By: Dorothy Riggs, CFE On September 7, 2017 news outlets began reporting that Equifax, one of the three major consumer credit-reporting agencies, had been the target of a major data breach.  Based on Equifax’s investigation, cyber criminals gained unauthorized access to data from mid-May through July 2017. Equifax confirmed that exposed data includes credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 people and personal identifying information (PII) for about 182,000 people involved in credit report disputes.  PII includes sensitive information such as social security numbers, names, birth dates, driver licenses and addresses. According to reports,  143 million people could be affected by this breach . That being the case, you could absolutely be affected. To find out if your data was compromised Equifax has set up a  ‘Check Potential Impact’  site where you are asked to enter your last name and the last 6 digits of your social.  After doing so, you’ll receive a message lett

By: Dorothy Riggs, CFE Catastrophic events like hurricanes Harvey and Irma tend to primarily bring out the best elements of humanity such as love, charity and compassion. However, we must sadly acknowledge that calamity also brings out the worst elements of society. The lure of financial gain leads some people to take advantage of others through the implementation of criminality and deceptive schemes.  Avoid being taken advantage of by being on the lookout for the following: Water-logged Cars According to Consumer Reports approximately 500,000 automobiles were damaged throughout Texas during hurricane Harvey. Several more vehicles were destroyed by the effects of Irma. Most of these car owners will be in the market to replace damaged cars.  It would be even more devastating if hurricane victims or any other used car buyer purchased one of the flooded cars.  Here are some things you should know before you buy: ·          Sellers often advertise flood-damaged a