Many of you use your caller id to screen your calls and avoid taking calls from telemarketers or other nuisance callers. I am sure you can't believe that you survived in the past without such a great tool and time saver. Well, guess what? Now that tool can't always be trusted. Until recently caller id spoofing required access to some expensive, sophisticated hardware to spoof the caller id and make it appear as if it were coming from another person's or business's telephone. Commercial spoofing services have brought this trick to the masses so that anyone can take advantage of this capability for as little as $10.00 per hour. Not only can someone disguise their caller id, they can also disguise their voice and come across as a young woman, old man, etc. If you think I am making this up, just log on to Google and search "caller id spoofing".

So why is this service such a bad thing? Well, lately some crooks have been taking advantage of this service and representing themselves as bank employees or employees of other financial institutions. In the typical scenario, your phone will ring and the caller id will display the name of a bank or other financial institution. The caller will identify themselves as an employee of the bank and tell you that they are checking into some suspicious activity relating to your account. At that point they will ask you to verify some account information such as account number, pin number and even your social security number. Once they have the information they need they thank you for your assistance and promise to call back and let you know the outcome of their investigation. In reality, they will take that information and use it steal your identiy, to purchase items using your account info or even transfer funds to some foreign account.

Florida has passed legislation making caller id spoofing a misdemeanor crime with punishment of up to one year in prison. Idaho and Alaska are considering similar legislation, but have not acted on it yet. The U.S. Senate is also considering legislation that would make the fraudulent use of caller id spoofing illegal. You might ask what is the legitimate use of caller id spoofing? It has been used for companies to do mystery shopper programs and to analyze the telephone etiquette and behavior of operators and customer service representatives at various call centers. So there are some legitimate uses for this service. Lawyers for the spoofing industry have already filed suit against the Florida legislation and it will be up to the courts to decide.

Bottom line: don't give out any of your personal account information to any one who calls you. Call your bank or other financial institution to verify any request for information on your account. If you call, you can be sure that you are dealing with a bonafide representative of that organization.  

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An article in the technology section in today's Washington Post, May 14, 2009, by Michelle Singletary, titled "Be Careful Online: Not Everyone Is a True Friend", brings up some very good points. Can you trust the internet and social networking sites with your personal information?

We are not talking about your bank account number or your social security number, but just random personal information. She points out that even providing information about your age, your friends and your family can expose you to a number of cyber crimes. She believes that cyber criminals are lurking in the shadows of some of the more popular web sites like Twitter, Facebook and Myspace waiting to collect enough personal data about you so they draw you unknowingly into one of their scams.

Ms. Singletary cites a lot of eye opening statistics in her column. Online crime hit a new high in 2008 according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center which is a partnership of the FBI, The National White Collar Crime Center and the Department of Justice Assistance.  According to Ms. Singletary, the center received 275,000 complaints last year which was a 33% increase over 2007. These crimes netted the cyber criminals some $265M. That is a substantial amount of loot.

One example she cited came from a warning made by the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies. They warn that you shouldn't divulge too much information about plans you might be making.  For example, if you twitter about leaving for a two week vacation, one of your followers might just come rob your house while you are gone.

A couple of other caveats brought to light by Ms. Singletary have to do with information you might willingly give out on your favorite social network. Don't provide both your full name and complete birth date, since that is data that can be used to steal your identity or access an account. Since a lot of folks use pet names for their passwords, it is not wise to divulge the names of your pets online. If you don't use your pet's names as passwords, then feel free to blog or tweet about them as much as you like. Derogatory comments about an employer, past or present, can come back to you in spades. It can significantly reduce your ability to be promoted or get that new job. But you know better, right?

She even points out that inflammatory comments about neighbors on social networks have resulted in defamation law suits. Now I realize most of you who are reading this know better and wouldn't make any of these mistakes. I also suspect a number of you have children or older parents, that could get taken in by cyber con artists. So teach your children (and your parents) well.

When I first started writing this blog, I wondered how many of us could be tricked into giving out personal information that a cyber criminal could use against us. I must say that even for an experienced tech guy like myself, my eyes have been opened by Ms. Singletary's article. Good on you Ms. Singletary.

My web community, www.boomer-insight.com is a social network with a conscience. Is it safe? Well, to become a member, the only information we ask for is your nick name, your gender, your birth date (which is of no use to the bad guys if you haven't entered your full name), your zip code, and your email address. I don't think that is too invasive. Our site is all about your opinion on important issues. We provide polls, forums and discussion threads to get your take on these issues.  You can read the latest news on national events and Boomer specific articles. Like a social network, you can blog, or fill in your profile page with photos and videos or not. You can remain anonymous if you like. All we really want is your opinion. Won't you come join us?

Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues at Facebook believe that by openly acknowledging who we are and behaving consistently among all our friends and business associates we will help create a healthier society. Of course, his business depends on this philosophy. In his book, The Facebook Effect, David Kirkpatrick says that Zuckerberg believes, "that if we live in an ‘open and transparent' world, people will be held to the consequences of their actions and be more likely to behave more responsibly".

In a recently released Pew Internet and American Life Project survey of 895 "tech experts" and "highly engaged internet" users, two thirds responded that today's millennials will continue, as they grow older, to "disclose a great deal of personal information" in order to stay connected, and to "take advantage of social, economic and political opportunities." Bottom line is that the younger generation who has grown up with Myspace and Facebook have no qualms about continuing to post personal information on social media about themselves and their activities throughout their lives.

These are the same people who have posted embarrassing photos and text about their exploits and bad behavior. Some of these people have lost out on good jobs and/or acceptance into graduate programs because of these disclosures on their favorite social media platforms. Have they learned their lessons, or do they just dismiss these missteps as part of becoming an adult?

Is this transparency a good thing? Will it help you expand your professional network? Will it help you land that promotion or get that next dream job by virtue of the fact that your personal postings impress your current or future bosses as much as your resume and job experiences? Mark Zuckerberg hopes so. Or will these postings stifle your career advancement and ruin your chances at moving up the ladder?

According to Zuckerberg, "Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity". His thoughts on this topic basically point out that "the level of transparency the world has now won't support having two identities for a person". Because of the proliferation of information about individuals on the internet, the possibility of maintaining separate identities on the web are all but impossible. Eventually one's professional image will be overwritten by their personal image regardless of how hard they try to separate one from the other. Zuckerberg believes you only have one identity. Maybe he has a point, but a lot of older users seem apprehensive about combining their professional and personal identities.

One of Zuckerberg's early investors and mentors, Reid Hoffman, the founder of the professional online network Linkedin, has done his best to discourage users from posting personal information on Linkedin. Reid said, "Mark doesn't believe that social and professional lives are distinct". He went on to say, "That's a classic college student view. One of the things you learn as you get older is that you have these different contexts." Of course, Mark developed the original version of Facebook while he was in college at Harvard. And even today, he is barely older than most college students.

A former Facebook programmer Charlie Cheever thinks that Zuckerberg doesn't believe in privacy. Privacy has been, and remains to be a big issue with Facebook and its users. There have been numerous user revolts on this issue. To Facebook's credit, the company has responded to its users and provided better privacy controls on numerous occasions since its inception. Of course, the question still remains, "Should one company, Facebook, have sole control over the personal information of nearly 500 million users?"

What are the pros of combining your professional and personal personas? Exposure, networking, common interests with those you might want to do business with. The cons are exposure, documented misbehavior, negative networking through guilt by association and political stances that might be unattractive to prospective business partners.

Bottom line: if you don't want your personal information to be mixed in with your professional online presence, you should not go on any form of social media or join any online clubs, political groups, or other associations. Google will make your personal info available to anyone who searches on your name. Yes, you can limit what is seen on Facebook, but sooner or later you will be outed by association or your friends. Whenever you post something online, just remember the whole world is watching and reading.

What's your opinion on this topic? Has social media hurt your career or the career of someone you know? Have you missed out on a job because of your Myspace or Facebook postings? Are you active on social media? Do your friends on Facebook tag your wall with photos of your misbehavior or document your outrageous activities?

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