Please don’t let what happened to my friend, a colonel in the Army, happen to you or your loved ones.

Thank you for your service, and happy Memorial Day

Deborah E. Joyce

read my blog@deborahejoyce.com

Reading the book, Humankind: A Hopeful History by Bregman, Rutger took me back to my MA in psychology course work. The author outlined some case studies that I was familiar with:

The 1^st told of Adolph Eichmann’s case. His lawyer pointed out that Eichmann was not a monster. One woman that sat in the courtroom remarked that what was so unsettling was that Eichmann was so terrifyingly normal and that there were so many like him. He was a fanatic that acted out of conviction, he did evil because he thought he was doing good. My note – is this was happening with Covid? Climate change? Our planet burning?

28 September 1943 – A Nazi stood in front of the social Democratic Party leaders in Copenhagen. The Nazi is explaining that ships will anchor in the morning, that their fellow Jewish countrymen will be forcibly brought upon the ship and transported to an unknown place. The raid was set to take place on October 1, 1943 following detailed plans drawn up by the SS. At 8 PM hundreds of Nazi troops would knock upon the doors and have Jewish people turned over to them.The ship was equipped to hold 6000. Up until then, Denmark had no mandatory discrimination laws, no mandatory yellow badges, no confiscation of Jewish property..

On the appointed night when Nazis knocked on the doors of Danish citizen,s they found that tens of thousands of Jewish Danes had been forewarned and had already fled. 99% of Denmark’s Jews survived the war

It was found later the reason why the Danish citizens resisted  was because they saw an injustice. When they saw what was happening everybody in the country including the royal family planed escape routes, drew up plans to get their Jewish neighbors out. They felt to look away would be a betrayal of their country. They said we Danes don’t barter with our Constitution, the Danes always believed in a democratic system and felt that anyone that did not believe that was not considered worthy to be called a Dane.  7000 Danish Jewish citizens were saved.

I remember a story about Kitty Genovese, coming home from work in March 1964 and being attacked on her way into her apartment. Neighbors heard her scream and did nothing, She was stabbed by her attacker 3 different times and died outside her apartment in the stairwell. The author found out the rest of the story – it was 3:19am, it was cold and everyone’s windows were closed. The street was poorly lit. Two neighbors called police, who said they’d already received calls but they never came. They thought she was drunk.  In those days people didn’t pay much attention to a husband beating his wife. Another neighbor who is homosexual and staying at his partner’s apartment was afraid to call police for fear of being beaten up, as homophobia was rampant in the sixties. The woman’s best friend ran out to find her friend bleeding and the attacker had ran away. She stayed with her friend until she died but that was never reported to the family. A historian moved into the area 10 years later and questioned the reporter, asked why it was not in the story. The reporter said his editor told him to leave it out, it was more of a sensational story that way. The family of the deceased woman never knew that part and stated later that if they had known she didn’t die alone, it would have helped their grieving process.

The killer was caught by a bystander who noticed someone carrying a television out of an apartment. He called his neighbor to find out is Joe moving? The person said “no,” Joe isn’t moving. So the one man disabled the thief’s vehicle, the other called police.. It turned out the thief was Kitty Genovese’s murderer. I was never taught that last part in school.

Another story was of a woman in Amsterdam who parked her car up by the canal and got out to retrieve her toddler in the backseat. The car started rolling, she jumped back in but it was too late and the car ended up in the canal. People stood and watched but one person ran to his car, grabbed a hammer and jumped into the river.  When that happened, other people jumped in to help, one woman handing a brick to one of the good Samaritans. That brick was used to break the back window, mother and child were pulled out. They said in another two seconds the car would have been too deep.

Meta analysis is research about research. It analyzes a large group of other studies. This was used in the Bystander Effect, and is a meta-analysis published in 2011, which sheds new light on what bystanders do in an emergency. This will be looked at as one of the most important studies of the Bystander Effect from the past 50 years and found that it does exist. Even though sometimes we don’t think we need to intervene in an emergency because it makes more sense to let somebody else take charge, sometimes we are afraid to do the wrong thing and don’t intervene for fear of censure. Sometimes we don’t think anything is wrong especially if nobody else is taking action. If the emergency is life-threatening, someone drowning or being attacked, if the bystanders can communicate with each other there’s an inverse bystander effect. Additional bystanders mean more helping.

The author arranged to meet a Danish psychologist, Mary Linda Guard. She explained she was the first one to ask why don’t we look at real footage with real people in real situations? She looked at the cameras which are all over the city. She has a database of over a thousand videos from Copenhagen, Cape Town, London, and Amsterdam.  They recorded robberies rapes and murders. She wrote the article “Almost Everything You Think You Know About the Bystander Effect is Wrong,” 90% of cases people help each other.

The true stories should be reported to psychology students and also journalists.  This would teach the public three things: #1 – how out of whack our view of human nature really is,  #2 -how journalists push those buttons in order to have a story, and #3 -that in an emergency we really can count on each other

What’s the connection? This is supposed to be a blog about identity theft. Well, I’ll tell you. The connection is people getting involved to help other people. As a victim of identity theft myself, I know how angry and frustrated I was when the district attorney didn’t look at, or review the documents and taped conversations from the financial institutions that were involved.

I’m not the only one. I get involved because I don’t want this to happen to myself or anyone ever again. When I look in the mirror, I can’t see myself because I am totally blind. I get involved anyway.

When you look in your mirror, what do you see?

Deborah E. Joyce

Don’t forget to wear your mask, and wash your hands.

 Should have been posted 12/31/21 – 1/1/22 (Oops!)

I’ve always been the kind of person  that likes to clean things up before the new year. Case in point – a bill from a Dr. appointment I had in January, believe it or not. Now, I’m blind, so I listen to my mail on a reading machine.

The reading machine said something about overdue, collections, garbled, garbled. I managed to figure out the telephone number for the billing department and tried to call them. For 3 days. Answer machine here leave message there, would I like to mark this message as urgent?

I called, I threatened, I begged. Finally, I asked for help from a local social work agency. This woman has been working with me on and off and she’s a gem. She took the information and she called.

No answer. She finally emailed them with an encrypted email. Whammo! I received a call from the billing department – what a surprise… He looked up my accountant said that I owed $37.50, would I like to pay now?”
If you look at the bill, you’ll notice that my secondary insurance carrier was not billed”.

He had me hold on and he looked and noticed that although they had my secondary insurance card information on file, they neglected to bill the secondary carrier. He didn’t know why. I asked him what he wanted me to do about this bill. He said to ignore it and that he would take it out of collections, wait for them to bill the secondary insurance and then resend the ending bill.

Well, this doesn’t help my blood pressure… It reminded me of another time when the secondary insurance carrier wasn’t billed and they actually did send me to collections. I caught it early enough so that their lawyer didn’t charge me for services.

Another incident had me trying to explain to the hospital that I was only there that day for lab work. Why was I being billed for a hospital telephone? They sent me to the fraud unit. The fraud unit realized that I was not admitted to the hospital, and removed the charge. They said they were very sorry, someone tried to scan me by making me pay for their telephone bill when they were in the hospital.

All of this goes to show you why you need to look at your bills. Your accounts. Not only your savings and checking account – any bill you receive. Especially these days!

Unless you choose to be magnanimous and pay for someone else’s Christmas presents… I don’t think things will change much in 2022.

As always, be diligent, safe, socially distant. Wash those hands, and please wear a mask!

Happy 2022,

Deborah E Joyce

Author of “Identity Theft A  Victims Search For Justice”

Available on Audible, Bard, and Amazon

Just in case you didn’t believe me, I’ve attached an article at the end of this blog to show you how easy it is to steal an identity. Because we allow it.

So in the attached article, this man, an immigrant, was not only able to get a passport, and a job with United Airlines, but he also stole the identity of a dead child. He  was able to impersonate the child for over 2 decades.

I have a few questions:

Why doesn’t Social Security retire a number when a person dies?

What kind of background check/verification did United use anyway?

How could he possibly passed the fingerprint test?

What happened to our so-called national Social Security database?

Now that the word is out, how many others are doing the same thing? I find it interesting that I, as a victim of identity theft, cannot change my Social Security number – although, apparently you could do so in the past. I’m told you can only change your Social Security number now if you’re in the witness protection program…

Notice that he was only caught after entering a secure area in the airport

I also noticed that it only mentioned charges of fraud and identity theft. Why not show penalties to deter this from happening again? Unless the penalties are so light that he will get off in a year. Or, it’s not enforced…

Hey United – change your motto – you’ve gotten too friendly!

Don’t forget to wear your mask and wash those hands!

Deb

                    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/06/us/united-flight-attendant who-stolen-identity.html?smid=url-share

Hello everyone. This is a departure from my blog, but I had to write about what is going on right now. A friend of mine just came back from a trip across the country with her boyfriend. They went through 7 states and she told me that she couldn’t breathe because of all the smoke. You know, I’m blind, but I used to be able to see and I remember looking at pictures of the giant Sequoia in California, and I love nature. I also think about the plants, animals, birds, and reptiles that we are losing by the second.  I read that Arizona is running out of water, believe it or not

What does this have to do with identity theft? Well, as prices go up, and they will dramatically, thieves will be looking for easy money. Think about it – the lands that were growing food are burning. Trees once used for building houses, burning in a wood stove, fencing, are burned up. Medical bills will be going up because of breathing problems. Please, please be careful. We can come out on the other side if we all work together to keep each other safe. Each drop of water, every molecule of air is precious. And so are you. Don’t forget that. DEJ

Trees

sitting in my backyard

with my dog in a cup of coffee

saying good morning to the trees

you’re looking kind of lofty

I’ve been to California

never saw the Sequoia

I remember pictures of those mighty trees

sentinels waving in the breeze

Home to birds and all kinds of things

hiding in those branches

200 feet above our heads

I never thought they would end up dead

Fires were licking their mighty trunks

burned out trees falling down in chunks

what were we thinking, how can this be?

All that is left is a memory

I remember the pictures

I can see them in my mind

now I’ll never know their Majesty

you see, we were totally blind

When I write about identity theft, I always think that the thieves are stealing easily attainable information. The following is a true story, recited to me by a friend of mine yesterday.

She was at the doctor’s office at the counter waiting to pay her bill. Standing next to her, was another patient. The other patient had her wallet on the counter. The wallet was open. The woman was chatting amiably to the person behind the counter and not paying attention. My friend took a 2^nd look, not believing what she was seeing.

The woman’s wallet was open flat on the counter. Visible to all was her driver’s license. My friend was easily able to read the woman’s name, address, date of birth, (July 13), I won’t give the year but she saw that too. Other cards were visible below that.

I asked her she thought of me when she saw this going on. She said not right away, but she did think to herself that she could have easily taken a photo of it with a cell phone, but she didn’t have one. Not that she would want to steal the information, but somebody could easily have done so. I asked her why she didn’t say anything to the woman and she said she was too embarrassed for the woman. Even if you made a joke such as happy birthday? “No,” she said, I couldn’t do it.

When I had an appointment the other day, I heard a woman giving her personal information, date of birth, address, apparently into her phone. It was so loud the whole room could hear it. I asked the nurse who was the person was and she said it was a patient. I mentioned that she might want to point out to the person how far her voice carried. The nurse didn’t want to get involved.

Bottom line people, if thieves are going to steal your information, at least make them work for it…

Feel free to share your stories…

Deb

Hello everyone.

Today I would like to alert you to a new way that my local hospital bilked us out of money.

I moved here a year and ½ ago. My new PCP provided me with referrals to other doctors. One such referral was to a rheumatologist because I needed a shot to prevent osteoporosis. The shot and office visit had always been paid in full by my insurance in the past. You know what’s coming – this time it wasn’t covered.

As a matter of fact, I was billed twice. I paid the co-pay for the doctor, about $25. I received another bill from the hospital, asking for a co-pay of $50. I couldn’t understand what the charge was for, and the hospital billing department insisted that it was due.

I called Medicare. They never heard of such a thing, and looked up bills for the same procedure in years past. I’ve had the same shot and medicine for many years. Not only had it been covered, but Medicare informed me that the medication was over $1000 more expensive than last year. She couldn’t understand why.

Then I called my secondary insurance. They couldn’t explain it either. Looking at the bill, I was informed that Medicare and my secondary insurance had paid the doctors bill, with the co-pay balance of $25. They also paid the hospital about $741 between the 2 of them, with the balance of $50 from a co-pay do for me.

But my insurance didn’t know what the charge was for. They thought maybe it was a coding error on the part of the hospital.

In case you didn’t know, I am totally blind. Which means I record important information such as this. The following is a verbatim conversation I had with the billing department at the local hospital:

Number 1.  A Medicare rep told me that if the hospital owns the clinic in which the doctor’s office is located, the clinic must bill also. The doctor bills Medicare part B, the hospital bills part A, because it’s part of a clinic. So, the patient is stuck with the co-pay from the hospital even though I didn’t go to the hospital, I just went to an office in the hospital.               

Number 2.  So patient is responsible for 2 co-payments, one for the doctor and one for the hospital, because the charge is strictly where the hospital owns the clinic in which the doctor’s office is located.

Number 3.  Another rep put it this way – sometimes, when you receive services in the hospital where your doctor’s office is located, you’ll receive statements, one from the doctor and one from the hospital. This is especially true for something like a bypass, x-ray, anesthesia, Dr. services or part B, hospital services are part A. Medicare pays 80%, secondary insurance pays 20% of the remaining 20%.

However, she went on to explain that I shouldn’t have received the co-pay. Because it had been paid for 80% by Medicare, 20% by the supplemental insurance. Even if it’s an outpatient clinic.

Now wait till you hear the hospitals billing department response:

Number 3. We are unique because we are a hospital and also a clinic. There are outside clinics not connected with the main hospital. If you go to the other clinic, you’re not charged co-pay. If you go to the doctor’s office in the hospital, Medicare requires us to always file a separate bill for the hospital charge. Medicare considers this unique because we’re a hospital but we also have outside clinics. So Medicare always requires us to separate the clinic fee from the doctor fee.

He then went on to say that if I didn’t have Medicare that everything would be on one bill, but Medicare was the one that required that the bill be split into two, one for the doctor and one for the clinic.

When I told him that Medicare never heard of this, he said “Well, if there’d been a discrepancy Medicare would’ve caught it before now.” That they’d always billed this way. He also told me that Medicare paid about $1063.01 and my secondary insurance paid about $265. This is just for the hospital/clinic supposed visit. My secondary insurance paid $215 so I was left of the balance of $50 for the co-pay.

Number 4.  Another rep from the insurance company informed me that the doctor billed for an office visit co-pay was paid by me. But the Dr. used medicine that he received from the hospitals pharmacy so therefore the hospital charged me for use of its facility and its medicine which is always higher because you’re buying a service from the hospital. He said it’s like the difference between getting a walker from the hospital when you leave it or buying it at Walmart. You’re always paying a higher fee from the hospital. He said this is a unique situation that most people don’t know about. To avoid charges like this in the future, go to a doctor who has a standalone office and is not in a hospital or clinic.

I finally received the answers from a local SHIP (state health insurance program) office. Every state has one – an example is FLSHIP for the one in Florida, etc. the state abbreviation goes 1^st. The representative explained that the doctors coming out of medical school don’t want to pay for medical malpractice insurance, office space, bookkeeping, etc. So, the hospitals started offering office space with in their hospital to the doctor. This way, the hospital covered the expenses for the doctor, who in turn, paid rent to the hospital. This allows the hospital to charge the insurance company for a hospital/clinic visit. They can also charge for equipment, medication, etc. at a higher hospital rate. And the cost is passed on to the patient.

Well, this is one reason why Medicare may go broke earlier than later. And I’m sorry that I took so long to explain it but I wanted to be absolutely clear. Because it was difficult for me to understand, even with the recordings I made.

The bottom line is, don’t go to the hospital until it’s absolutely necessary. Find a doctor whose office is standalone, not in a hospital or clinic. I told the doctor that I was changing because I didn’t want to pay the hospital fee, and the doctor’s office informed me they had no idea the hospital was doing this.

Hey, if I don’t tell you these things, who will? And I’m sure you have some great stories out there as well.

As always, be safe, wash your hands, and where your mask. And check your bills!

Enjoy the day, Deb

CONSUMER PROTECTION/LABOR. Passing .. SB 676… Deepfakes. SB 309.
Makes it a Class C felony to intentionally manipulate images called deepfakes – edited pictures of videos created by computer software that virtually removes a person’s face from an existing image and pastes it onto the body of another.. Online privacy. HB 125, HD 2. Establishes the Uniform Employee and Student Online Privacy Protection Act, which protects the online accounts of employees, prospective employees, unpaid interns, applicants, students and prospective students from employers and educational institutions

Hey everybody. It’s always interesting to me to find something like this when I peruse all the newspapers online in different states. This one happens to be from the state of, believe it or not, Hawaii. It’s now a crime to forge state IDs, drivers licenses, employee identification cards, with fake pictures lifted off the Internet. Amazing that you have to write a law in order to make this a crime.

Am I the only one out here who thinks this is ludicrous? That it’s obvious that this should be a crime? I’m not about to look at the laws in all 50 states, but I just wonder how many states consider deepfake a crime? Welcome to the 21st century.

Obviously (pun intended), don’t forget to wash your hands, and be safe. I’m still wearing a mask in public, because although I’ve had my shots, many have not. It’s a matter of choice.

Be safe,
DEJ

Hi everyone,

Another news story that shows there are no laws stringent enough to stop these thieves. When will we learn?

Hackers break into thousands of security cameras, exposing Tesla, jails, hospitals. By: None. A group of hackers say they breached a massive trove of security-camera data collected by Silicon Valley startup Verkada Inc., gaining access to live feeds of 150,000 surveillance cameras inside hospitals, companies, police departments, prisons and schools.. Companies whose footage was exposed include carmaker Tesla Inc. and software provider Cloudflare Inc. In addition, hackers were able to view video from inside women’s health clinics, psychiatric hospitals and the offices of Verkada itself. Some of the cameras, including in hospitals, use facial-recognition technology to identify and categorize people captured on the footage. The hackers say they also have access to the full video archive of all Verkada customers.. In a video seen by Bloomberg, a Verkada camera inside Florida hospital Halifax Health showed what appeared to be eight hospital staffers tackling a man and pinning him to a bed. Halifax Health is featured on Verkada’s public-facing website in a case study entitled: “How a Florida Healthcare Provider Easily Updated and Deployed a Scalable HIPAA Compliant Security System.”. Another video, shot inside a Tesla warehouse in Shanghai, shows workers on an assembly line. The hackers said they obtained access to 222 cameras in Tesla factories and warehouses.. The data breach was carried out by an international hacker collective and intended to show the pervasiveness of video surveillance and the ease with which systems could be broken into, said Tillie Kottmann, one of the hackers who claimed credit for breaching San Mateo, California-based Verkada. Kottmann, who uses they/them pronouns, previously claimed credit for hacking chipmaker Intel Corp. and carmaker Nissan Motor Co. Kottmann said their reasons for hacking are “lots of curiosity, fighting for freedom of information and against intellectual property, a huge dose of anti-capitalism, a hint of anarchism – and it’s also just too much fun not to do it.”. “We have disabled all internal administrator accounts to prevent any unauthorized access,” a Verkada representative said in a statement. “Our internal security team and external security firm are investigating the scale and scope of this potential issue.”. A person with knowledge of the matter said Verkada’s chief information security officer, an internal team and an external security firm are investigating the incident. The company is working to notify customers and set up a support line to address questions, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.. Representatives of Tesla, Cloudflare and other companies identified in this story didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Representatives of the jails, hospitals and schools named in this article either declined to comment or didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.. A video seen by Bloomberg shows officers in a police station in Stoughton, Massachusetts, questioning a man in handcuffs. The hackers say they also gained access to the security cameras of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman killed more than 20 people in 2012.. Also available to the hackers were 330 security cameras inside the Madison County Jail in Huntsville, Alabama. Verkada offers a feature called “People Analytics,” which lets a customer “search and filter based on many different attributes, including gender traits, clothing color, and even a person’s face,” according to a Verkada blog post. Images seen by Bloomberg show that the cameras inside the jail, some of which are hidden inside vents, thermostats and defibrillators, track inmates and correctional staff using the facial-recognition technology. The hackers say they were able to access live feeds and archived video, in some cases including audio, of interviews between police officers and criminal suspects, all in the high-definition resolution known as 4K.. Kottmann said their group was able to obtain “root” access on the cameras, meaning they could use the cameras to execute their own code. That access could, in some instances, allow them to pivot and obtain access to the broader corporate network of Verkada’s customers, or hijack the cameras and use them as a platform to launch future hacks. Obtaining this degree of access to the camera didn’t require any additional hacking, as it was a built-in feature, Kottmann said.. The hackers’ methods were unsophisticated: they gained access to Verkada through a “Super Admin” account, allowing them to peer into the cameras of all of its customers. Kottmann says they found a user name and password for an administrator account publicly exposed on the internet. After Bloomberg contacted Verkada, the hackers lost access to the video feeds and archives, Kottmann said.. The hackers say they were able to peer into multiple locations of the luxury gym chain Equinox. At Wadley Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Texarkana, Texas, hackers say they looked through Verkada cameras pointed at nine ICU beds. Hackers also say they watched cameras at Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital, in Arizona, and were also able to see a detailed record of who used Verkada access control cards to open certain doors, and when they did so. A representative of Wadley declined to comment.. The hack “exposes just how broadly we’re being surveilled, and how little care is put into at least securing the platforms used to do so, pursuing nothing but profit,” Kottmann said. “It’s just wild how I can just see the things we always knew are happening, but we never got to see. Kottman said they gained access to Verkada’s system on Monday morning.. Verkada, founded in 2016, sells security cameras that customers can access and manage through the web. In January 2020, it raised $80 million in venture capital funding, valuing the company at $1.6 billion. Among the investors was Sequoia Capital, one of Silicon Valley’s oldest firms.. Kottmann calls the hacking collective “Advanced Persistent Threat 69420,” a light-hearted reference to the designations cybersecurity firms give to state sponsored hacking groups and criminal cybergangs.. In October 2020, Verkada fired three employees after reports surfaced that workers had used its cameras to take pictures of female colleagues inside the Verkada office and make sexually explicit jokes about them. Verkada CEO Filip Kaliszan said in a statement to Vice at the time that the company “terminated the three individuals who instigated this incident, engaged in egregious behavior targeting coworkers, or neglected to report the behavior despite their obligations as managers.”. Kottmann said they were able to download the entire list of thousands of Verkada customers, as well as the company’s balance sheet, which lists assets and liabilities. As a closely held company, Verkada does not publish its financial statements. Kottman said hackers watched through the camera of a Verkada employee who had set one of the cameras up inside his home. One of the saved clips from the camera shows the employee completing a puzzle with his family.. “If you are a company who has purchased this network of cameras and you are putting them in sensitive places, you may not have the expectation that in addition to being watched by your security team that there is some admin at the camera company who is also watching,” said Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who was briefed on the breach by Bloomberg.. Inside Arizona’s Graham County detention facility, which has 17 cameras, videos are given titles by the center’s staff and saved to a Verkada account. One video, filmed in the “Commons Area,” is titled “ROUNDHOUSE KICK OOPSIE. A video filed inside the “Rear Cell Block” is called “SELLERS SNIFFING/KISSING WILLARD??? Another video, filmed inside “Drunk Tank Exterior” is titled “AUTUMN BUMPS HIS OWN HEAD. Two videos filmed from “Back Cell” are titled “STARE OFF – DONT BLINK! and “LANCASTER LOSES BLANKET.”. The hackers also obtained access to Verkada cameras in Cloudflare offices in San Francisco, Austin, London and New York. The cameras at Cloudflare’s headquarters rely on facial recognition, according to images seen by Bloomberg.. Security cameras and facial-recognition technology are often used inside corporate offices and factories to protect proprietary information and guard against an insider threat, said the EFF’s Galperin.. “There are many legitimate reasons to have surveillance inside of a company,” Galperin added. “The most important part is to have the informed consent of your employees. Usually this is done inside the employee handbook, which no one reads.”.

…The hackers will keep on hacking as long as there are no consequences, and many rewards. Just saying…

Wash hands and be safe, As Always,

Deb

Hi everyone,

I wrote about hacking of electric grids and infrastructure. Here we go… The following item was on Daily Tech headlines news this morning. I keep asking if anyone is taking this seriously.

Please be safe,

As always, wash hands and wear your mask.
Deborah

A shocking case of computer hacking has been uncovered in Pinellas County, Florida. Federal investigators are trying to hunt down the person who tried to poison a public water supply — remotely.

© WTVT via NNS oldsmar-florida-water-treatment-plant-03.png

Investigators say a plant operator monitoring the water plant in the Tampa Bay city of Oldsmar noticed breaches starting Friday morning.

The hacker was controlling the computer system’s mouse — opening various functions on the screen and changing the sodium hydroxide in the water supply from about 100 parts per million to more than 11,100 parts per million.

“This is obviously a significant and potentially dangerous increase,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said. “Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, is the main ingredient in liquid drain cleaners.”

If ingested in large amounts, sodium hydroxide can cause vomiting, chest and abdominal pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

© Provided by CBS News A look at a water tank at the Oldsmar, Florida, water treatment plant. / Credit: WTVT via NNS

Fortunately, inside the water treatment plant the plant operator immediately reduced the levels back to what was safe.

Now Secret Service and FBI cyber units are trying to determine who is behind the hack and whether it was someone in the U.S. or overseas. It occurred just two days before the Super Bowl in a city about 30 miles away from Raymond James Stadium.

“But the important thing is to put everybody on notice … This is kind of bad. Actors are out there, it’s happening,” Oldsmar Mayor Eric Seidel said.

Cyber experts warn that hackers have gotten into infrastructure before — but doing something dangerous — changes the calculus.

Giving Thanks: A Thanksgiving Poem

By Deborah E. Joyce

Thanksgiving is over, I’m stuffed to the gills

Ate here with the seniors, I’ve had my fill

went to sleep early, up at four

my body, tired, was very sore

Went to the computer with pad and phone

on Black Friday, I never leave home

Avoiding the onslaught of shoppers in droves

I brew the coffee, stay warm in my robe

The dog ate my mattress, that’s the 1^st stop

Sleepy’ s.com is where I will shop

coupons, rebates, I find them all

presents to buy, most I recall

Back to the bed, the budgets okay

spent more on that mattress then anything today

now it’s time to decorate-

my Christmas party is at a close date

Before you think this is all about shopping

I’ll tell you a thought in my head that’s been bopping

songs for birthday, Christmas, Easter you see

not for Thanksgiving, how can that be?

I hereby proclaim Thanksgiving the best

far and above all the rest

food, friends, camaraderie

This means so much more to me

Giving thanks for all the days

abundance, joy in many ways

my circle of people, I give you your due

and thanks to you the whole year through

I’ve written a lot about identity theft, mainly because I was a victim. It’s easier to write about what you know. That’s how we learn. Storytelling in the past was of oral tradition. Written after the invention of an alphabet.

Many times, the stories are funny. Sidesplitting laughter is a great teaching tool without being provocative. In my case, but I have to say isn’t so funny. I really, really wish I could relate a positive outcome. I can’t, but I want to share what happened to me with you, so that maybe you won’t suffer the losses that I’ve had to undergo.

So, this is a story about moving out of state, also the mail. When I moved, I did what millions of people do every day – I made a contract with a well-known moving company in my area. The manager came to my home, looked at the items that I wanted moved, very upbeat. When I expressed my concern about the move, especially being blind, she said they would take extra good care of me. Nothing to worry about. I signed the contract, and bought extra insurance at her suggestion.

Two young men showed up at my home to help me pack up my belongings. Their boss, the woman I met with previously, was tied up 3 hours away and couldn’t come. They assured me that she had gone over everything with them, it would be fine. Another woman I know was at my home helping me go through some stuff as well.

When the movers were about ready to leave for the day, the woman remarked there were a few things left. “What about the pictures on the wall?” she asked. They said they didn’t know I wanted those moved. I told them I hadn’t removed some of them from the wall because I didn’t want them damaged while they were sitting on the floor. I had them walk around with me, and noticed they hadn’t packed a substantial number of other items. Again, they said they didn’t know I wanted that moved, either.

Before leaving, I signed off on the paperwork. One of the guys said he had taken pictures of my items on his phone for me so that I would have a record of what was moved. I thanked him, and they left.

My belongings still hadn’t arrived after 3 weeks. The moving company said they couldn’t understand it. I should call their affiliate in my new state. They never answered the phone. After going back-and-forth with the original company for another week, I finally reached the company at my new location. They said they had tried calling me multiple times and never received an answer. They called the number they were given by the manager at my original location. That’s how I found out they were given my old number in my old state.

You might say that’s reasonable, but I had been talking with the original manager in the original company in my original state on my new telephone from my new location. It never occurred to me to tell her to give them that number…

My belongings finally arrived. It took me a long time to go through everything. I started noticing that things were missing, but I kept assuming they were in that other box that I hadn’t opened yet. Besides, as a totally blind person, I could easily overlook items. However, many large items were missing, including a 16 x 20 print that I loved. I had some other pictures, but that was the only one of that size. I couldn’t have overlooked it,

The mover did compensate me a little, nowhere near the replacement value of the items. Of course, the pictures that were on 1 of the mover’s phone had been deleted… I had no proof of anything.

But I had insurance, right? Well, that’s the point of this whole story. I found out that insurance did not matter at all. I would have to prove the value of the items and the only way to do that was to have a receipt for the missing items. But how many of us retain a receipt for something we bought 10 or 20 years ago? And they don’t go by replacement value – that would be too logical. That item purchased 20 years ago would cost more to replace today. Or, if an antique, you have to prove it. What about a gift, or inherited piece of jewelry?

It’s the same with any insurance. A tree hit the roof of my house many years ago. The insurance company paid a pittance of what a new roof would cost.  An act of nature, they said. I was lucky to get anything. When my car was hit on my front right bumper, the car insurance company said the same thing. The insurance company paid roughly half the cost of the damage. They said I was lucky the other driver had insurance, or I wouldn’t have gotten anything.

Then there’s the hoops we have to go through in order to put a claim on health insurance. So, I’m starting to wonder why have any insurance at all? As I thought about it, and started tabulating the cost I was putting out in premiums every year, I realized the cost of those premiums far exceeded any reimbursement from the insurance company.

So, I’d love to start this conversation. What has been your experience with insurance companies? I haven’t even mentioned those poor people affected by the wildfires in California, or the floods in the South. I hear that the insurance company says those are acts of nature, as well. Are we being set up? Think about it.

If we’re lucky, and never have to submit a claim, should we get a discount? I know Allstate does something like that with their good driver discount. That’s only fair, insurance companies are making a huge profit, I hear.

In addition, I had mailed many books through the post office. I used what they call mega mail, which is book rate, instead of priority mail which would’ve been expensive. I opened the last box of books a month ago. The box was all taped up so I had nothing to worry about, right? But books in there did not feel like mine. And it seems like some were missing. I was able to get a neighbor to help me look through the books. I was missing books of my childhood:  Bambi, My Friend Flicka, Lad a Dog, 1^st editions and they were from my childhood. They were all replaced with textbooks on statistics, PowerPoint, Greece, with different names in each of the books. Obviously, not mine. The post office could do nothing – this was a new one, they said. And if I had bought insurance, it would not have done me any good. I would have no way to prove what books were in the box.

Since my move, I’ve been lucky enough to find a great group of people. They have enrolled me in an immersion school, teaching me the skills I will need as a blind adult. The classes are daily, 5 days a week. I tell you this because I haven’t had enough time to answer your wonderful comments as I would like. But I will do the best I can.

As always, be safe, wash your hands, and wear your mask.

Deb

This virus has leveled the playing field. What do I mean by that? No matter age, gender, social class, nationality, the coronavirus has affected our entire planet. Borders mean nothing.

Amazon ran out of toilet paper. People are hoarding the most ridiculous things, thinking the world is going to end. This is Armageddon. Experts are pointing out that mandatory social isolation is bad for our mental health. The suicide rate and overuse of drugs will go up, domestic violence, as well.  The most vulnerable of us; seniors, the homebound, people with pre-existing conditions are scared.

On the other hand, medical personnel are coming out of retirement in order to volunteer their help. Restaurants are donating food. Businesses have started donating money for research. There are thousands of uplifting stories like that every day. I’m focusing on those little tidbits, not media hysteria.

I’ve been homebound for almost a decade, due to the loss of my eyesight. It’s been difficult to explain to people just what that’s like. You can’t leave your home unless someone offers to drive you, but everybody is busy. When you do go out, it’s usually for a medical appointment. Visitors are few and far between, again because everybody has their own lives, their own struggles, pain, and issues. When we become wrapped up in our own lives, it’s easy to forget those that are permanently homebound, bedridden, and the like. One thing about this virus – it will pass, when it does, what will we be left with?

Everyone came together during the 9/11 catastrophe. When all was said and done, people went back to their daily lives. Our only reminder was the empty space where the World Trade Center stood. The debris was cleared, the dead buried, the disabled firefighters, police, and volunteers tried their best to put their lives back together. To this day, the mental anguish of that fateful day survives.

A reporter interviewed one nurse the other day. Near tears, she tried to explain her struggle as she tried to help victims of the coronavirus die. The family could not be with the victim, and she didn’t want them to die alone. I cried with her, and am still crying now as I think of her. My heart goes out to those selfless people who are trying their best to deal with a horrific situation.

I started this blog about 6 months ago, and to tell you the truth, I haven’t posted anything in a long time because I’ve been going through my own struggles. I didn’t want to come across in the wrong way. I don’t know if anyone will read this, but it doesn’t matter.

I only hope we can come through this uplifted, responsible, and with a raised awareness that as the human race, we all walk this earth together. Pray, be kind to each other and put ourselves in each other’s shoes.

One final note… I was the victim of identity theft. I can tell you from experience, please limit your information on the Internet. This is the thief’s dream. Don’t say where you are, don’t talk about your birthday because they use that information against you, the less you say, the better. Encourage each other, support each other, help each other.

Stay safe, and healthy,

Deborah

Hi everyone.  I hope all is well and that you made it through the latest round of snowstorms. I’m sure you’re all sick and tired of winter, and desperately hope that the groundhog was right in that it’s supposed to be in early spring.

Speaking of sick and tired – I’ve been doing a little investigating. Remember my beef about the New York State Penal Code, that there’s no identity theft law? And many of you looked up Penal Code 190.79 – 84.  Now don’t start rolling your eyes until you hear what I have to say.

I decided to place a call to my senator in order to clarify the current New York State penal law regarding identity theft. I was informed by his staff member that Senate Bill 2406 A, regarding identity theft, was passed by the Senate on June 11, 2018. However, according to his records, it still has not passed the assembly as of this date, February 4, 2019.

So then, I told him that I was confused.  If the law has not passed the Assembly, why is it showing up on the Internet under the Penal Code as if it is a law?  He couldn’t give me an answer. Then I queried him “why is it showing up as if identity theft is a crime?” He didn’t know that, either.

I wondered if this happens all the time?  Are amendments showing up as if they were laws when they haven’t been passed?  This can be confusing to people.  Well, he couldn’t answer.  The only advice he could give was to contact Assemblyman Lentols office, as the assembly sponsor, and find out what was going on.

When, or if, I can get an answer to my question, I will update the blog. In the meantime, even though it looks like there’s a law for identity theft, there is no law.

Of course, if the DA won’t move forward with prosecution, it doesn’t matter anyway. Prosecutorial discretion, remember?

Welcome to New York.  If anyone out there can clarify this crazy situation, let me know.  It might stop my head from spinning.

Have a good one, be safe.

Deborah

Deborah

money management.  Lois and JoAnna both felt there is a lack of information on many topics that are not generally discussed.  Each week, the guest host will answer questions from the audience as well.

I  would like to mention that the Monday shows are geared for all to join in to ask their questions to the utmost professional and intuitive empaths one would want to listen to.  

My heartfelt thanks to Lois and JoAnna for helping me to spread the word about identity theft. I know that upcoming speakers will enjoy the same success as I had, under the guidance and support of these two wonderful women who only want the best for everyone.

“Thank you” Lois for this amazing opportunity. I know that because of your show my mission of moving identity theft from civil to criminal court will succeed. I leave you with the last two words that Lois said to me: “have faith”

Happy  New  Year,

Deborah 

Listen  to  “I’ve  Got  Your  Number”  with  Lois  T.  Martin  and  JoAnna  Garfi  McNally  every  Monday  and  Wednesday, on  Blog  Talk  Radio (646)  716- 6237, 7pm  EST.  Also  online  at  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/loistmartin 

Note:  Each  show  is  archived.  If  you  miss  a  show, or  wish  to  listen  to  past  shows, go  to  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/loistmartin and there is a listing of previous episodes on the  page.  Enjoy!