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Hmmm...very suspicious
posted by GJ on November 30, 2007 @ 11:42AM
I've pointed several of you to a tech-savvy fraud blog called the Red Tape Chronicles over at MSNBC.com, written by Bob Sullivan. Recently, he put up this entry that was basically totally irresponsible journalism, insinuating that perhaps Equifax was behind some mysterious fraudulent mini-charges showing up on people's credit cards for online book purchases. Being a member of a rival credit bureau, you'd think I might cheer him on...but no, this is simply fermenting the distrust most consumers have of credit bureaus, and ignoring logic and evidence to come to a stupid conclusion based on anecdotal evidence. I called out this fact in the comments (not that I work for a bureau, but that his article was misleading). I also proposed what I believe to be the most likely situation--that some enterprising hacker released a bot that was smart enough to watch for people to order credit reports at Equifax, using a keylogger to record their info, and then proceeding to use the credit info gleaned to make fraudulent purchases. In fact, I pointed out that this was likely done by someone who had a beef with Equifax, and it was doing a nice job of fooling a lot of tech-ignorant folks and those that believe the bureaus are evil incarnate. I suggested to those who claimed it had happened to them that they should update their virus scanners and run a scan--then compare notes with other victims to see if perhaps my theory had some empirical data to back it up. I checked back with the site today--guess whose comment never made it past the moderator? I can think of one of two things: either they didn't like the hole I shot in Sullivan's innuendo, or they saw my email address and realized I was a bureau employee (which apparently would make me ineligible to comment??) Needless to say, this makes Bob look like a fear-mongering newsie who would prefer that he not be challenged on his blog, for fear that his message of gloom and doom might be lessened.
| Tags: blogs, censorship
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