January 24, 2025 • 16 mins
George Noory and digital privacy advocate Heidi Boghosian discuss digitizing important documents for easier evacuation.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now here's a highlight from coast to coast AM on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
What does VPN stand for?
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Virtual Private network? What is? And that is so that
you can communicate in privacy, but it's not full proof,
so they say, for example, you go to an airport,
(00:29):
don't log into their network because it's easily you know,
hacked for example. So a VPN it encrypts your Internet connection,
protecting your personal information from hackers, especially on public Wi
Fi networks, and people should remember that in an emergency
(00:53):
if they are, say, taken to a shelter or a
public space for a prolonged period of time and need
to access their personal data through their cell phone or
their laptop if they brought it with them, a VPN
ensures that your data is private and secure. However, on
(01:13):
the downside, it can reduce Internet speed because the data
has to be encrypted and routed through a remote server.
Some of them quality VPN services you should pay for,
don't get a free one, and that can be expensive.
Not all VPNs are created equal. Those less reputable options,
(01:38):
which is why you need to research them, may not
give adequate security and they could even log user data
compatibility issues. They some of them may not work seamlessly
with all of your devices or apps. And while they
are good for protecting your IP address, they can prevent
(02:00):
all forms of online tracking. And they can't protect obviously
against fishing scams.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
And fishing is not the throwing a line in water
to get a fish.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
It's something else, not that fun habit. It's when a stranger,
a third party, sends you an email that's worded to
make it seem friendly, and maybe you know them or
you've had a conversation with them, and they have an attachment.
Never open any email with detachment if you do not
know the sender. And then what they do is they
(02:33):
have access to your or your personal information.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, how does that happen?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
You up?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
And then what happens you.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Open it up? And that's you know, we're getting very
technical here, George. They then are able to get into
your your email, They can you know, look through for
personal information. I'm not really exactly sure how they do that.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
It saw an email today from a lady who converses
with people who live in the city that she lives in,
and she got a call from her bank that said
that you just authorize a five hundred dollars amount, and
she said no, and the bank said to her, well,
(03:22):
can you verify your personal information for me? She decided
not to and hung up called her bank. They never called.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Her, of course not.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
It was a scam. It was a scam. What do
these people want?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Well, you know, George, I think she's in the minority
because a good friend of mine, who is actually very
tech savvy, had the same experience a few weeks ago,
and she gave her social Security number and then that
of course, lets someone set up new accounts in your name,
they have your personal identifying information. I also have been
(04:02):
getting a lot of messages on PayPal from fictitious people
all around the world or scammers charging me one thousand
dollars for something, and I just don't open those up
and delete them. People have to be very, very suspicious,
(04:26):
healthy skepticism about everything that comes into their inbox or
their cell phone alerts through different apps. Banks will never
ask for that information over the phone.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Most post offices have done away with their drive through mailboxes.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Have you noticed that, I've never heard of a drive
through a mailbox.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Will you just drive up, open your car window and
drop it in the mailbox?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
That?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Oh? Sending it out. Yes, I well, I'm from New Hampshire,
so I've seen them up there. We don't really have
them in New York City. But that's fascinating. Yes, I know,
because I had a work check for five thousand dollars stolen.
There's an uptick according to the Postal Service in stealing
(05:17):
checks from mailboxes.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
What do they do with a check?
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Well, they can alter it, you know, depending on how
carefully you've made it out. You're supposed to fill out
everything on the you know, amount to be paid, you do,
and zero, zero, one hundred, you don't leave any room
because what they can do is add words. Some use
clever ink covers to alter certain words, so that if
(05:48):
it's you know, a five to zero, they can add
three more zeros. So you need to be mindful of
how you make out checks. That's why we're seeing a
lot fewer checks being used and sent through the mail.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Is your effort primarily because of disasters or scams or
both the go kits, Yes.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Well, primarily prompted by the idea of we're hearing of
so many people who have had to leave their house
with no time to take anything with them. So that's
what made me think of this because how easy is
it to have a small bag that you can grab
(06:36):
in two minutes, either near your door or where you
keep your keys, that has all this backup information. It
seems like a modern necessity quite honestly, for everyone, no
matter where you live.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
We have a sponsor that helps monitor these situations called LifeLock.
Every week they have a story about some major data breach.
There's fifty million students here, hospitals. It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I know I've gotten three data breach letters in the
last year. I've decided to start keeping them because it's Look,
if you live in the modern world and you communicate
and do any business digitally, which face it, we all
have to your data is going to be compromised.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Eventually. It's going to get you, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Yeah, But we can do things to mitigate it by
you know, watching out for those phishing scams on email,
really taking a defensive posture in all of our online interactions.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'll get emails from people I know who never sent them, well.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
They were spammed. And when you see a friend asking
you for money or you know, something out of character,
what I immediately do is email them and say I think
you've been packed to check here.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
What about social media? Are they hacked too? Instagram? Facebook,
places like.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
That, they should be hacked. I try not to use
too many apps because think of each app like a
social media app that you download, say to your phone.
Those look at those as portals into your privacy. Only
(08:29):
download apps from reputable from you know, the company that
sells it or has created it. Any website that you
go to, just be suspicious that it's not. You know,
as I was trying to renew my passport, I went
online and immediately other services come up other than the
(08:51):
government passport office. So you have to really That's what
my book Digital Literacy is sort of about cyber citizens.
It's about recognizing potential scams as soon as they enter
your cell phone, your mailbox, any form of electronic communication
(09:16):
you have to be suspect about.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
We're going to take calls next hour with Heidi, So
jump aboard, ask a question or share a story and
technology and how it might have affected you. I wonder
how many people get hit on a regular basis, Heidi.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Oh, millions, George. I don't have the exact statistic, but
I for my book, I did a lot of research.
I mean the cost. It's not only individuals, it's businesses.
Excuse me, as we just discussed when you get a
letter saying your data has been breached, often it's because
companies are not properly securing your information. School districts across
(10:02):
the nation, including in LA, being hacked with you know, ransomware,
So hackers will sort of take control of, say a
college or a high school system, their administrative systems, and
it grinds to a standstill. They can't function. A cost
(10:23):
of fortune, the cost of business is being hacked. To
recover from from those invasions is astronomical. And of course,
as anyone who has been the subject of a breach
or a hack or have their identity stolen knows, it's
life changing. It up ends your life. It's expensive to fix.
(10:47):
That's why I recommend that everyone have some sort of
credit monitoring software and that you check your online accounts
very regularly. You look at your credit card charges. You
know a lot of scammers will take a dollar out
or ninety nine cents or two dollars to sort of
(11:07):
test and see if you're watching, and any suspicious charge
you should immediately call your bank.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
What is this Nigerian scam where you get an email
that says, we have five million US dollars to put
in your account, please help us. What do they want?
What do they really expect people to reply to that, because,
by the way, I'm still waiting for my deposit.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
People do respond, George, that's the problem. You know, human
beings are trusting by nature, and that's a good thing.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Well, how do they make money on that? It's kind
of a scam.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Well, for example, they will One thing that we're seeing
is they'll do things like with call money flipping, where
we the mark are promised a large amount of money
in exchanging in exchange for sending a small amount of money.
(12:11):
So they'll say, you know, they might say by mistake
some of your money was.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
You know, we need to verify your account to send
you the money.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah, they will say something to get you to believe
it's in your best interest to send them a smaller
money amount of money. And we see a lot of
love scams on social media where I know of two
cases where someone's mother wanted to date someone and met
(12:47):
someone on Facebook and he told her that he had
invested and made a lot of money in a bitcoin
or something, you know, a cryptocurrency and that. So she
gave him fifty dollars, a small amount. He said, give
me a small amount, I'll show you, and then he
gave her, you know, one hundred backs, saying he doubled
(13:10):
her money. So then he asked for a few thousand,
and she gave it to him.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
And then it was only when her children happened to
notice it that she was taking money out of her
life savings, and they intervened.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
But it had gotten to a bad stage where she lost,
you know, half of her savings.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
And that happens a lot to elderly people, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yes, it does.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, they're lonely.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
They're lonely, and they're trusting. And if someone called you
on the phone and impersonates, you know, maybe a life
insurance company or something, they're they're.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Gullible, word to the wise.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Word to the why. It's a lovely character trait to
be trusting. But you have to look out for yourself first,
and you have to know that for every wonderful several
people online that you interact with, there's going to be
one out of ten could be a scammer. So don't
(14:21):
ever ever give personal information over the phone on email.
Never give credit card numbers. Tell them to the person.
If you're dealing, for example, with a vendor, and you've
called them, you know that it's a certain store. Give
them your information or make sure if you put it
(14:42):
online to purchase something, that you they are a legitimate site.
You just have to be diligent.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
If we go to com we go to digital money
instead of cash, isn't this going to run even more rampant?
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Well, I wanted to if I could insert a note,
President Trump just partned a pardoned Ross Olbrich, the founder
of the Silk Road website. Some of your listeners may
be familiar with him. He was a real champion, one
of the first people. He's just been pardoned after ten
(15:18):
years in prison. His case was very harsh in that
the judge gave him two life sentences in forty years.
And I think the reason why was because he ran
a website where some you know, illegal drugs were sold,
but they were reviewed by other customers, and he's a
(15:42):
libertarian and felt this was a safer way to do
that kind of commerce. But he really was one of
the successes using cryptocurrency, and I think that along with
the fact that the site was on the dark web
made the government and target him.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Listen to more Coast to Coast am every weeknight at
one a m. Eastern and go to Coast to coastam
dot com for more
Now here's a highlight from coast to coast AM on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
What does VPN stand for?
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Virtual Private network? What is? And that is so that
you can communicate in privacy, but it's not full proof,
so they say, for example, you go to an airport,
(00:29):
don't log into their network because it's easily you know,
hacked for example. So a VPN it encrypts your Internet connection,
protecting your personal information from hackers, especially on public Wi
Fi networks, and people should remember that in an emergency
(00:53):
if they are, say, taken to a shelter or a
public space for a prolonged period of time and need
to access their personal data through their cell phone or
their laptop if they brought it with them, a VPN
ensures that your data is private and secure. However, on
(01:13):
the downside, it can reduce Internet speed because the data
has to be encrypted and routed through a remote server.
Some of them quality VPN services you should pay for,
don't get a free one, and that can be expensive.
Not all VPNs are created equal. Those less reputable options,
(01:38):
which is why you need to research them, may not
give adequate security and they could even log user data
compatibility issues. They some of them may not work seamlessly
with all of your devices or apps. And while they
are good for protecting your IP address, they can prevent
(02:00):
all forms of online tracking. And they can't protect obviously
against fishing scams.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
And fishing is not the throwing a line in water
to get a fish.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
It's something else, not that fun habit. It's when a stranger,
a third party, sends you an email that's worded to
make it seem friendly, and maybe you know them or
you've had a conversation with them, and they have an attachment.
Never open any email with detachment if you do not
know the sender. And then what they do is they
(02:33):
have access to your or your personal information.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, how does that happen?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
You up?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
And then what happens you.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Open it up? And that's you know, we're getting very
technical here, George. They then are able to get into
your your email, They can you know, look through for
personal information. I'm not really exactly sure how they do that.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
It saw an email today from a lady who converses
with people who live in the city that she lives in,
and she got a call from her bank that said
that you just authorize a five hundred dollars amount, and
she said no, and the bank said to her, well,
(03:22):
can you verify your personal information for me? She decided
not to and hung up called her bank. They never called.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Her, of course not.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
It was a scam. It was a scam. What do
these people want?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Well, you know, George, I think she's in the minority
because a good friend of mine, who is actually very
tech savvy, had the same experience a few weeks ago,
and she gave her social Security number and then that
of course, lets someone set up new accounts in your name,
they have your personal identifying information. I also have been
(04:02):
getting a lot of messages on PayPal from fictitious people
all around the world or scammers charging me one thousand
dollars for something, and I just don't open those up
and delete them. People have to be very, very suspicious,
(04:26):
healthy skepticism about everything that comes into their inbox or
their cell phone alerts through different apps. Banks will never
ask for that information over the phone.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Most post offices have done away with their drive through mailboxes.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Have you noticed that, I've never heard of a drive
through a mailbox.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Will you just drive up, open your car window and
drop it in the mailbox?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
That?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Oh? Sending it out. Yes, I well, I'm from New Hampshire,
so I've seen them up there. We don't really have
them in New York City. But that's fascinating. Yes, I know,
because I had a work check for five thousand dollars stolen.
There's an uptick according to the Postal Service in stealing
(05:17):
checks from mailboxes.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
What do they do with a check?
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Well, they can alter it, you know, depending on how
carefully you've made it out. You're supposed to fill out
everything on the you know, amount to be paid, you do,
and zero, zero, one hundred, you don't leave any room
because what they can do is add words. Some use
clever ink covers to alter certain words, so that if
(05:48):
it's you know, a five to zero, they can add
three more zeros. So you need to be mindful of
how you make out checks. That's why we're seeing a
lot fewer checks being used and sent through the mail.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Is your effort primarily because of disasters or scams or
both the go kits, Yes.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Well, primarily prompted by the idea of we're hearing of
so many people who have had to leave their house
with no time to take anything with them. So that's
what made me think of this because how easy is
it to have a small bag that you can grab
(06:36):
in two minutes, either near your door or where you
keep your keys, that has all this backup information. It
seems like a modern necessity quite honestly, for everyone, no
matter where you live.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
We have a sponsor that helps monitor these situations called LifeLock.
Every week they have a story about some major data breach.
There's fifty million students here, hospitals. It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I know I've gotten three data breach letters in the
last year. I've decided to start keeping them because it's Look,
if you live in the modern world and you communicate
and do any business digitally, which face it, we all
have to your data is going to be compromised.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Eventually. It's going to get you, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Yeah, But we can do things to mitigate it by
you know, watching out for those phishing scams on email,
really taking a defensive posture in all of our online interactions.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'll get emails from people I know who never sent them, well.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
They were spammed. And when you see a friend asking
you for money or you know, something out of character,
what I immediately do is email them and say I think
you've been packed to check here.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
What about social media? Are they hacked too? Instagram? Facebook,
places like.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
That, they should be hacked. I try not to use
too many apps because think of each app like a
social media app that you download, say to your phone.
Those look at those as portals into your privacy. Only
(08:29):
download apps from reputable from you know, the company that
sells it or has created it. Any website that you
go to, just be suspicious that it's not. You know,
as I was trying to renew my passport, I went
online and immediately other services come up other than the
(08:51):
government passport office. So you have to really That's what
my book Digital Literacy is sort of about cyber citizens.
It's about recognizing potential scams as soon as they enter
your cell phone, your mailbox, any form of electronic communication
(09:16):
you have to be suspect about.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
We're going to take calls next hour with Heidi, So
jump aboard, ask a question or share a story and
technology and how it might have affected you. I wonder
how many people get hit on a regular basis, Heidi.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Oh, millions, George. I don't have the exact statistic, but
I for my book, I did a lot of research.
I mean the cost. It's not only individuals, it's businesses.
Excuse me, as we just discussed when you get a
letter saying your data has been breached, often it's because
companies are not properly securing your information. School districts across
(10:02):
the nation, including in LA, being hacked with you know, ransomware,
So hackers will sort of take control of, say a
college or a high school system, their administrative systems, and
it grinds to a standstill. They can't function. A cost
(10:23):
of fortune, the cost of business is being hacked. To
recover from from those invasions is astronomical. And of course,
as anyone who has been the subject of a breach
or a hack or have their identity stolen knows, it's
life changing. It up ends your life. It's expensive to fix.
(10:47):
That's why I recommend that everyone have some sort of
credit monitoring software and that you check your online accounts
very regularly. You look at your credit card charges. You
know a lot of scammers will take a dollar out
or ninety nine cents or two dollars to sort of
(11:07):
test and see if you're watching, and any suspicious charge
you should immediately call your bank.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
What is this Nigerian scam where you get an email
that says, we have five million US dollars to put
in your account, please help us. What do they want?
What do they really expect people to reply to that, because,
by the way, I'm still waiting for my deposit.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
People do respond, George, that's the problem. You know, human
beings are trusting by nature, and that's a good thing.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Well, how do they make money on that? It's kind
of a scam.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Well, for example, they will One thing that we're seeing
is they'll do things like with call money flipping, where
we the mark are promised a large amount of money
in exchanging in exchange for sending a small amount of money.
(12:11):
So they'll say, you know, they might say by mistake
some of your money was.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
You know, we need to verify your account to send
you the money.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah, they will say something to get you to believe
it's in your best interest to send them a smaller
money amount of money. And we see a lot of
love scams on social media where I know of two
cases where someone's mother wanted to date someone and met
(12:47):
someone on Facebook and he told her that he had
invested and made a lot of money in a bitcoin
or something, you know, a cryptocurrency and that. So she
gave him fifty dollars, a small amount. He said, give
me a small amount, I'll show you, and then he
gave her, you know, one hundred backs, saying he doubled
(13:10):
her money. So then he asked for a few thousand,
and she gave it to him.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
And then it was only when her children happened to
notice it that she was taking money out of her
life savings, and they intervened.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
But it had gotten to a bad stage where she lost,
you know, half of her savings.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
And that happens a lot to elderly people, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yes, it does.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, they're lonely.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
They're lonely, and they're trusting. And if someone called you
on the phone and impersonates, you know, maybe a life
insurance company or something, they're they're.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Gullible, word to the wise.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Word to the why. It's a lovely character trait to
be trusting. But you have to look out for yourself first,
and you have to know that for every wonderful several
people online that you interact with, there's going to be
one out of ten could be a scammer. So don't
(14:21):
ever ever give personal information over the phone on email.
Never give credit card numbers. Tell them to the person.
If you're dealing, for example, with a vendor, and you've
called them, you know that it's a certain store. Give
them your information or make sure if you put it
(14:42):
online to purchase something, that you they are a legitimate site.
You just have to be diligent.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
If we go to com we go to digital money
instead of cash, isn't this going to run even more rampant?
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Well, I wanted to if I could insert a note,
President Trump just partned a pardoned Ross Olbrich, the founder
of the Silk Road website. Some of your listeners may
be familiar with him. He was a real champion, one
of the first people. He's just been pardoned after ten
(15:18):
years in prison. His case was very harsh in that
the judge gave him two life sentences in forty years.
And I think the reason why was because he ran
a website where some you know, illegal drugs were sold,
but they were reviewed by other customers, and he's a
(15:42):
libertarian and felt this was a safer way to do
that kind of commerce. But he really was one of
the successes using cryptocurrency, and I think that along with
the fact that the site was on the dark web
made the government and target him.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Listen to more Coast to Coast am every weeknight at
one a m. Eastern and go to Coast to coastam
dot com for more
The Best of Coast to Coast AM News
Host
George Noory
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