Latest news with #Maimon
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
‘That's wild': Your personal information is for sale, and it's not expensive
Criminals looking to steal your identity are shopping the dark web. In many cases, they are able to buy your Social Security number and much more for as little as one dollar. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Channel 2 Consumer Investigative Reporter Justin Gray spoke with Georgia State professor David Maimon. Maimon is the Director of Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Research Group. He told Gray it's not uncommon for criminals to give identities away for free after companies refuse to pay data breach ransoms. 'The numbers I was able to find were offered for free,' Maimon told Gray. 'I went on Telegram, and I looked for some interesting identities for you and took me, like, less than two seconds,' Maimon said. One of those identities belongs to DJ Gibson. Gray was able to track down his grandmother. 'Oh, that's my grandson,' she said after Gray showed her the screen grab. 'Oh, my goodness,' she said. 'His date of birth, his driver's license, everything to steal his identity for sale,' Gray told his grandmother. That's when she called to alert him. 'That's crazy. That's wild,' Gibson said after Gray showed him his personal information was being advertised online. 'This looks like a picture you took of your license,' Gray said. 'I know exactly what it was for, too,' Gibson answered. Gray had his Social Security number, date of birth, email password. He also had a picture that DJ had once shared through what he thought was a secure website. He told Gray it was for a payday loan. Not all information is free. The more information, the more it costs. Many of the Social Security numbers come complete with proof of identity pictures. '$5 per identity. Now if you buy in bulk, you get a way better price,' Maimon said. It's not just the dark web anymore, Maimon's team finds the identities for sale everywhere from Telegram to Facebook and Instagram. 'You don't have to be very skilled. You just need to know where to look,' said Maimon. Gibson said he's been dealing with the consequences of his stolen identity for a while. 'Stack of paper of this tall, just of inquiries,' he told Gray. Hard inquiries came in last year on his credit and dozens of applications using his identity by criminals trying to get cash. 'It was worry. It was constant worry,' Gibson said. Channel 2 Consumer Advisor Clark Howard said to protect yourself you need to freeze your credit now. 'You don't throw up your hands, you freeze your credit. It's free to do and it will protect you from most harm that criminals may try to do with your info,' Howard said. Along with freezing your credit at all three of the credit bureaus, you should keep a closer eye on your credit. 'One easy tool you can use is set up a Credit Karma account, and you'll be able to see your credit and an approximation of your credit score whenever you want for free,' Howard said. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
New Straits Times
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Chilling tale proves another tear-jerker from Osman Ali
MENTION the name Osman Ali, and viewers will get to see images of rustic Kedah, his beloved home state, plus tragic stories set in villages with picturesque rice fields. His latest movie Telaga Suriram is no different, but while we get to shed a lot of tears, we also get to despise some monstrous people along the way. Telaga Suriram is about a 9-year-old girl named Suriram (Puteri Rafasya) whose disappearance becomes a ghost story to her fellow villagers. Her mother Rohaya (Maya Karin) and father Sopiyan (Indonesian actor Fauzi Baadilla) frantically search for her, and with the help of their headman's son Zakir (Farid Kamil) and the no-nonsense district police chief ASP Karmila (Scha Alyahya), they finally discover that she drowned in an isolated well. Rohaya falls into deep depression, and suspects that her late daughter's mute babysitter Maimon (Nabila Huda Suhaimi) killed her. Meanwhile, Maimon's mother and village midwife Khadijah (Ellie Suriaty Omar) strongly protests her daughter's innocence and tries to convince the villagers that Suriram's tragic death could have been the work of people close to her as well as those "in high places". The film, which was produced in 2022, underwent a meticulous process from script to post-production, and the end result clearly shows. As a prolific director, Osman crafted Telaga Suriram around the topic of missing children who often become the focus of the community. Osman thought it would be interesting to produce a story that combines mystical elements with beliefs that have been passed down. An adorable girl next door, Puteri Rafasya is marking her first major big screen role as the titular Suriram. The Kelantanese-Penangite beauty is brilliant, both as the living Suriram and the dead one. As the living Suriram she really looks like a sweet, innocent village girl and her interactions with the main stars, especially Nabila Huda and Maya Karin, are very real. As the ghost she is very creepy, and the makeup artist did a splendid job. Nabila Huda, as predicted, is the heart and soul of the movie, the emotional powerhouse all the way. It is one of her most taxing movies and her character Maimon suffered a lot. We can all sympathise and root for Maimon, as we know from the word go that she is a victim of bigotry in the village. The same can be said of her mother, brilliantly played by Ellie who excels in long-suffering single mother roles. Ellie's character is that of a midwife who is ostracised by the villagers for allegedly practising black magic, and while she is often physically and verbally abused by the villagers, she is a protective mother who takes the blows that are meant for her daughter. Of the boys, Fauzi is great, and plays his character to perfection. His "distraught daddy" is also the only good man in the story. Maya, who reunites with Osman and Farid, both of whom she worked with in Anak Halal, is believable as the distressed mother of Suriram. Initially she appears to be innocent, but as the story gradually unfolds, viewers learn that she is not the "angel" she is made out to be, and perhaps she indirectly caused her daughter's tragic death. Farid is playing a crooked leader for the first time, and it is a stark contrast from playing an upright one in a prominent Malaysian leader's biopic two years ago. His character Zakir looks pretty much a narcissist, yet he is hero-worshipped by the villagers, and viewers can sense that he is not the charitable headman that he appears to be. Scha Alyahya marks her first collaboration with Osman. Her character Karmila is the most stoical throughout the story and is admirable for her determination to uncover the truth behind the innocent girl's death, even if it means taking the headman and Suriram's parents to jail. While the film is a masterpiece, with lots of important messages, some minor mistakes occur though, such as the uniforms worn by the police officers including Scha's character. The movie is set in 1985, but the pale blue police uniforms seem to be from an earlier era. At the end of the day, it is great to have an award-winning ensemble cast, which includes prominent award-winning actors and actresses. The movie carries important lessons about family values, true friendship, betrayal, discrimination, vengeance, bigotry and honesty. It can serve as a cautionary tale about the never-ending evils of child abuse and abuse of power. Syabas to Osman and his brilliant ensemble cast for yet another job well done! TELAGA SURIRAM DIRECTOR Osman Ali RATING 16
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Social Security retirement accounts are being sold online – What you need to know
An identity theft researcher at Georgia State University has found Social Security retirement accounts for sale online. 'They take over the SSA accounts. Then they change the account details on the Social Security Administration website, and then they funnel the payments,' said GSU Professor David Maimon. Maimon showed Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray a video an identity thief posted bragging about his access to a retiree's account. 'You can see the name, date and the balance,' Maimon said. 'The whole point of the scam is to try to take over there those individuals Social Security payments.' The Trump Administration said new changes they are making this month to require more in-person identity verification are designed to prevent just this type of fraud. 'Americans deserve to have their Social Security records protected with the utmost integrity and vigilance,' said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. 'For far too long, the agency has used antiquated methods for proving identity. Social Security can better protect Americans while expediting service.' RELATED STORIES: New Social Security requirements pose barriers to rural communities without internet, transportation Social Security in-person identity checks opposed by advocates and retirees alike A list of the Social Security offices across the US expected to close this year Under the new SSA policy being rolled out over the next 2 weeks, SSA beneficiaries will no longer be able to verify their identity by telephone. People looking to claim benefits or change direct deposit who cannot use their personal 'My Social Security' account, which requires online identity proofing, will then need to visit a local Social Security office to prove their identity in person. Former Social Security Commissioner Martin O'Malley counters that cuts in staff by the new SSA leadership will hurt not help protect from fraud. SSA plans to cut 7,000 jobs even though its current staffing is already at a 50-year low. 'In one day, on one Friday, the entire leadership of the Cyber Security office left. What the public will see is longer and longer and longer and longer waiting times for everything,' O'Malley said. Maimon told Gray that his team started seeing an increase in the SSA accounts for sale before the change in administration, and it has continued after. 'Usually, we see things rising and falling and because of the absence of control, criminals and fraudsters, thrive in times of crisis and times of change,' Maimon said. Another step SSA says they are in the process of taking to limit fraud is using the Treasury Department's Account Verification Service for any direct deposit changes. The Treasury system is designed to verify the existence, status, and ownership of bank accounts before making payments, reducing the risk of improper or fraudulent payments.
