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The risk of using virtual fax services
Posted on Mar 9, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Jim at GuardMyCreditFile posts another good article, this time talking about the risks of the e-fax or virtual fax services. This is one of those things that seem obvious when you read it, but no one is really talking about. Both the sender and the receiver are at risk here. I know I’m going to think twice from now on.
If you have ever used a fax machine then you probably assume that the person receiving a message you send is simply picking up a page that was printed on another fax machine. But more people and businesses are utilizing virtual fax machines to distribute the messages that they receive. And these types of services present new dangers for consumers that most people are unaware of.
A virtual fax machine is simply a service that anyone can subscribe to for a monthly fee. Subscribers may not have a fax machine of their own but they are given a fax number that they can print on their business cards, or provide their associates. The outside world simply assumes that anyone with a fax number has a fax machine.
Unfortunately, if the person who is receiving a fax message with…highly sensitive data in it also uses a virtual fax service, then all of that sensitive data will wind up in an e-mail message. And e-mail can be intercepted and read by virtually everyone.
Filed under: Identity Theft
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