Here is a heads-up for my six regular readers. I want you to be safe and to keep all your records, personal information, and identity safe as well. I would really like to see all six of you attend the program on scams and identity theft given by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt at 3 p.m. Thursday at Peabody Township Library.
I have moderate knowledge about the Internet and how it works. I have social media accounts, but I do not post much personal information on those sites. Even my name is not really my name. I send and receive email and do a minimal amount of shopping online. I do no banking online. My computer presence is pretty conservative — I think.
However, now and then I realize just how little I know about computer viruses, worms, phishing, and dozens of other methods of gaining access to those seemingly innocuous postings I make to friends and family. Even more frightening are the programs that can be developed, once they get in, to find out a whole lot more about us than we want anyone to know — ever.
Recently in Marion County, there has been a rash of scam calls made to random residents. The callers try to bully the phone call recipient into giving personal information by saying that they — the callers — are with the IRS and local law enforcement is ready to arrive on the doorstep of the person receiving the call, implying that arrest or confiscation of personal property is imminent. Frightening, huh?
So here is what I am proposing. Let’s all show up for the Attorney General’s presentation Thursday afternoon. I had not thought I would go. However, the bad guys are out there thinking up new stuff to complicate our lives, finances, and identities. This is a free presentation on the state of our personal existence. We might learn something and we might rest a bit easier for doing so.
Besides, this also is an example of your tax dollars at work. I have no personal opinion of the attorney general one way or the other, but it is a cinch I would never drive to Topeka to hear him share this information. Since he is planning on being in Marion County, we should take advantage of his presence here and the information he has for us.
What do they say? Forewarned is forearmed? I am going to make the attempt to be forewarned in this digital age about my identity and my personal information. I bet most of my six regular readers will do so as well and I am proud of them. I believe that means there will be plenty of chairs left for the rest of you. See you there!
-susan marshall