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Your Cell Phone Can Betray You
Alettermock2
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Vol. 8 No. 204
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In Today's Letter:
Comment:
Your Cell Phone Can Betray You
Offshore:
Monaco Draws in the Brits
Wealth:
Hedge Funds Going to Pot?
Currencies:
Expectations - They Are a Changin'?
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Your Cell Phone Can Betray You
Today's
comment is by Mark Nestmann, The Sovereign Society's Privacy Expert and
Wealth Preservation & Tax Consultant and President of The Nestmann
Group.
Dear A-Letter Reader:
Thanks to the HP
scandal, we've all heard about "pretexting"-it happens when a private
investigator, identity thief, or government lackey contacts a cell
phone operator and pretends to be you, to find out who you're calling,
and receiving calls from, and what times you use your cell phone.
But
"pretexting" is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to threats to
your privacy from cell phones. Here are some of the most common threats
and some common sense ideas to deal with them:
- The newest generation of cell phones are location beacons. Any
time you switch the phone on, your physical location can be pinpointed
within a few feet (in a metropolitan area). Outside a metropolitan
area, your location can't be pinpointed as precisely, but an
investigator can still obtain a good idea of your movements.
Protective strategy: use an anonymous, prepaid phone that can't be traced to you.
- Your voice mail box is vulnerable. It's easy for
someone to access your cell phone's voice mail if you haven't protected
your mailbox with a password. All someone needs to know is your mobile
phone number and one of several industry default PIN codes.
Protective strategy: Use a PIN code (not your phone number or other easy-to-guess number) to protect your voice mail box.
- Incompletely deleted data can come back to haunt you.
By now, many people realize that when you hit the "delete" button on a
personal computer, the data isn't necessarily gone-it's just hidden.
With the right software, the data can be recovered. It's the same
situation in a cell phone. Used phones with supposedly "deleted" data
that you sell or give away can, in the right hands, surrender calling
records, contact lists, SMS messages, etc.
Protective strategy:
Before disposing of your cell phone, remove its SIM card, if it has one. Also, follow the instructions at http://www.wirelessrecycling.com/home/data_eraser/default.asp
to securely delete all personal data from your phone.
- Your cell phone can be bugged. If someone can
gain access to your cell phone, they can insert a tiny bugging device
that will allow them to read your SMS messages.
Protective strategy:
Keep your cell phone with you at all times, or in a secure location where no one else can have access to it.
For more protective strategies to protect your privacy, click here.
MARK
NESTMANN, Privacy Expert
on behalf of The Sovereign Society
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Look in your email later today for of Mark Nestmann's strategies to
protect not just your privacy, but your assets for decades to come. Or
if you can't wait, click here for more information.
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Your Life is an Open Book...IF
- You've given out your SSN to anyone in the past 6 months...
- You belong to any church or organization...
- You hold 50% or more of your assets in any U.S. bank...
You're an easy target for unjust lawsuits, asset forfeitures and identity theft.
I'll show you 109 ways to protect your privacy and property rights -
and secure your wealth - using the secrets of the United States Witness
Protection Program...
LINK: http://www.isecureonline.com/reports/190SSWPP/E190GA42/
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Monaco Draws in the Wealthy Brits
The
number of British people moving their residence to the tax haven of
Monaco has increased dramatically in recent years. Some real estate
agents in the Principality are now claiming that four in 10 buyers are
now from the UK, compared to just one in 10 a few years ago. With
careful planning, Brits can legally escape most UK taxes if they live
outside the UK.
If recent surveys are an indication of the future, Monaco real
estate agents might see an even higher percentage of Brits buying in
the near future. A survey by the Center For Economics and Business
Research suggests that the number of British millionaires will rise
dramatically from 376,000 to 1,700,000 - an increase of over 400%.
Monaco has long been known as Europe's number one tax haven for the
ultra rich. Property prices in Monaco are already high due to the lack
of land. Says one Monaco real estate agent: "Given the cost of
property, simply being a millionaire won't cut it for Monaco. Today's
millionaire won't see much change out of his million, and how many will
want to live in a one bedroom apartment. To have a half decent two or
three bedroom apartment in Monaco you need to be a multi-millionaire
rather than just a millionaire."
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
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Hedge Funds Going to Pot? Part I
Since 1992, I've
invested in numerous hedge funds. Though I'm still a fan of the asset
class, especially the conservative strategies with low volatility, I've
reduced my exposure to hedge funds dramatically since 2003. I've grown
almost hostile to many products out there today because I think most
managers are simply not doing a decent job.
I used to be drawn
to hedge funds' outsized market returns, high talent-to-asset-ratio and
ability to trade some markets that were deemed too risky for most
mutual funds. But over the last few years, I've grown increasingly
disenchanted with hedge funds. In fact, five years ago I had over 80%
of my assets invested in hedge funds, and that number is barely 30%
today.
Ten years ago, the investment opportunities that hedge
fund managers were snagging made the high fees they charged seem almost
insignificant. But that's just not the case now. The hedge fund
industry has evolved into a mega business where managers now charge
sky-high fees. And many even impose not only monthly, but also
quarterly redemption cycles. Some even impose 5-year lock-ups.
Imagine
if you're invested in a hedge fund that goes sour - you have to give 30
days' advance notice for redemption and then wait until the next
quarterly window to get your money out. I'm not sure about you, but
when I want to sell a security, I don't want to wait 90 days,
especially if I'm losing money. And in the hedge fund business, when
things get ugly, you can lose your shirt in just days. Look what
happened to the latest casualty -- Amaranth. How on earth did a
32-year-old trader almost destroy a multi-billion dollar hedge fund
that was supposed to trade diversified markets? Obviously, risk control
was non-existent at Amaranth...
ERIC ROSEMAN, Investment Director
P.S. Tune in tomorrow for more on the current hedge fund industry...
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Are U.S. Market Expectations Flawed?
The
bond market seems to be reflecting a change in U.S. market
expectations. Investors have gone from dire bearish on the housing
background to modestly bullish on jobs and the consumer. It's always a
surprise how quickly flawed future expectations can swing in markets.
Which, of course, begs the question: Are modestly bullish U.S. economic
expectations flawed?
The dollar is looking a bit "overbought" near-term. But overbought
and oversold are nebulous terms chartists like to throw around. But
open interest levels on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange suggest plenty
more dollar buying power should the market come to the conclusion that
a real trend is underway. Talk about potential flawed
expectations! Defining a market trend is this evasive market is a
whole new can of worms. This just goes to show you can never "say
never" when human emotion is the key driver. It can all change very
quickly. I'll keep you posted.
JACK CROOKS, Currency Director
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