Lonnie Pacelli's Blog, page 42

Free 7/1-2: I'm Too Busy to Plan

Free 7/1-2: I'm Too Busy to Plan

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Free 6/24-25: If You Build It They Will Succeed

Free 6/24-25: If You Build It They Will Succeed

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Free 6/17-18: I Suck At This!

Free 6/17-18: I Suck At This!

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Book Review: Asperger's and Adulthood-A Guide to Working, Loving, and Living With Asperger's Syndrome

Summary:
Provides supportive solutions-based strategies for navigating the ins and outs of balancing high-functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger’s with independent living, careers, socialization and romance.

Is it insightful?  4 Stars 
Author provides good insight into how someone with HFA typically thinks and behaves, and how their thoughts and actions are strengths or barriers to successful living. Topics and examples are easily relatable for someone with HFA or for someone who has a loved one with HFA.

Is it creative?   5 Stars
Very good stories which underscore each life skills topic establish a good rapport with the reader. Book uses shaded comment boxes to highlight key points the author wishes to convey. Great use of frequently asked questions at end of book.

Is the well written?  5 Stars
Read in about 90 minutes. The author’s writing style is very direct and uses simple, effective language. There’s strong focus on applications that the reader can take away to immediately work on. Very kindle-friendly, with chapters and external references hyperlinked. Only minor ding is chapters don’t hyperlink back to table of contents.

Is it a page turner?  5 Stars
The author has a very conversational writing style that feels just as if she is sitting down with the reader over a cup of coffee providing insight and advice. The author’s writing voice coupled with her sage advice makes for an easy, enjoyable, and informative read.

Overall Rating:  5 Stars

Free 6/10-11: Humor-Credibility=Doofus

Free 6/10-11: Humor-Credibility=Doofus

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Free 6/3-4: Six-Word Lessons on Growing Up Autistic (Spanish Translation)

Free 6/3-4: Six-Word Lessons on Growing Up Autistic (Spanish Translation)

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Book Review: Your Identity Theft Protection Game Plan - 7 Critical Steps to Prevent the Fastest Growing Crime in America from Happening to You

Summary:
A concise guide outlining seven practical steps you can take to avoid identity theft.

Is it insightful?  4 Stars 
Great very practical actions expressed in both narrative form in each chapter as well as in checklist format at end of book. While the information is good, there were several instances where information was out of date. When taking on a fast-evolving topic the author needs to ensure content stays fresh and relevant.

Is it creative?   4 Stars
Information is presented in a very straightforward how-to format. What would have helped underscore key concepts is to have real-life stories accompany each of the steps.

Is the well written? 5 Stars
Read in about 60 minutes, including clicking on the many helpful hyperlinks. Author makes good use of supporting websites and materials, though at least one of the links transferred me to a “page not found” message.

Is it a page turner? 3 Stars
I almost stopped reading during the introduction. The author uses four hyperlinks: three of which either link to his other products or a teaser to get a checklist if I provided an email address.  I have no problem when an author links to other products at the end of a book (I do this as well), but to do it in the introduction and try to get a reader’s email address before he’s had the chance to establish credibility is poor form. I am glad I continued reading as there’s good information to be gleaned; I just wish the author didn’t take to shameless plugs in the first two minutes of reading the book.

Overall Rating:  4 Stars

Some $#&%! Stole My Identity to Collect Unemployment Benefits

My name is Lonnie, and I'm a victim of identity theft.

So check this out. A buddy of mine wrote a Facebook post about how someone stole his daughter's Social Security number and filed for unemployment benefits with Washington State's Employment Security Division (ESD). Having never occurred to me, I decided to go to ESD and attempt to file an unemployment claim. After I entered the information I received the following message:

The Social Security number (SSN) you entered already exists and is linked to this partly hidden email address: *****@fasternet.co

WHAT??!!??!? I've never filed an unemployment claim in my entire life, and I certainly have never used an email address at fasternet.co. Who the #$%^%! is this?

I read further and saw the following message:

If you think you might be a victim of unemployment imposter fraud - when criminals illegally apply for unemployment benefits using another person’s personal and employment information - report it! Use the form on the Employment Security Department (ESD) website. Then wait to hear from ESD.

I couldn't believe it. I was for the first time in my life a victim of identity theft. And it wasn't through the more traditional path of credit card or banking fraud; it was through unemployment benefits fraud.
As I navigated the what do you do about it path, I learned a lot about the prevalence of identity fraud and just how exposed I was. Experian, one of the three credit reporting companies, published some eye-popping statistics (all as of 2017).158 million Social Security numbers exposed in data breaches14.2 million credit card numbers exposed$905 million in total fraud losses13,852 identity theft complaints affecting children and teens60,000 complaints of mail theft883,000 confirmed identity theft tax returns27% of data breaches were medical or healthcare relatedIdentity theft is real. The bad guys are clever and only care about getting your money. The pain, frustration, and fear they leave in their wake means nothing to them. If you think it can't happen to you then you're living under a rock. As a result of my experience, I decided to compile everything I did to check for fraud activity and the steps I took once I discovered unemployment benefits fraud occurred. Hopefully these are helpful to you as well.Review your credit report at annualcreditreport.com for rogue accounts. You can do this for free once a year. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security if everything looks good. Things like unemployment benefits don't show up on the report. You need to do more digging.Check to see if someone has used your SSN to file an unemployment claim. In the state of Washington go to ESD Secure Access Washington and follow the directions to create a Secure Access Washington account. This is how I found out someone filed unemployment benefits using my name and SSN.Request a Social Security Account Statement for any benefit claims against your SSN.Request an IRS Transcript for your tax filing history.Check if your personal information was included in the Equifax breach which occurred between May and July of 2017 that exposed the personal information of 140 million Americans. My SSN was one of the 140 million.If there has been fraudulent activity, take the next steps:Go to Federal Trade Commission website Identitytheft.gov. The website walks you through steps to take depending on your situation.File a fraud report with your state. In Washington you file with ESD.File a police report with your local police department.File an IRS Identity Theft Affidavit.File an Equifax Fraud Alert. This lets credit card companies know you were a victim of identity theft. According to Equifax this puts additional checks in place to watch for fraudulent activity. They also notify Experian and Transunion of the theft. I cannot speak to whether it's effective at this point but feel it couldn't hurt to do it.If the theft was medical-related, file a health-privacy complaint with the US Department of Health & Human Services.Regardless of whether you have fraudulent activity, I strongly recommend you do the following:Place a credit freeze on your report with Experian, Transunion, and Equifax. A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report. However, if you plan to apply for a credit card, bank account, or mortgage you need to unfreeze your credit with each of the bureaus then freeze it again after the inquiry has been made. A small inconvenience compared to someone opening a credit card in your name using your personal information.Set up mail or text alerts with your bank and credit card companies for any transactions with an amount greater than zero. The big financial services companies offer alert options that you can customize. You'll get an alert any time the card is used, which some may find annoying, but again I'd rather delete a notification email or text than have someone run rampant with my credit card or bank account.Use a crosscut shredder for any documents containing personal information. This also includes any credit card or financial services offers you may receive in the mail.Be cautious about using public WIFI; consider using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) if you access sensitive personal information on public networks.Make sure you also review accounts for a loved one, spouse, partner, and children.Identity theft is real, and it can happen to you. The bad guys will never go away, but you can make it more difficult for them by putting some preventative measures in place to protect you and your loved ones from identity theft.

Free 5/27-28: Growing Up Autistic-50 Things You Should Know About Me

Free 5/27-28: Growing Up Autistic-50 Things You Should Know About Me

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Book Review: How Can I Talk if My Lips Don’t Move? Inside My Autistic Mind

Summary:
Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay, a nonverbal man on the autism spectrum, gives insight into the autistic mind and how he thinks, sees, and reacts to the world.

Is it insightful?  4 Stars 
Provides good insight into how Tito views the world and the unique perspective in which he relates to everyday events. As example, he describes watching basketball and football like watching swarming ants. I wanted more analogies.

Is it creative?   3 Stars
There is poetry interspersed throughout some of the chapters which is meant to help underscore concepts. I found the poetry a distraction and not helpful at all to the book. 

Is the well written? 3 Stars
Read in about three hours. There was no logical progression of the chapters. One chapter he is in India, then he’s in Austin, then later in Hollywood. The author sometimes gave indication of how old he was, sometimes not. The book needed a good editor to scrub it.

Is it a page turner? 3 Stars
The longer I read the more I wanted the book to be over with. It read more like a random string of short stories. Even more disappointing is that it would not have been much work to sequence the chapters and make it read more chronologically.

Overall Rating:  3 Stars