Be on the lookout for these four tricks and traps. They could ruin what's left of your summer season.

Phone Scam Calls You with Your Own Number - Scammers use caller ID spoofing technology to impersonate phone numbers.

Another Phone Scam Seeks Access to Computers - Impersonators pose as Microsoft employees and offer to fix a virus if the victim allows them remote access. (This happened to me in 2011, and now it's more widespread throughout the U.S. and other parts of the world; read about my experience!)

NOTE: I am happy to pass on the news that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission recently caught some of these crooks and slapped them with $5.1 million in fines! 

A Handy Way to Foil ATM Skimmer Scams - Thieves continue to place hidden cameras at ATMs to surreptitiously record customers entering their PINs. This previously reported way to stop from being a victim still works against the hidden cameras. (Thanks to my Facebook friend Ric for this one!)

What To Do When Criminals Take Your Computer Hostage - Criminals are increasingly using ransomware and threatening to wipe out your files if you don't pay up. Don't give them your money; they will just come back for more! Make frequent backups and use anti-malware tools.

Before You Trust Facebook with Your Summer Fun...

Facebook is at it again. The social network used by billions is sharing its users' online behavior in ways it previously said we could opt out of. 

As Venture Beat reports, anytime a Facebook user visits a site with a "Like" button (any site, not just a Facebook page), that visit is stored by Facebook and used to better target the ads of its advertising partners. No need for the user to actually click the Like button. The page visit is enough to trigger the storage of user data.

I actually tested this by visiting several types of websites I've never visited before. Low and behold, I started seeing ads for associated items on my Facebook page.
 

There are a few tools that allow you to block sites like Facebook from inserting tracking code into your browser. Learn about them here. 

Delicate Balance of Benefits and Privacy 

Whether you support Edward Snowden or not, you likely agree he has done quite a lot in terms of raising the average citizen's awareness of privacy issues. Indeed, debates over whether or not privacy trumps national and personal security continues to rage on in the U.S. and beyond.

I wanted to share just one recent example: The balance of privacy with security is discussed with an excellent panel of two esteemed experts moderated by another esteemed expert (my friends Marc, David and spaf) in this video recorded at the 15th Annual CERIAS Info. Sec. Symposium.

This delicate balance comes up again as we talk about the growing prevalence of drones, particularly in the real estate business. While being able to capture images of hard-to-see real estate is certainly beneficial to brokers, sellers and buyers, there may be a completely different view from neighbors of the property. Imagine you are sunning au naturale by the backyard pool when a drone with a video camera flies overhead, filming your private moment and broadcasting it far and wide. Even if it was an honest mistake, that kind of video can be hard to recoup once it has been captured. 

A Lesser Known Form of Identity Theft

On a recent visit to the Great Day morning show, I had the pleasure of talking with the hosts about one form of identity theft of which many are unaware, and that's synthetic identity theft. It essentially describes theft of only a few pieces of personally identifiable information (PII) that ultimately allows criminals to make up an entirely new (and false) identity. 

With these synthetic identities, criminals can gain employment, get approved for loans, open new credit cards and more. When bill collectors come calling, they realize there's no "real" person they can hold accountable for the misdeeds of the criminal. That is unless they can track down the person associated with those few pieces of real information, which they often do.  

It's a growing problem, one that we all need to be aware of as we work to protect every little piece of our personal information.