Last week Heartland Payment Systems Inc reported a data breach of over 100 million credit card numbers and cardholder names.  Monster.com is now also reporting a compromise of passwords, user IDs, names, email addresses, and other PII of an undisclosed number of accounts and is advising all of its users to change their passwords immediately.  It's too bad that most of monster.com's users only regularly access their accounts when they are actually looking for a job which means that many may never get the message or take the time to update their password.  This leaves a lot of accounts as wide open opportunities for identity and data theft.

Combine all of this news with this report on CNN Money that over 71,400 jobs were lost today alone (when I last looked at the report it was 68,000 so the number is getting larger as the day wears on!) and we have a dangerous cocktail for fraud and fraud victims!

So, it is a given that there will be more (and already has been) fraudulent activity related to the monster.com and Heartland breaches.  The bigger problem that comes out of this is that we now have over 71,400 people now trying to figure out how they are going to support their families and themselves while they look for new employment. 

These newly unemployed job seekers are now prime targets for cyber crime.  Whether it be stock pump and dump scams, fraudulent IRS refunds, phony job announcements (work at home opportunities appearing to come from monster.com?), or "make a quick buck" schemes, people in vulnerable positions are frequently the most likely victims of criminal activity.  As such, it is important for everyone to be more diligent than ever in trying to separate the wheat from the chaff as it relates to any kind of "too good to be true" offer.  Good social engineering preys on weaknesses and stresses a potential victim's urge to "act now".  During times of unemployment or uncertainty your inherent ability to judge is clouded and irrational decisions are often made resulting in more complicated problems.  Be educated, be aware, and be diligent.  Don't be a victim.