What is Pretexting?

Pretexting and Identity Theft

There are many misconceptions about pretexting, beginning with what it is and why it is harmful practice to the average person.

Pretexting is pretending to be someone you are not in order to retrieve privatized information from an individual or entity. Pretexting does not have to have harmful intent, but it can result in serious situations, such as a scam, identity theft, break-in burglary, or kidnapping.

Typically, pretexting is practiced by scammers or con artists. Pretexting scammers can pose as telemarketers, survey volunteers, or employees of various businesses or institutions such as credit agencies, debt collectors, or even public schools. Pretexting is particularly dangerous over the phone, where scammers can call up individual residences and employ manipulation strategies or “exciting offers” to phish for privatized information such as credit card numbers, pin numbers, social security numbers, or schedules. The phone is dangerous because callers can request private information without references or credentials and sound perfectly legitimate in the questions they ask. If the situation becomes suspicious, the pretexting scammer can simply hang up.

Serious pretexting scammers do not target residences directly to start. First they use pretexting strategies to retrieve low security personal information on their intended target from accredited institutions such as banks, schools, credit agencies and the like, and then use this information to “verify” their identity when they attempt to scam the actual target. This technique is particularly easy to employ if the pretexting scammer targets a junior executive or trusting individual in an establishment who wants to be helpful to a caller and doesn’t realize the danger of handing out even low security information.

There are a number of things that an individual can do to protect themselves from pretexting. It is only good sense to be suspicious of anyone who asks for personal information of any kind for any reason. The first line of defense against pretexting scammers is not to give personal information out over the phone unless you are the one initiating the contact or know who the person who is calling you. Next, be sure to pay attention to your information, your credit accounts, your bank information, and other private information. Do some research on pretexting and keep up-to-date with the latest information on who is pretexting for what and how to protect yourself from potential predators.

Home Security: How to Make Your Own Safe Room

Defining the Safe Room

A safe room, also known as panic room, is an ultra-secure location within a building designated to provide shelter for a family during burglary, terrorist attacks or other unspecific threats. If you have ever seen a movie called “Panic Room”, with Jodie Foster in the leading role, you probably have a distorted idea about it. In the movie, the safe room seemed to be unattainable for those with lower incomes. Hi-tech devices and steel walls made the room look more like the vault of a bank than a temporary refuge that the regular homeowners can afford. While such highly fortified panic rooms really exist, it’s generally rich people that use them, to store money or valuable jewelry, art collections, secret documents and so on.

Creating Your Own Safe Room Is Not as Difficult as It Seems

For most people, a safe room is a temporary retreat where the members of the threatened family can hide and call for help. This room doesn’t necessarily need steel walls, but a fortified door that opens outwards. The door can be made of massive wood, steel or other materials, the point is: it’s difficult to break. The doorjamb should be made of steel as well, or reinforced with steel, to avoid the door from being kicked open.

The safe room should have no windows. Any window can easily become an “entrance”. You wouldn’t want to give intruders secondary options, would you? Make sure to keep in the room any necessary supplies you need for self-defense or to call for help: a mobile phone and its charger, first aid kits, water and food, defensive weapons and, as the above mentioned movie has shown us, sick people can have panic attacks while hiding in the safe room, or they might simply need to take their medicine while the intruders are still in the house. It is always wise to store in the panic room such medical emergency supplies as well.

As you never know how long you are going to be locked inside the safe room, always consider good ventilation, proper lighting and basic hygiene needs.

Family Survival During Home Invasion

Home invaders are not movie characters. They are a real threat. We all hope that housebreak will never take place, but no matter if you live in a bad neighborhood or not, it might happen. In such a case, cooperating with the burglars is the last thing you should think about or do.

If you have a safe room you should always make sure that all the family members know how and when to use it. Instruct your children about the importance and the purpose of the room. This room should never be their playground.

Make sure that the emergency cell phone is regularly charged and the flashlights have new batteries. Keep the keys to open the safety room inside. While inside, under siege, call the police and do not exit till they arrive. Again: do not cooperate with the burglars. Don’t take their word if they promise once you come out you will be safe. Wait inside for the police.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Home Security