Callcraft Consulting
Callcraft Consulting has been helping businesses and organizations improve productivity and employee job satisfaction for more than 14 years. The programs and related documents, as well as seminars and workshops, have been developed based on more than 35 years in business operations and management. This website has been established to make these valuable tools available to a wider range of business and organization owners and managers. Our Mission Statement: The Mission of Callcraft Consulting isLearn More
LegalShield
Overview Advice – Unlimited topics, personal or business, even on pre-existing conditions and situations Letters and Phone Calls on your behalf – Available at the discretion of your law firm – Unlimited personal topics, two business topics per year (one per non-related matter) Legal Document Review – Contracts/documents up to 10 pages each – Unlimited number of personal documents, one business document per year Standard Will Preparation – Standard Will with yearly reviews / updatesLearn More
Performance Planning
Performance Planning Program Overviews In this Overview, we’ll describe what Performance Planning is, briefly review the various features and benefits, and demonstrate how and why it’s an integral part of your overall Business Plan and Budgeting process. Employees like to know when they’re doing a good job and this program will help you communicate that. Also, we believe that no employee should be fired for bad behavior or poor performance and have it come as aLearn More
Seminars and Workshops
1. Performance Planning This is the half-day seminar / workshop version of the complete program. The session begins with a review of what Performance Planning is and what it can accomplish for a business or organization. Emphasis is on improving overall efficiency and productivity, as well as improving employee job satisfaction. The Program’s features and benefits are explained to demonstrate simplicity, practicality and effectiveness. Participants will create an actual Job Description and Orientation Checklist forLearn More
Information In Vehicles
Many of us spend a considerable amount of time in our vehicles. That likely contributes to a certain “comfort level’, which may then lead to leaving information, or access to it, in the vehicle. There are several opportunities there for criminals! First, the vehicle itself – stolen, then shipped overseas, or stripped down in a “chop shop” somewhere. Always lock your vehicle and in urban centres, use the button, not your remote lock. (We’ willLearn More
Search Line
It will be surprising to many, but there are still a significant number of people browsing the internet and even doing some business by using only the “Search Line” on the monitor screen. In our seminars, we use the Royal Bank as an example and demonstrate the result of keying an actual Royal Bank website address on the Search Line. We get multiple website options and show that screen shot on a slide. And thatLearn More
Property Titles
Criminals stealing property by taking over land titles without the original owner’s knowledge is nothing new. It often starts with Identity Theft and for several years it has been more common in hot real estate markets. That happens when financial institutions don’t have the manpower to verify buyers adequately and the criminals use stolen personal information at the Land Titles Office, to impersonate the original owner. And the property theft is much easier if theLearn More
Capital One Breach
Capital One Financial Corporation announced on July 29, 2019, they had determined that there was unauthorized access to the personal information of Capital One credit card customers. The perpetrator has been caught, but the event affected approximately 100 million individuals in the United States and 6 million in Canada. The primary breach involved credit card application information; the perpetrator also obtained portions of credit card customer data, including: – Customer status data, e.g., creditLearn More
Texting
There is no doubt that texting has a number of advantages – speed, convenience and visible text are some important features. However, there is one huge issue in that all is fine until the smart phone is lost or stolen. Let’s look at a real life story. A woman had her purse stolen while shopping. Her purse contained her bank card and her cell phone and the cell phone had “Hubby” listed under “Contacts”. ThatLearn More
Cheque Fraud
Cheque fraud isn’t a topic that makes news headlines often, but it does represent a lot of business for identity thieves. The National Check Fraud Center now estimates Check Fraud in North America exceeds $1 Billion per year. Again, it can be only an estimate because not all such fraud gets reported. Several types of crime are all related to Cheque Fraud: Counterfeit Cheques – Forgery – Cheque Alteration – Bank Fraud and White CollarLearn More
Social Media
We have talked about the fact that much of our personal information is in places over which we have no control. We’ve also pointed out some steps we can take to keep that information safe where we do have control. In this technological world, the area that appears to be the biggest problem for us – and a great source of information for the criminals, is Social Media. Many criminals view social media as aLearn More
Internet of Things 2
Last month we published the first article on “Internet of Things” and since indications are that there is significant growth in this crime, more information may be useful. You may recall that Internet of Things simply refers to all devices in your home which are accessed in any way via an internet connection. While some statistics are from the U. S. Federal Trade Commission, it’s safe to assume Canadians have the same kind of risk.Learn More
Internet of Things
Smart phones and tablets are used for a multitude of activities, including “Apps” which are downloaded for various purposes. Home automation is becoming popular – allowing you to remotely control various equipment items in your home; everything from your refrigerator to your security system. Internet of Things is when you pair, or connect, your smart phone or tablet with all those consumer products, including your car. Since you are using the internet to access thoseLearn More
Photocopying
In the last issue, we suggested photocopying the contents of your wallet or purse, in case they are lost or stolen and become #IdentityTheft. Having copies of everything makes restoring your identity much easier. However, you must be sure to use a secure photocopier when doing so. This topic draws a lot of attention in our #IdentityTheft Seminars. Virtually every photocopier made since 2002 has a hard drive which captures and stores all documents everLearn More
Necessary Documents
Many of us are in the habit of carrying various pieces of identification most of the time. Some of that identification, and the information it contains, needs to be carried with us – an example is our Driver’s License. And no doubt we need our credit cards on a regular basis. Not only may we need those pieces of identification, the Driver’s License also provides Photo ID. But two things to keep in mind: First,Learn More
Biometric ID Theft 2
In our last post we discussed the fact that Biometric Identification, while appearing to be a more secure system, also has its limitations since once added to a computer database it becomes digitized just like a credit card or Social Insurance Number. Jake Stroup, in an article for “the balance”, points out that biometric identification has its own limitations. For example, “You may be able to get a new credit card in two weeks onceLearn More
Biometric ID Theft
You’re probably familiar with the term “Biometric Identification” – using your unique finger prints, facial recognition, voice or retinas to identify you. They may be unique, but when installed on a computer, the information is still a string of numbers, it’s digitized. The article, “Biometric Identification and Identity Theft”, by Jake Stroup at “the balance” states that when the information is stored on a computer, a database is a database, whether it’s a credit cardLearn More
Synthetic ID Theft
In our Identity Theft, Fraud and Scam seminars, we often mention that in 2005, at any given time, there were approximately 300 internet chat rooms on which 60,000 criminals around the world were buying and selling our personal information. Now we see why! Experian has reported that according to the Federal Trade Commission, Synthetic Identity Theft is now the fastest growing type of identity fraud. It is representing 80 to 85% of all current identityLearn More
Travel Scams 6
In this post we’ll identify some criminal and some simply unethical activities you might encounter when travelling. In some countries, specific products may attract your attention. One good example is hand woven rugs and carpets available in several Middle East and North Africa countries. While some may be top quality at reasonable prices, others may be expensive but worthless. Do some homework so you are somewhat knowledgeable about such products and what features to watchLearn More
Travel Scams 5
We have two more scams to watch for when travelling. First is a currency exchange scam. Getting your currency exchanged at a reputable bank or official exchange counter is the best way to stay safe. Criminal organizations are offering the service at convenient locations using calculators that are rigged to deliberately miscalculate the exchange rates. Of course the miscalculation will always be in their favour, but unless you’re familiar with rates, you may not recognizeLearn More
Travel Scams 4
Here are the remaining tips from ScamBusters to help keep you safe from travel scams: 7. Make sure you get copies of all documents – examples include receipts, your itinerary and the company’s cancellation and refund policies. 8. Don’t be a victim of the high pressure tactics used by the perpetrators of travel scams. They will often demand that you accept the offer “today”, or advise you that this is the last day the offerLearn More
Travel Scams 3
Here are 3 more tips from ScamBusters to help keep you safe from travel scams: 4. If you are interested in a travel offer, ask yourself what is NOT included. That could include service charges, processing fees and taxes – all of which you would be expected to pay. Ask for details and don’t be satisfied with vague information such as “major airline”, without actually naming it. 5. It’s a good idea to pay withLearn More
Travel Scams 2
We’re nearing a busy vacation and travel season and scammers know people are looking for bargains. ScamBusters have some tips to keep you safe and we’ll mention 3 of them here. 1. If you receive a travel deal by e-mail, it’s most certainly a scam. Most bulk e-mail travel offers or free vacations are scams. If you receive the offer by phone, be skeptical. If you’re not personally familiar with company, get the name, addressLearn More
Vacation Scams
Travel and vacation scams are often similar to various rental scams. The scammer will advertise a vacation property that looks inviting with excellent terms, conditions and pricing. It usually means that it looks like a good deal and there doesn’t appear to be anything suspicious. Unfortunately, the pictures may have nothing to do with any real property and the property itself may, or may not, even exist. There will likely be some pressure to actLearn More
Jury Scams
Scammers use these approaches to create victims by keying on the general reluctance and apprehension people have for courts and jury duty. The first one involves a phone call from someone advising that you didn’t show up for jury duty – that will create some fear of having done something illegal by not attending. The scam is that the caller will then request that you provide personal information so they can update the file andLearn More
Equifax Breach
We continue to receive questions about the Equifax breach from last year, even though it hasn’t been in the news lately. The first thing to remember is that the breach was at Equifax US , not Equifax Canada. We understand that only two groups of Canadians who may have had their personal information put at risk. 1. Any Canadian residents who have U.S. Social Security cards. We have met one individual who, although an AmericanLearn More
Control Data
We have discussed the issue of personal information in areas over which we have no control, however we will be coming back to it in future #IdentityTheft posts when discussing where criminals obtain that information. This time, we’ll look at some areas where we do have control and some steps we can take to prevent the loss of that information. Limiting the information we provide to legitimate businesses and organizations is the first step. Next,Learn More
Mail Security
There are many ways criminals can gain access to our personal information and making us #IdentityTheft victims, often through sources over which we have no control. One source in particular, has both controllable and uncontrollable features. Mail! Mail distribution provides criminals with several access points to our personal information. The first, and most obvious, is mail theft. Criminals have been known to pepper spray postal employees and steal letter box keys for the sole purposeLearn More
Features & Benefits of Performance Planning
Matching Organization and Employee Objectives This means the program should attempt to match the employee’s career goals and aspirations with those of the company or organization. Some may wonder how that’s possible, but put another way, employees will be most productive if they see their present performance leading to increased responsibilities with possible advancement and higher pay.
Striving for Improvements in Performance or “Killing the Golden Goose”.
Owners and Managers continuously strive for improvements in performance. That could be the performance of individual employees, the performance of the team and/or the performance of the organization. It could be in the manufacture of widgets, the sale of those widgets or handling the administrative duties related to those widgets. Performance Planning is a management tool that can be used to improve productivity and efficiency in all those areas, resulting in improved overall performance.