ME&MEE

Replace the “f” in the word “fat” with a “ph”, and suddenly you have a new word that means something is good or, dare we say, hip. Replace the “f” in the word “fish” with a “ph”, and you now have a word that can turn your life upside down. Experts from Carnegie Mellon University have developed an online game that teaches Internet users about the dangers of phishing. The game gives users tips to identify a fraudulent site from a legitimate ones by examining URLS and dissecting web addresses. Take a stab at the game here, and find out if you fall for phishing hook, line, and sinker. Also, check out this article about precautions students should take in creating and protecting passwords. A lesson we can all learn from. And finally, a campus newspaper reporter and advisor find themselves in hot water with officials at Western Oregon University after they discovered a security breach on campus computers and made a copy of it for future reporting use. What do you think about the situation?

Ahhhh, September. Football, crisp fall weather, and the start of a new school year. For many students heading back to campus the start of the semester can also mean repairing your credit report after becoming a victim of identity theft. ID theft on college campuses is a growing trend and in between mid-terms and frat parties, coeds need to be aware of the threat of identity theft. We can’t help but cheer for schools, such as several California State University campuses, who have replaced Social Security numbers on student ID cards with alternate numbers, a big step forward in curbing ID theft. Students can also help themselves by being careful about what they post on social networking sites , keeping a watchful eye on the credit card statements and ignoring offers on campus, and being aware of phone scams, such as people pretending to be from the Department of Education and offering fake grants or scholarships in return for your personal and credit card information. We come from the school where any step that can help prevent ID theft is worth giving the old college try.

With everyone looking at fraud online these days, we sometimes need to be reminded that not all thieves have graduated from the old-school way of doing things. Check out this post on BloggingAwayDebt for tips on what to look out for when someone calls claiming to be your credit card company. Protecting yourself is as easy as asking questions of the caller to make sure they are legitimate. And remember, you should never have to reveal your Social Security number. Never. We promise.