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It’s been less than a week and already news is swirling about Twitter’s latest acquisition. (Word hit last week that the microblogging service snagged Summify, a social-media news aggregator. While the exact use of this site in relation to Twitter is unknown, some speculate the purchase will assist with feed management and priority, according to PCWorld.com.)

On Monday, Twitter attained Dasient, a security startup offering malware protection for businesses. A post on the startup’s blog confirms the purchase, noting it is “effective immediately”— working solely on Twitter’s revenue engineering team and ceasing service to new clients.  Dasient went on to say:  “By joining Twitter, Dasient will be able to apply its technology and team to the world’s largest real-time information network.”

Twitter is no stranger to security breaches. A total of 55 celebrity accounts, including Barack Obama, Fox News and Facebook were hacked in 2010, sparking the FTC ruling that Twitter would be subjected to a bi-annual security audit.  Trending topics on Twitter is another site for spammers to target large numbers of people at any given time.

The popular social network’s effort to crank up its security comes less than two months  after rolling out the company’s advertising efforts.

Terms for the deal have not been disclosed.

Dasient was founded in 2008 by former Google employees Neil Daswani, Shariq Rizvi and Ameet Ranadive.  It was funded by Google Ventures, among others.

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Before you say “yes!,” take note. If you receive a pre-recorded message promising a lower interest rate on your credit card, be on high alert. The companies calling claim to be able to negotiate a significantly lower rate on your behalf, for a fee. According to the Federal Trade Commission, you should delete these messages because they’re scams.

These companies attempt to hook you by claiming to have special relationships with the major credit card companies, guaranteeing a very low rate. Consequently, according to them, you’ll be able to pay your debt three to five times faster than average. Some also offer money-back guarantees. In addition, they often create a sense of urgency, claiming you need to act now so you won’t miss out on this limited-time offer.

However, you can negotiate your interest rate on your own, for free. There’s no need to pay someone else to do it for you. The FTC offers these tips for protecting yourself from these types of scams:

• Don’t provide your credit card information. Your card could be charged or the number could be sold to other scammers.
• Never give out your bank account or Social Security Number. A scammer will often ask for this information during an unsolicited sales pitch and then use it to commit other frauds against you.
• Be wary of any unsolicited sales calls that are pre-recorded, especially if your phone number is on the National Do Not Call Registry. You shouldn’t get recorded sales pitches unless you’ve agreed to accept these calls, with a few exceptions.
• If your number is on the National Do Not Call Registry, a telemarketer may call you only if you have agreed to accept calls from the company the salesperson works for, if you bought something from the company within the last 18 months, or if you have asked the company for information within the last three months.
• To report violations of the National Do Not Call Registry or to register your phone number, visit DoNotCall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222.

What are your thoughts on this new debt collection technique? Take our poll.

Should debt collectors be allowed to contact debtors on Facebook?online survey

The FTC report, called “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers”, says that a “Do Not Track” mechanism built into browsers could present consumers with a choice about what data of theirs is collected and shared.

ALSO READ: Tech Insider: Five Tech Tools For Protecting Digital Data

“The FTC wants to help ensure that the…information marketplace is built on a framework that promotes privacy, transparency, business innovation and consumer choice,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “We believe that’s what most Americans want as well.”

If made into law, such a mechanism could have a negative impact on revenue generated from advertising-supported content on the Internet, or it could “result in consumers receiving more unwanted advertising such as pop-up ads that are not targeted to a user’s interests,” testified Daniel Castro, senior analyst of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, at a House hearing on the subject. He also believes a do-not-track mandate would mean less free internet content and services.

Do-Not-Track is not a law yet, but Bobby Rush (D-Ill), the Chairman for the House Subcommittee for Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, is weighing whether to include a do-not-track proposal in privacy legislation he plans to re-introduce in the 112th Congress.

The FTC is also accepting public comments on the report until January 31, 2011, but BlackEnterprise.com wants to know what you think. Do you think it is an invasion of your privacy for company’s to collect your information or could you care less as long as you get the information you need?

Take Our Poll Below!

Myth: You can pay someone to make bad things on your report “go away.”
Reality: Services like this are more than likely a scam. According to the Federal Trade Commission, their attorneys say that they have never seen a legitimate credit repair company making claims to remove bankruptcies, erase bad debt, or create a new credit identity. Any company that claims they can do this is lying to you. The FTC says you can spot one of these scams by looking out for some of these red flags:

• The company wants you to pay for credit repair services before they provide any services. Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act, credit repair companies cannot require you to pay until they have completed the services they promised.
• The company doesn’t tell you your rights and what you can do yourself for free.
• The company suggests that you try to invent a “new” credit identity—and then a new credit report—by applying for an Employer Identification Number to use instead of your Social Security number.

Myth: Employers can see your credit score.
Reality: Employers don’t have access to your credit score, only your report. If you’ve given written permission for an employer to do a background check, the package they receive will include information about your financial history. Employers receive a modified version of your credit report (known as an employment report) from the three major credit reporting agencies, which doesn’t include your score. If you find out that you didn’t get a job because of information in your credit report, the employer is obligated to show you the report and tell you how to get your own copy. Your report is free of charge if you make a request within 60 days of getting a rejection notice from an employer.

Myth: credit counseling will lower your credit score.
Reality: Participating in a debt management program through a credit counseling service is not considered a negative mark on your credit report. Before you agree to work with a credit counseling service, make sure that the agency is affiliated with a national body (such as the National Foundation for Credit Counseling) and is accredited by a reputable third-party accrediting body (such as the Council on Accreditation).

Related link: 4 Credit Reporting Myths and Realities

Sheiresa Ngo is the consumer affairs editor at Black Enterprise.

For more on credit report myths, pick up the December 2010 issue of Black Enterprise magazine, on stands now.

“In tough times people are likely to be looking for attractive solutions to their problems, whether it is money-making schemes or bogus claims to save them from foreclosure,” says Frank Dorman, a spokesman for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Here are some scams that experts have seen become more prevalent during the credit crisis:

Promise of debt relief: Consumers hampered by consumer debt may be particularly vulnerable to claims that a company can remove a bankruptcy, cut debt in half or erase negative information from a credit report. The only way you can improve your credit score is by exhibiting sound financial habits over time, such as eliminating debt and paying bills on time. If a company asks for money to improve your financial picture or tells you to stop paying your bills, walk away, the FTC warns. If you need professional help with your debt, contact a company approved by either the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies.

Employment: With the unemployment rate at 6.7% and expected to grow, scam artists are targeting those who are unemployed with promises of work-at-home schemes and various business opportunities. However, with most of these fraudulent opportunities, you’ll be asked to cough up some money to get started. They also may make ridiculous claims, such as offering you the opportunity to make hundreds of thousands of dollars working only 15 hours per week. Some of these offers may come over the Internet, but some may crop up as you’re going about a legitimate job search.

“You can find ads for scams at places like Monster.com where scam artists offer someone a job and rope them in,” says Paul Bresson, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Before agreeing to a business opportunity, check with the Better Business Bureau, your state attorney general, or a local consumer protection agency to see if there have been any complaints against the company, the FTC advises.  Also, ask for references from others who have benefited from the opportunity.

Foreclosure rescue and loan modification: The mortgage crisis has many Americans struggling to save their homes from foreclosure, giving scam artists plenty of potential victims to target. Some scam artists promise to save a home from foreclosure if the owner signs over his title to the con artist. Others contact homeowners with offers to refinance or modify their loans, only to trick the homeowner into signing paperwork that transfers ownership to the scam artist.

Yet another scam involves contacting a homeowner and offering to negotiate with the homeowner’s lender for a fee. While there are legitimate loan modification companies that can help you negotiate with your lender, be sure to utilize the services of counseling agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These agencies, a list of which can be found on HUD’s Website, will often help you negotiate for free. To lessen your chances of being scammed, don’t accept offers to help you save your home from financial experts who contact you out of the blue. Contact your lender or a housing counseling agency to discuss your options.

Phishing: Scams in which e-mails are purportedly sent from a bank asking you to click on a link and provide personal information such as a Social Security number are nothing new. But in today’s worrisome economic climate, with bank failures and mergers in the news, an e-mail that claims your bank has been taken over could sound more believable to some.

Phishing scams can also take place via phone. Some scam artists have even managed to spoof phone numbers, meaning a company’s legitimate phone number could appear on your caller ID system when it’s really a scam artist on the line, Bresson says. If a company contacts you for personal information, don’t provide it. Instead, delete the e-mail, look up the phone number in the phone book, and call the company yourself. Explain that you were contacted about providing information and ask if the solicitation was legitimate.

Promise of financial rewards: Even the most skeptical person may be vulnerable to an e-mail message promising easy money or a financial prize if he or she is in financial distress. For that reason, scams in which victims are asked to wire money for a fee or send a bank account number in order to claim a lottery prize may be particularly harmful today. The bottom line: Be wary of any quick fix solution or promise of easy monetary rewards. “If it looks too good to be true it probably is,” says Bresson.

More Web Resources:

If you think you’ve been scammed, you can contact the following organizations:

Fraud.org

Internet Crime Complaint Center

Consumer Fraud Reporting

Federal Trade Commission