The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office is alerting citizens to a recent rash of credit card skimmers detected at gas stations in its jurisdiction.  Credit card skimmers are used by identity thieves who are out to steal from your bank account.  Credit card skimmers  can be placed anywhere you swipe your card including gas pumps, ATMs, restaurants and stores.

The IRS is reporting a 400% surge in tax-related phishing and malware incidents this tax season which means all of us have to play it smart online.  Tax season is prime time for cyber crime because so many of us file our taxes online and have our refunds automatically deposited into our bank accounts.

We can't say it any better than the Orange County District Attorney's Office just did, so the CSLEA Foundation is simply going to share it.

"A supervising investigator with the Orange County District Attorney's office got an officialsounding recording from someone claiming the IRS was engaging in a lawsuit against him and he was immediately to call the phone number on the recording," said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) Foundation Chairman Kenny Ehrman. "And call that number he did."   

Vehicle hacking is relatively new and there's a consumer, manufacturer,  and law enforcement learning curve on this one.  Vehicle hacking is when someone with a computer gains unauthorized access to your vehicle'soperating system and can retrieve driver data or manipulate the function of the vehicle.

Tax season is here and so are the scam artists who prey on unsuspecting people by calling their homes and cell phones and claiming to be from the IRS or United States Department of the Treasury .  These scammers make claims about outstanding tax bills due and aggressively demand cash, pre-paid debit cards, or wire transfers under the threat that their victim will be arrested.

Scammers impersonating utility companies or your local government love to play dress-up.  They'll show up at your door looking very official,  offering to provide a free energy audit to identify ways in which you can cut down on your utility bills.  Don't let them in.  Only allow utility workers whom you have called ahead of time into your house, and even then ask for identification.  Still feel uncomfortable? 

Did you know the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months? 

"It's important for all of us to know what's on our credit reports. You won't get your credit score, but you can verify the information on the report and see what creditors, insurers, employers and other see when they run credit checks on you," said CSLEA Foundation Chairman Kenny Ehrman.  "Looking over your credit report helps guard against identity theft as you will be able to tell what's yours and if something is on that report, that isn't yours."

If you receive a call from someone claiming to be from your bank and asking for your account information, quickly hang up. 

"No matter how real this person sounds, no matter how demanding or intimidating this caller is, immediately hang up your phone and call your bank," said CSLEA Foundation Chairman Kenny Ehrman.  

Unwanted phone calls are beyond annoying, for senior citizens they can be terribly confusing.  This year the number of unwanted calls may increase due to the upcoming elections.   Unfortunately, there is not a lot you can do to stop the political calls from coming in, as political calls are excluded from the federal government's do not call rules.

Traffic breaks may be an everyday occurrence for a highway patrol officer, but not for the rest of us, which is why some drivers aren't sure how to react when it happens directly in front of them.  Traffic breaks are used by law enforcement officers to slow or stop traffic in emergency situations, to remove hazards from the roadway or to prevent collisions in heavy fog or heavy traffic.

With the record setting Powerball Lottery jackpot growing beyond one BILLION dollars this week, many people are buying tickets, and for some, this may be the very first time.  That's what happens when such excitement abounds.