So... when my mother passed away a while back, I inherited a few (very few!) shares of stock. The transfer was finally completed this past week and I got a notice from the investment services firm (BNY Mellon) holding the stock alerting me to the transfer. The notice included an offer to access my account on-line. I had never dealt with this firm before and in the paperwork relating to the transfer, all I included was the basic personal information (including Social Security number). When setting up my on-line credentials, I was given the opportunity to authenticate via mail or on-line. Being the impatient tech-geek that I am, I chose on-line, of course. This where things got interesting... I was presented with about a half dozen multiple choice questions about my children, vehicles I own, credit cards I use, etc. The most alarming thing was that each multiple-choice question included at least on correct piece of personal information for me to choose from. This is information I never provided to them. They must have obtained it from the credit agencies - at least that is the only place I can think of that might be gathering this type of information.
This just goes to show that no matter how careful you are, there is a ton of personal information being held on you in cyberspace - probably more than you realize! -TS Thomas C. Steele Technology Director Manteno CUSD #5 250 N Poplar Manteno, IL 60950 ph: (815)928-7006 fx: (815)468-6439
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