At Issue & In Focus

June is Internet Safety Month: Internet Safety Tips for Kids

The internet is a great resource for communicating with friends and family, finding information and having fun. It is also important to stay safe when online via a computer, cell phone or gaming system.  Keep these safety tips in mind when you are online, and share them with a young person who may benefit from them.

Online Safety
Unfortunately, kids have been tricked online by people who pretend to be something that they're not.  Some kids have found themselves in dangerous situations when they agreed to meet the mysterious online "friend" in person.  To protect yourself online, never give out personal information, remember that people online may not be who they say they are, and do not meet with anyone or have them visit you without talking to your parents first.  Always talk to your parents or another trusted adult if you are contacted by a stranger or you encounter anything online that makes you feel uncomfortable or scared.

Text Messages
It is also important to think before you text. Once you send a text message or a photo, even to a friend, you can’t take it back and you never know who might forward it.  Prevent embarrassing moments by thinking twice before you send or text anything that you might regret.

Cyber Bullying
Cyber Bullying may include sending hurtful, hateful, derogatory, harassing or threatening messages to others, spreading rumors, or sending personal or embarrassing information about or pictures of others – all with the intention of intimidating, frightening, ridiculing, or harming someone else.  If you are being bullied online, the best way to handle it is don’t reply or forward the message and ignore, block, or “unfriend” whoever is bullying you online. Tell a parent or trusted adult if you are being bullied online.

Keep Your Privacy
To protect your privacy, check with your parents before you create any personal profile because that information could be used for reasons you might not like.  Choose a screen name or email account name that isn't your real name and don’t share your passwords with anyone except your parents. Never reply to any email that asks for your personal information. Some emails may look official, as if it was sent by your Internet provider, but it's actually a trick to get your personal info.

For more information, visit the Cyber Crime and Internet Safety portion of our website.
 
For more cyber safety tips for kids of all ages, visit http://www.nsteens.org/.

Tornado and Storm Recovery

As residents and affected communities begin to work to repair the damage from the aftermath of the tornadoes that swept through the region, the Attorney General’s Office offers information and guidance to consumers for dealing with disaster recovery and home repair:

Keeping your Identity Safe:

If you experienced significant home damage due to tornadoes, you may have lost paperwork or material that includes your personal identifiable information.  If you can, it is important to monitor your credit and bank accounts for fraudulent activity at this time.  If you think you may have become a victim of ID theft, you have rights under Massachusetts law and you may request a credit freeze or fraud alert. 

Read our tips for ID theft victims.

More information on requesting a security freeze or fraud alert.

Homeowners Insurance:

Most standard homeowner policies cover damage from windstorms including tornadoes.  For most of these policies, you will also pay an out of pocket deductible.  The amount you pay should be listed in your policy. For more information about the types of policies and more coverage details.

If you experience damage to your home, report the loss to your agent or insurer as soon as possible. If you need assistance in determining whether you have applicable insurance coverage, or if you believe your agent or insurance company misrepresented to you the extent of your coverage or the availability of insurance protections, you can contact Attorney General’s Consumer Hotline at (617) 727-8400.

Auto Insurance: 

Not all auto insurance policies will cover damage to your vehicle from a tornado.  Damage will be covered if you have included comprehensive coverage in your policy.  Comprehensive insurance covers damage to your car if it is damaged by anything outside of an accident, such as fallen trees and debris damage.  The coverage pays to fix your vehicle minus a deductible.  The deductible will be listed in your policy.

For more information about auto insurance.

If you experience damage to your vehicle, report the loss to your agent or insurer as soon as possible. If you need assistance in determining whether you have applicable insurance coverage, or if you believe your agent or insurance company misrepresented to you the extent of your coverage or the availability of insurance protections, you can contact Attorney General’s Consumer Hotline at (617) 727-8400. 

 

Home Improvement Contractors: 

Here are some tips that can help you select a contractor to conduct repairs on your home:

• Make sure that the person you are dealing with is a licensed contractor affiliated with a legitimate business. If you have access to a computer, you can verify a home improvement contractor’s registration online on the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation’s website: http://db.state.ma.us/homeimprovement/licenseelist.asp
• You should not pay more than one third the cost of the project at the inception of the contract, with another third due half way through the project and the balance paid when the work is completed to your satisfaction. 
• Be wary of a contractor who demands full payment up front.  A reputable contractor should allow you to pay upon completion of the job, or at most, require a reasonable portion of the payment upon signing the contract and the remainder when the job is done. 
• For more tips to help select a home contractor.

 

More Resources:

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a website with comprehensive information about disaster recovery and consumer information relative to last week’s tornadoes. Click here to visit the state’s storm recovery site. (http://www.mass.gov/stormrecovery)

Massachusetts residents in need of emergency assistance are urged to contact the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, at 508-820-2000, or 800-982-6846.

To check the history of a business or to file a complaint about a scam, the Attorney General’s Office urges you to contact its consumer hotline at (617) 727-8400 or file a complaint online at www.mass.gov/ago/consumercomplaint.

Japan Disaster Relief: Tips for Giving Wisely

In the wake of the devastating earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan and its aftermath, the Attorney General’s Office encourages residents to consider donating to charitable organizations that can help those who have been impacted by this devastating natural disaster.  Relief efforts are currently underway and are expected to continue through the upcoming months.  In light of this ongoing effort, the AGO warns potential donors to protect themselves from fundraising scams claiming to benefit those affected by last week's catastrophe.

To best assure that your donation will be used for its intended purpose, the AGO offers the following suggestions:

• Check to see if the charity is registered and filing with the Attorney General’s Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division. Registration and filing information can be obtained online at www.mass.gov/ago/charitiesreports or by calling the division at 617-727-2200 x2101.
• Know your charity. Take the time to verify the address, phone number, contact information, and review the website and written material, when possible. If you have any doubts, well established charities with experience in disaster relief are generally a good choice.
• Do not pay by cash. Pay by check, and make it out to the charity (use its full name; don't use initials), not the fundraiser. Never give your credit card number to a fundraiser over the telephone.

All charities and fundraisers operating in Massachusetts are required by law to register with the AGO.  This requirement also applies to businesses that advertise a portion of their sales will go to earthquake relief.  While registration with the AGO does not indicate that the office approves or endorses the organization, it does provide the public with valuable information regarding how long the organization has been in existence, its financial condition and its track record of complying with state registration and filing requirements.

For more tips on giving wisely to disaster relief charities, please visit the Non-Profits & Charities portion of the AGO website.

AG Coakley Announces Legislative Agenda

Attorney General Martha Coakley today announced the filing of nine bills as a part of her legislative agenda. The series of bills seek to better protect public safety, combat fraud and corruption, and address the foreclosure crisis in Massachusetts. The bills include legislation that would establish standards and require banks to engage in loan modifications when they are financially beneficial to the bank before foreclosing on a property.  The AG’s Office also filed comprehensive human trafficking legislation that would establish human trafficking for sexual servitude or labor as a crime in Massachusetts, one of only five states in the country without human trafficking laws. Additionally, the AG’s Office filed comprehensive economic crime legislation designed to give law enforcement the necessary tools to investigate and prosecute sophisticated criminal activities and enterprises in the 21^st century.  Other bills filed relate to drug trafficking in methamphetamine, corporate manslaughter, dissemination of harmful materials to minors, manufactured housing, metals dealing, and the failure to have workers’ compensation insurance.  To see the full press release, click here.

Penny Auction Sites Pose Potential Risks to Consumers

A new trend of websites, called ‘penny auctions’, are on the rise and they are posing new potential risks to consumers looking to find hard-to-believe deals online.  These websites allow consumers to bid on items for a chance to win them for a small fraction of the retail price. 

A review of past winners on a popular penny auction site reveals that one consumer bid on a Razor scooter priced at $49.99 and won it for just four cents; another consumer won an iPod Shuffle valued at $59.99 for just 17 cents; and yet another lucky bidder won a Nintendo DS for $1.24, the original price being $129.99.  However, it is important to remember that these bargains can only be offered because other bidders have bid (at a cost) and won nothing. 

The old rule “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” needs to be heeded whether it be in relation to a brick and mortar store, coupon sales, or online penny auctions.  Every penny auction site has different rules, but in general, bidders must purchase bids for about 60 cents or more and are often required to buy them in initial packages, sometimes paying nearly $50 to begin bidding.  These auctions differ from traditional ones, where normally you pay only when you win a bid and are not required to cover the cost of your losing bids.  Penny auctions require you to pay the full price of your bid, despite whether you win or lose the bid. 

For some things to consider when using penny auction websites, visit the Consumer Connections post by Barbara Anthony, Undersecretary of the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.  It is also a good idea to look for websites that offer a buyer protection plan, which may protect you if something goes wrong with a transaction or if you encounter other problems on the website.

Video Evidence and New Technologies for Investigators

Yesterday, 160 law enforcement professionals gathered at the second Cyber Crime Initiative meeting of 2010, sponsored by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.  The General Session titled, “Video Evidence and New Technologies for Investigators,” is part of the ongoing work of the AGO to provide state-of-the-art information to law enforcement across the Commonwealth and work cooperatively at the local, state and national level to address and prevent computer crime. 

The half day program offered valuable tips and techniques for enhancing video recordings, special tools and software investigators use for on-line investigations, legal updates on current case decisions that will have an impact on cyber investigations, and information on Advanced Technology and On-Site Seizure, including networks and “cloud” computing. 

Since taking office in January 2007, AG Coakley has made prevention and prosecution of cyber crime a priority of her administration, providing cyber training for over 10,000 state and local law enforcement officials and has continued to develop a statewide capacity to prevent, investigate, and prosecute crimes with a cyber component.  In September 2009, the AGO announced the opening of the new state-of-the-art Computer Forensics Lab in Boston, designed to develop a statewide capacity to deal with cyber crime and more efficiently process digital evidence that is present in virtually every investigation. 

For more information on cyber crime and internet safety, please visit the AGO website.

Thought You Knew a Lot About Social Networking?

Thought you knew a lot about social networking?  Are you one of the 500 million people who are on  Facebook? Think you have a good grasp on all of this social media stuff?  Think again.  Social networking and the use of social media is like the galaxy, ever expanding and, it is not likely to be something we’ll ever fully wrap our arms around, literally or figuratively. 

We were looking at some of our web content the other day. The pages were not particularly old, we thought, but we saw the word “buddy-list.”  Several of us were not sure we even knew what a buddy-list was.  After a few moments though, we came up with “Ahhhh, AOL Instant Messenger.”  Does anyone even use that today? Social media and the opportunities to network via multiple technologies are constantly changing and evolving. Even two years is the equivalent of a lifetime of potential for change.

So, when you’re looking to provide information and advice about how our kids (and we ourselves) can use technology safely, it pays to define social networking as broadly as possible.

We all know that kids can run into trouble with bullying on Facebook.  But check out www.formspring.com.  It’s a site where you can post any question, anonymously, and about anyone, and anyone can comment on it.  It’s connected to every kid through their Facebook site, as well through Twitter and virtually every other sharing platform around.

Then, just when you thought you’ve managed your privacy settings as well as possible, along come our friends at http://www.joindiaspora.com/project.html scheduled to launch mid September.  Diaspora is advertised as “the privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all distributed open source social network…Enter your Diaspora “seed,” a personal web server that stores all of your information and shares it with your friends. Diaspora knows how to securely share (using GPG) your pictures, videos, and more.”

We want to know, what do you think of the explosion of social networking options?  How do you work with kids or with others to help them understand privacy or safety implications?  Do you know of other sites that are new, interesting or may be “the next big thing”?  Are you excited about this or a little concerned?  Send us your comments.

 

Keeping Your Personal Information Private

As new technologies emerge on a daily basis, it is important to always keep your personal information secure. Every so often an organization is hacked or breached and information is exposed. A recent Boston Globe reminds us how crucial it is to safeguard your information no matter where it may be stored.

The Attorney General’s Office has information regarding identity theft and the steps you can take to protect yourself on our website. Be sure to read the “Attorney General's Guide to ID Theft for Victims and Consumers” so you can become more aware of what identity theft is, how you can prevent it from happening to you, and what you need to do if you think your identity has been stolen. 

Don’t forget to check your credit report as well. Reviewing your credit report can alert you to inaccuracies and unauthorized use of your credit, including identity theft. If you believe you may be a victim of identity theft, contact one of the three major credit reporting bureaus to place an alert or freeze on your account. You may also contact the AGO’s Public Inquiry and Assistance Center for additional information at (617) 727-8400.

AGO Hosts Cyber Crimes Initiative Quarterly Training

Today, over 180 law enforcement officers from across the state attended the AG’s Cyber Crime Initiative Quarterly Meeting, titled “Cyberbullying: Proper Investigative Techniques and Understanding the Law.”  The half-day training, attended by police officers, prosecutors and computer forensic investigators included several presentations that focused on the topic of cyberbullying.

The first presentation by Assistant Attorney General Maura Healey, Chief of the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division, provided an overview of the current laws, both civil and criminal, that apply to cyberbullying.  Assistant Attorney General Healey also provided an overview of legislation currently pending that would require reporting of bulling incidents and would update criminal laws relative to cyberbullying.  After the first presentation Attorney General Coakley addressed the participants on the challenges of combating cyberbullying.  Following AG Coakley’s remarks, Dr. Elizabeth Englander, the Director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC) at Bridgewater State College, provided an overview on the subject of cyberbullying, as well as security tips for social networking sites and texting.  The final presentation of the day was led by Todd Shipley, President of Vere Software.  Mr. Shipley’s presentation focused on investigation techniques for law enforcement on social networking and cyber investigations.

Since taking office in January 2007, Attorney General Coakley has made prevention and prosecution of cyber crime a priority of her administration.  Shortly after taking office, Attorney General Coakley established a dedicated Cyber Crime Division within the office’s Criminal Bureau to lead the Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Initiative.  In late 2007, Attorney General Coakley unveiled “The Massachusetts Strategic Plan for Cyber Crime,” designed to help the Commonwealth develop a statewide capacity to prevent, investigate, and prosecute crimes with a cyber component.  The plan calls for law enforcement training, enhanced information sharing, the development of common operating procedures and standards, funding for cyber crime programs, and amending current law as it pertains to cyber crime.  Previous Cyber Crime Quarterly Meetings have trained local law enforcement on subjects such as: the seizure of mobile phones in criminal investigations; gathering of information and evidence from cyber network environments; and preparing “first responders”-those arriving first at a crime scene- on how to gather and secure evidence for investigations with a cyber crime component.

For pictures of today's event, check out our flickr page.

Social Network Posts Say More Than You Think

Contributed by Darius Schwarz, Public Affairs Intern with the Washington State Attorney General's Office

For millions across the globe, the idiosyncratic practice of updating one’s status on Facebook or Twitter has become a ubiquitous component of everyday life. We want our friends to know what we’re up to and we, in turn, are interested in what they’re doing. Going to Orange County next week for vacation? Let us know! We may want mouse ears with our name stitched on them. Off to the new martini bar that just opened in the cool part of town? Tell your friends! They might want to meet up with you there.

On the surface, updates about our whereabouts seem like fairly innocuous tidbits about our lives. But their crux is the same across the board: You’re announcing, “I’m not home.”

To serve as a reminder (or more aptly a wakeup call) about how much one actually divulges when posting about specific whereabouts, the Web site PleaseRobMe.com was launched last month. Compiling Twitter updates logged through location-sharing sites such as Foursquare, the site automatically captures posts and assembles them chronologically into a lengthy register referred to as “Recent Empty Homes.”

Some examples:

USER:  “I’m at NCsoft West (1501 4th Ave, Floor 20, Seattle).”
USER:  “I’m at Apple Store (3710 Route 9 South, Freehold).”
USER:  “I’m at Starbucks - Marina/Chestnut (2132 Chestnut St, at Scott, San Francisco).”

Most savvy users only share their whereabouts from location-sharing sites with an approved list of friends. However, there are scores of others who post these updates directly to their Twitter profiles that are often viewable to the world.

This is not to say the popularity of sites like Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt have created a rash of burglaries. The FBI’s cyber division reports it has yet to be made aware of a single home break-in case stemming from a person sharing their location in cyberspace. Still, at least one Twitter user believes his messages led to a home burglary.

Regardless, the overlying theme of PleaseRobMe.com remains important.

As information is shared at an increasingly explosive rate in venues across the Internet, it is easy to get lulled into a sense of security. While you may consider yourself cognizant about what you are saying online and to whom, your brief message can still be telling someone you do not know something you do not want.

As Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna told MSNBC, “It’s very easy to find people, even with unlisted phone numbers. And you should not assume that just because you use some kind of alias on your Twitter account that someone won’t be able to figure out who you are and where you live.”

So take an extra moment before clicking "Share"; your friends will still be jealous you’re on your way to a Lady Gaga show.

Maybe.