Get an 800 Number with Vonage

Posted by tasha on March 19th, 2010

The following is an actual user submitted question:

Q: Does Vonage have 800 numbers available?  If so, what would be the added cost?

A: Vonage has a pretty darn good deal on 800 numbers.  It's called Toll Free Plus and would be an "add on" to an existing Vonage plan.  Toll-Free Plus allows you to receive incoming calls from anywhere in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Because it is an "add on", you would need to purchase a Vonage residential or business plan first.  Vonage is running a special on their Vonage World plan right now and for only $14.99 a month for the first 6 months (and then $25.99 a month) you can get unlimited calling within the US and to 60+ countries.  After you have a Vonage plan, all you need to do is login to the Vonage Online account you're given and add Toll Free Plus.

A Toll Free Number costs $4.99 a month (plus taxes and fees) for 100 minutes. After the first the 100 minutes, the cost is 4.9 cents for each additional minute. There is also a one time activation fee of $9.99.  If you're interested, you can even add multiple toll free numbers to your account.  If you have any questions not addressed in this blog, you can easily speak with a Vonage rep at their toll-free number:  888-692-8076

Switch to Vonage and keep your existing phone number

Posted by tasha on March 18th, 2010

The following is an actual user submitted question:

Q:  If we were to switch our business telephone lines to Vonage, could we still keep our existing telephone number?  We've had them for 35 years and all of our clients know them by heart.

A: I'm happy to tell you that you can keep your existing phone number when switching to Vonage.   Vonage calls this service "Number for Life" and will carry over your current business (or residential) phone number to Vonage when you sign up for a Vonage plan.

During the sign up process you'll be asked if you'd like to keep your existing phone number. If so, Vonage will initiate a number transfer for you. This usually takes approximately 7 to 10 business days and Vonage will give you a temporary number in the interim, so if you like you can still start using Vonage immediately. You will need to keep your existing phone service until the switch is completed.  You can easily check the status of the number transfer via the Vonage Online account you'll receive once you're a Vonage customer.

There is one caveat:  some DSL companies don't support this automatic number switch process.  Specifically, if your current DSL service uses the same phone line as your voice line to access the Internet, you may need to go through some additional steps.  For more information on this process, see Number Transfer for DSL Providers.

Identity Theft Protection for Families

Posted by tasha on March 17th, 2010

The following is an actual user submitted question:

Q:  Do identity theft protection services typically include coverage for both husband and wife, or do you have to buy 2 policies?

A. Typically, identity theft protection services are targeted toward individuals because your social security number is a singular identifier.  But good news, there are some plans specifically intended to cover families.  Our top pick for family plans is Trusted ID.  Trusted ID covers all family members that reside at the same address.  This includes your husband/wife, children and other family members.

Although most people believe that children are too young to have their identity stolen, kids can be a  prime target for thieves.  The FTC reports that 2% of all identity theft victims in 2007 were below the age of 19.  Including your children as part of your identity theft protection plan makes good sense because their identity can be used just like an adult's to open a bank account or get a credit card.

How to get a new Social Security Card

Posted by tasha on February 8th, 2010

The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question:

Q: How do I get another social security card?

A: If you have lost your social security card and need another one, you can get a free replacement. The social security office limits the number of replacement cards they will issue to 3 a year and 10 in your lifetime, but this should be plenty for the majority of people.

To obtain a replacement card you need to complete the official government Application for a Social Security Card form and take it or mail it to your local social security office. This form requires you to provide personal information such as your name, your social security number and your parent's personal information. You will also have to show documents proving your identity and that you are a US citizen (or if you aren't a US citizen, proof of current employment). This can be a little tricky as the social security office will only accept original documents, or documents certified by the custodian of the original record. They won't accept photocopies or notarized copies of documents. If at all possible, it makes sense to visit a social security office rather than mailing one of these documents to them. That way you won't have these important documents out of your possession. Once all your documents have been verifying and your application is processed it takes approximately 10-14 days to get your replacement social security card.

Your social security card is a valuable piece of information, and it should be carefully guarded. If your card has been lost or stolen you may be at risk for identity theft. Someone can use your SSN to apply for everything from mortgages to bank accounts. We recommend protecting yourself by signing up for one of the identity theft services reviewed on our site.

Top 8 worst Twitter social media hacks

Posted by Robert Siciliano on February 3rd, 2010

Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger.

In the past year, the use of Twitter has increased dramatically. And so has the criminal hacker’s attention to the opportunity to use it for illicit gain. Here are the top-eight worst types of Twitter social media hacks:

1. Jacked Twitter Accounts: Numerous Twitter (and Facebook) accounts, including those belonging to President Obama, Britney Spears, Fox News and others, were taken over and used to ridicule, harass, or commit fraud.
2. Social Media Identity Theft: Hundreds of impostor accounts are set up every day. Sarah Palin, St Louis Cardinals Coach Tony LaRussa, Kanye West, Huffington Post and many others have had Twitter accounts opened in their names or names similar to theirs.
3. Twitter Worms: Worms infiltrate Twitter sending requests to click on links that, in turn, infect user accounts and begin to multiply the message. Followers of infected accounts get the requests, and then their followers get them, causing more grief than anything else.
4. Twitter DOS Attack: Twitter itself was victimized by a denial-of-service attack that left the site dark for more than three hours. Reports indicated that a politically motivated attack in Russia seemed to be the cause.
5. Twitter used as a Botnet Controller: A Twitter account produced links that led to commands to download code to run a botnet.
6. Twitter Phishing: Cybercriminals use tweets to draw users to spoofed sites and trick them into entering account or financial information. It's a crime that's on the rise.
7. Twitter Porn: Please, “Misty Buttons” stop sending me another invite to chat or see your pics.
8. Twitter Spam: The use of short URLs has made Twitter's 140-character limit the perfect launch pad for spam leading to diet pills, Viagra and whatever else you don’t need.

With Twitter now a part of the daily routines of millions of people, who login from home or work, it will undoubtedly play a big role in the criminal hacking community in 2010.

Protect your identity:

1. If you're a victim of identity theft, get a credit freeze. Click on the preceding link and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief, but it also makes it impossible for you to open any new accounts yourself.
2. Invest in social media protection at Knowem.com.
3. Go to my website and get my FREE ebook on how to protect yourself from the bad guy.
4. Invest in  identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk.

Robert Siciliano is CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, an identity theft expert, professional speaker, security analyst, published author and television news correspondent. Siciliano works with Fortune 1000 companies and startups as an advisor on product launches, branding, messaging, representation, SEO and media. Siciliano's thoughts and advice on all these matters appear often in both the televised and print news media including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, Forbes and USA Today. He has 25 years of security training as a member of the American Society of Industrial Security. He is the author of two books, including The Safety Minute: Living on High Alert; How to take control of your personal security and prevent fraud. He's also partnered with Intelius to help raise awareness about the growing threat of identity theft and to provide tips on how you can protect yourself.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discussing social media identity theft on CNN.

Nextadvisor's magicJack review: VoIP on the cheap

Posted by kent on January 21st, 2010

MagicJack has generated a number of questions from NextAdvisor visitors and it's piqued our interest as well. We've seen the little money-saving device on infomercials, and even while in line at the drugstore, leading us to wonder if it's the Snuggie of the VoIP world. It's not exactly a VoIP substitute. The magicJack is like Vonage as much as a hang glider is like an airplane: they do basically the same thing, but you'd never use them for the same purpose. If Vonage and its ilk are land line replacements, magicJack is more of a landline or cell phone supplement.

It's a tiny device that plugs into your computer's USB port, something that's technically called a "dongle." It's about the size of a Zippo lighter, but nowhere near as sturdy. It has a plastic chrome body with a clear plastic top that let's you see the magic inside. One end plugs into your USB port on an Internet-connected computer. The other has a standard telephone jack for the phone of your choice. It's highly portable, and it has the magicJack software built in so it can be plugged into almost any computer (Intel-based Macs or PCs running XP, Vista, or Windows 7). MagicJack stores your account information with the device, so you can use the service on multiple computers.

Once connected, the software loads and you begin the setup process. If you ordered your magicJack through the magicJack website then you've already entered your credit card info and you'll be starting your 30-day free trial. You cannot port a pre-existing number over to magicJack; you'll have to use the one they give you.

You dial numbers using either your handset or the magicJack application, a small window that contains a dial pad, call log, and, rather unfortunately,  an ever-changing slew of ads for other magicJack products. According to magicJack's terms of service, phone numbers that you call may be analyzed by magicJack's ad software to deliver more relevant ads to you. You cannot close this program and still receive calls, though you can hide the window. It will reappear when you receive a call or dial on your handset.

This is ultimately magicJack's biggest limitation and why it's no substitute for traditional phone or VoIP service. You must have the program open and your computer must be running and Internet connected. MagicJack "solves" this problem by preventing your computer from going to sleep, something you may or may not want. However, if your magicJack is not connected, calls are routed to your magicJack voicemail so you won't lose any calls. Those voicemails are sent right to your email, so you can listen to messages from your mail reader.

The call quality seems to vary. We used a cordless phone to connect to magicJack. Though our call was only across town, our recipient (who was on a landline) said we sounded like we were in another country. It wasn't interference so much as a deadened, far-away sound. A call to a city further away had better performance. When we used a cel phone to call our magicJack phone, we noticed a lot of compression—-a problem with using two pieces of voice compression technology. It seems to be like that for magicJack: quality is highly dependent on many conditions.

Your call quality will be affected by the speed of both your network and your machine. We had less problem with call quality on our dual-processor MacBook Pro, even while simultaneously downloading an MP3 album from eMusic, watching two shows on Hulu, and downloading an HD trailer from Apple (though the latter took a bit of a hit). On our single-processor 2.2GHZ Toshiba PC with 2GB of RAM, we had more trouble with audio, including crashes and interruptions when we tried multi-tasking.

magicJack is one of those products that's not designed to improve on the quality of an existing technology, but to make that technology cheaper. Next to just about every other VoIP technology, it's the cheapest way to make unlimited phone calls in the US and Canada. magicJack doesn't have to be great, because it's so cheap:

After the 30-day trial you'll be charged $39.95 for the first year (plus $6.95 for shipping). And that's all you'll pay for unlimited calls inside the United States or Canada. You can renew a single year for $19.95, or five years for $69.95 (meaning you pay about $13 a year). International calls are billed at a discounted rate (their rate-chart is incredibly cryptic, with some countries having 10 or more alternate rates), but you must pre-purchase credits from magicJack.

Should you purchase magicJack? It depends on what your calling habits are and whether or not you can deal with the advertising. We don't think that it will ever be a phone replacement for most people, and your mileage will vary based on your home computer setup. The good thing is that it's pretty risk free to find out. If you don't like magicJack you can return it for a full refund within 30 days. You'll have to pay return shipping charges, of course.

I have a possible virus on my desktop. How will the McAfee process work and what will i have to do?

Posted by kent on January 14th, 2010

The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question.

Q: I have a possible virus on my desktop. How will the McAfee process work and what will I have to do? I am not abreast on all the computer literate info. Can I do this my self or do you have tech support who can talk me through the process if i buy the McAfee total protection package? I want protection, firewall, spam, malware, phishing, virus, trojans. Please advise!

A: A few days ago, we talked about signs of virus infections and some of the free virus scans available. A free virus scan from a reputable company is a good first step. Whether your machine is infected or not, you need Internet security software. While it seems you like McAfee, we recommend taking a good look at Norton. While more expensive, its new security suite is amazing.

In general, it's not difficult to install Internet security software. While it's been a while since we installed McAfee, we remember the process being pretty simple: go to the site, enter your billing info, download the program. McAfee has its own installer. You should be fine just following the on-screen prompts. Then, make sure the first thing you do is update your virus definitions and run a full system scan (which should be automatic).

As we mentioned above, McAfee requires that you enter your credit card and other personal info before you start the download. If you're concerned that you have a virus that may steal your credit card info, you may want to purchase and download McAfee from a computer you know to be safe and virus-free, and then copy the McAfee download file to your infected machine for installation (use a new CD, just to be safe). In fact, if your machine is infected, it's best to keep it disconnected from the Internet as much as possible. If you don't have access to a clean, trusted computer, consider downloading Kaspersky's Internet security suite; it does not require your credit card info for your initial installation. It also scored better in AV-Comparatives' 2009 Malware Removal test than McAfee did.

NextAdvisor does not have tech support. Since we're a product review site, we don't actually provide the software we review. McAfee does offer some tech support, but it's largely a collection of help documents. Both McAfee and Norton offer "expert" or "guided" installation, but it will cost you around $130 (depending on the product).

Internet security predictions for 2010

Posted by kent on January 7th, 2010

Internet security software experts at McAfee are making some predictions for threats in the year 2010. McAfee expects that Windows exploits will become less common as hackers switch their interest to products made by Adobe. Apparently Windows has gotten a lot better, but also, according to the report: "Flash and (Acrobat) Reader are among the most widely deployed applications in the world, which provides a higher return on investment to cybercriminals."

McAfee also sees increasing attacks delivered via social networking sites, targeted emails, and ever-smarter banking trojans. But, they conclude, they "anticipate even more successes in the fight against all forms of cybercrime in 2010."

You can help fight cybercrime by keeping your software up-to-date. This includes both your Internet security software and applications and plugins like Flash and Acrobat Reader.

What can I do if a child has been a victim of identity theft?

Posted by Caitlin on December 10th, 2009

The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question.

Q: I found out that someone used my grandson's Social Security number to get phone service. How can I stop this? He's only 11 years old.

A: If someone has used or is using a child's Social Security number to secure a service, the child is a victim of identity theft. You should file a report with a local police department immediately. Having a police report will make it easier to have the fraudulent item or items removed from the child's credit report. You should also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

You should also call the phone company to inform them that the service has been fraudulently obtained using a minor's Social Security number. If you are your grandson's legal guardian, you can request a copy of his credit report from all three credit bureaus, and ask that fraudulent items be removed and that his credit report be frozen until he turns 18. If you are not your grandson's legal guardian, one of his parents will need to make this request.

When a parent or legal guardian contacts a credit bureau on their child's behalf, they need to provide the child's complete name, address, and date of birth, and copies of the child's birth certificate and Social Security number. The parent or guardian must also provide a copy of their own drivers license or other government-issued proof of identity, including their current address, and a utility bill containing the current address.

Here is the contact information for the three credit bureaus:

Experian
(888)397-3742
http://www.experian.com

Experian
PO Box 9532
Allen , TX 75013

Equifax
(800) 658-1111
http://www.equifax.com

Equifax
P.O. Box 105069
Atlanta , GA 30348

TransUnion
(800) 916-8800
http://www.transunion.com

TransUnion
PO Box 6790
Fullerton , CA 92834

To protect children from becoming victims of identity theft in the future, you may consider investing in an identity theft protection service, such as TrustedID, which offers protection to children. You may also be interested in our Child Identity Theft Protection Guide.

NextAdvisor launches Internet fax reviews

Posted by kent on December 10th, 2009

NextAdvisor is proud to announce that it has added Internet fax reviews services to its portfolio of online reviews. Internet fax services allow individuals to send and receive faxes from just about any computer with Internet access. Technologies like email and the World Wide Web have not replaced the fax; they've actually made it more practical and easy-to-use.

Registration forms, car rental agreements, and health care authorizations are often sent via fax. Just today I had to fax a credit card authorization to my self storage unit. I used an Internet fax service. Since we reviewed six services, I had plenty of options to chose from.

While eFax has long dominated the space, we found it had many worthy competitors, a few even outclassed it. Check out our reviews and comparisons to see how it all turned out.