Lionheart Assurance Solutions

Lionheart Assurance Solutions has noticed that ATM machines may be used to steal debit card information. For example, a skimming device on the ATM machine can read your personal information like your account number, your PIN number, and your account balance. After you’ve left, a plastic mold is used to imitate your debit card and money is withdrawn from your account.

The Lionheart Assurance Solutions Scam Prevention Toolkit has five recommendations on how you can safeguard your personal information on your debit card:

1. When punching in your card, you can protect your PIN number from “shoulder surfers” and hidden cameras by using your other hand to hide your fingers as they punch in the right combination.

2. Only use ATMs that you are familiar with and have used before. ATMs in kiosks, restaurants, and convenience stores, for example, can be easily tampered with and implanted with hidden cameras, skimming devices, and fake pin pads.

3. Keep an eye on your account balance, reviewing it regularly. You have a two-day window to complain about any unusual changes in your account balance.

4. Be suspicious if the ATM machine says that it has run out of money. Sometimes these can be fake machines, designed only to read all your card information and your PIN numbers. Notify your bank about any suspicious ATMs you have used.

5. Sometimes thieves can get your PIN number online. They send you an email, purportedly from your bank, asking you to confirm your account information. These are called phishing scams.

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Lionheart Assurance Solutions also recommends that you never rely on help from strangers if you have problems at an ATM machine. Sometimes, if your card is stuck in a machine, it is because a film of glue has been applied to the slot. A helpful stranger is only interested in reading your number sequence when you use the pin pad.

About Lionheart Assurance Solutions & The Lionheart Assurance Solutions Scam Prevention Toolkit

Lionheart Assurance Solutions is a business consulting company that has specialized in keeping clients up to date on issues related to identity theft. Numerous companies have recognized Lionheart Assurance Solutions as an outstanding service provider and, as a result, Lionheart Assurance Solutions has earned an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, which is their highest awarded rating.

Lionheart Assurance Solutions is a consulting company that has mentored hundreds of companies on information security and identity theft issues. Lionheart Assurance Solutions is focused on helping people reduce the likelihood of becoming a target of identity theft scams. This consulting organization has been a champion in the war to fight identity theft since 2003.

Lionheart Assurance Solutions’ team consists of professional business consultants with regional offices throughout the US who specialize in offering unique employee benefits, identity theft education and identity theft risk mitigation. Lionheart Assurance Solutions – through the Lionheart Assurance Solutions Scam Prevention Toolkit – champions ways to better inform the public and their clients on how to mitigate the risks associated with identity theft.

Lionheart Assurance Solutions launched the Lionheart Assurance Solutions Scam Prevention Toolkit in 2009 in response to the growing needs of the business community to stay on top of the latest scams perpetrated by identity thieves.

Lionheart Assurance Solutions is cautioning companies with a website about online credit card fraud. Besides their office or storefront, many companies also have a website to sell their services or products. While this adds to their bottom line, it also poses a potential problem.

Scammers use one of two methods to defraud merchants online.

One method is to use fictitious numbers that imitate the algorithms produced by authentic credit card numbers. These numbers pass authentication and get authorization codes.

The other method is to buy stolen credit card information from a newsgroup and use these fake credentials to buy a merchant’s products online.

Lionheart Assurance Solutions recommends the following 5 action steps related to this scam.

1. Refuse to accept an order unless there is full verification of address and telephone numbers.

2. If the billing field is different from the shipping field on the online order form, the customer should fax their signature and credit card number before the transaction is authorized.

3. If the verification address uses a free email service that anyone can open within minutes, pay attention. Although a legitimate order can come from a free email address, it also opens the door for the use of a fake credit card number. Such an order necessitates more concern and consideration.

4. An order that is much larger than the typical amounts customers order is suspicious.

5. International orders must have the same billing and shipping address.

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If an order has a different billing and shipping address, comes from a free email service, or is larger than typical order quantities, pick up the telephone and speak to the customer to confirm the transaction.

Started in 1997, Lionheart Assurance Solutions is a business consulting company that focuses on reducing the likelihood of identity theft. They have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. They educate companies on how identity theft can occur and suggest ways that a business can be proactive about protecting sensitive information. Lionheart Assurance Solutions released the Lionheart Assurance Solutions Scam Prevention Toolkit in 2009 in order to enhance awareness of scams perpetrated by identity thieves.

Lionheart Assurance Solutions warns of the possibility of Internet auction fraud, even though this may make perfect business sense. For example, a company that uses the Internet to buy from vendors online may decide to use an online auction for a cheaper price.

Many auctions don’t verify the authenticity of the merchant and simply list the items that the seller has to offer. They don’t offer any guarantee that the seller will actually deliver the merchandise.

Lionheart Assurance Solutions recommends the following 5 ways to make sure that you buy products from an authentic merchant at an auction website.

1. Verify information about the seller as much as possible before making a bid. Besides reviewing the feedback columns, which may have been planted, also check with consumer protection agencies like the Better Business Bureau, as well as appropriate government agencies.

2. Try and get your supplies from a registered business selling at an auction rather than from an individual because consumer protection laws are not applicable to a private sale. A government agency will only take action if there are numerous complaints against a private seller.

3. Avoid buying merchandise from sellers in other countries because the differences in shipping procedures and legal systems may make it difficult to resolve a dispute if one arises.

4. Although it is illegal to use shills, bogus bidders who raise the price of an auction, this practice is still used – so be aware if there are people who bid much higher than appears reasonable.

5. Avoid doing business with a seller who will not verify address and contact numbers. A legitimate seller will not have any hesitation in disclosing their business address and business contact numbers in order to win your trust and earn your business.

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You should also get clear on the details of the delivery, the return policy, and any warranties that the seller may offer. Finally, ask that the merchandise be insured, especially if it involves electronic components.

Lionheart Assurance Solutions has been providing companies in North America with consulting information since 1997. Lionheart Assurance Solutions launched the Lionheart Assurance Solutions Scam Prevention Toolkit to increase awareness of scams perpetrated by identity thieves.

Lionheart Assurance Solutions, LP, with an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, has provided employee identity theft solutions and legal coverage to businesses of every size since 1997. Now even small businesses can afford the kind of identity theft and legal restoration coverage typically seen in large corporations. Led by a senior management team with over a century of combined experience, Lionheart Assurance Solutions customizes identity theft awareness training and legal and identity theft restoration plans to meet the individual needs and budgets of each client. The training that Lionheart Assurance Solutions provides revolutionizes the way employees approach everyday security practices, greatly decreasing an employer’s chance of a data breach. Another benefit is access to legal counsel, which will help businesses to prevent, or mitigate the effects of, investigations or law suits. Employers, and their employees and customers, can take heart in the secure work environment fostered by the identity theft and legal coverage at Lionheart Solutions.

Identity theft is a growing problem, and it comes in many forms. Every day, criminals and fraudsters use the credit card information, social security numbers, employment or medical histories, and even character references of unsuspecting victims for their own nefarious purposes. Identity theft can be as simple as fraudulent credit card purchases, or using someone else’s name and identity to get a job or a loan. It can be as complicated as social engineering the victim’s friends and associates to obtain “secure” passwords or other secrets appropriate only for the business environment.

The best way to stop identity theft, in all its forms, is to prevent it in the first place. Through awareness training at Lionheart Assurance Solutions, LP, workers will learn how to spot all kinds of scams, secure their data and passwords, and protect their privacy. If identity theft does strike, they will learn how to clear their names—all covered by the included benefits, and not done using company time or expenses.