Membership
Report
(Click here
to go to the Membership page)
Lets give a warm welcome to our
newest member,
Richard Higgs!
We have a new membership application
online. It is for
John Passante of
Passante Electric. Please review this application and
contact the sponsor or a board member with questions, comments
or concerns.
Greg Stewart has a potential applicant.
Her name is Carrie and she sells home accessories. Don and
Candy Ellis also know her. Greg will get an application
completed and invite her to a meeting.
Spanky Moskowitz announced his resignation
today. But for a good reason. KTAR has asked him to
come in and fix their radio station. It was an offer he
couldn't refuse.
Social Report
(Click here to go to the Social Event page)
None.
Speaker Coordinator Report
(Click here to go to the Speaker Schedule)
Main Speaker
We need spotlights!
Take 5 minutes to promote your business!
Treasurer Report
We are doing good.
46-28, 46-29, 16-20, 20-23, 20-06, 20-28,
32-13, 32-17, 32-46, 12-18, 12-46, 18-13, 28-35, 07-19, 07-44,
07-46, 45-30, 45-13, 30-10, 30-41, 15-41, 52-22, 52-13, 13-40,
11-48, 11-24, 22-13, 03-06, 04-34, 31-30, 25-38, 25-27, 48-34,
09-32.
This week's
leads focus...
- Dave Spiess
- Greg Stewart
- Mike
Tanner
Carole Weishaar will constantly remind us
to get our passports. Homeland security is getting strict.
By 2007 you won't be able to travel without one. Even now
they are requiring more than just your certified copy of your
birth certificate and driver's license. Women must have a
marriage license to show the name change. The new ID cards
won't cover all travel. Get your passport now before they
get too busy. As it is now, the wait has increased from 6
to 8 weeks. You never know when an emergency will require
you to travel abroad. Will you be prepared?
Please keep Althea Bussert and George Booth
in your thoughts and prayers. Althea's father passed away
recently. George is recovering from pneumonia.
Board
elections will be held in February. Two positions are
opening up. If you have never been on the board or you
haven't been involved for a while, consider joining.
February 3 & 10 - Nominations
February 17 - Speeches
February 24 - Elections
Detective Chuck Boyd
TOPIC:
IDENTITY THEFT
Detective Chuck Boyd, a
detective with the Phoenix Police Department's Document Crimes
Detail spoke to our group today about identity theft. He
has been with the police department for 30 years. He has
been with the criminal detail for the past 6 years.
There are many areas of
identity theft. Chuck touched on several that may relate
to business executives and also answered questions on particular
situations.
There is a gold mine out
there for hackers and dumpster divers. Businesses throw
away customer information without shredding it first. Or
they don't keep it secure when on their computers making it easy
access for hackers. Laws are in the works to hold business
owners responsible for not properly handling client information.
If you suspect a neighboring business is not keeping their
client information safe, let the police know so they can
investigate.
If you are concerned about
all of the credit card offers being sent to you that could
possibly fall into the wrong hands...
The major credit agencies
all sell aggregate credit information to any bidder. Direct mail
and credit companies generate mail based on demographics
including zip code, income band and credit payment patterns.
Stopping this is easy. You just need your address, former
address within two years, and social security number. One call
does it all for agencies Equifax, Trans Union, Experian and
Innovis. Dial 1-888-5 OPT OUT (or 1-888-567-8688) 24 hours a
day.
Do you carry a laptop in your
car? They turn up missing all the time and are usually not
password protected.
You should have firewalls in
place. Keep certain information on a separate drive. One
of the most common targets of burglars these days is computer
hard drives.
The best thing you can do to
protect yourself is to check your finances regularly. Go
online to check activity on your bank and credit card accounts.
Check your credit report a few times each year. According
to Joe Hesch, unless the inquires are excessive they won't
affect your rating.
Use your credit card instead
of debit card when possible. The reason...If you use a
credit card you only have to deal with the credit card company
if something happens. If you use your debit card, the
thieves could drain the account, your account could be frozen
and checks could bounce. Then you have to deal with all of
the payees on those bounced checks. Also note, if you do
suspect a problem, it is your duty to notify the credit card
company in a timely manner.
If you are traveling, notify
the credit card company ahead of time so they know that the
unusual activity on the account is you and they don't freeze the
account.
A bigger issue than credit
card theft is someone using your name to open up new accounts
and charging them to the max. It is too easy to open a
department store account these days. Most employees have a
quota of new accounts that they must meet or they get fired.
Legally, you don't have to
give your SSN to anybody. Most request it because it makes
it easier for them to find you for collection purposes.
But ID theft is not limited to your name connected with your SSN.
It can be in connection with your website, email address,
checking account, passwords, etc.
Don't give out any
information unless you initiate the phone call. If you
receive an email from a seemingly legit company (i.e.. PayPal)
that asks you to follow a link to login to your account for any
reason, be suspicious. Forward the email on to that
company's security department. Don't follow the email
link. It could be directing you to another site to capture
your login information for malicious purposes.
In all cases, make a police
report.
A final piece of
advise...Don't pay attention to ANY email coming from Nigeria.
You DO NOT have a relative there that is leaving you an
inheritance!
Links of interest:
http://www.phoenix.gov/police/idtheft_biz.html
http://www.experian.com/consumer/fraud_faqs.html
[delete/bios/other/guestspeaker.htm]
Jana
Greene was today's
spotlight. Valentine's Day is coming soon. It is the
busiest day of the year for Jana. They do 10-15 times
their normal business on this one day. To help things go
smoothly, Jana recommends that you call your order in early even
if it is for pickup. They have some gorgeous things
planned this year and she can make some recommendations.
This is no longer a holiday for lovers and spouses...It is a
holiday for family and dear friends too.