This year, the lucky wedding date was 7/7/07 but did you know that next year, 8/8/08 is considered equally as lucky especially in Chinese culture and Chinese weddings? Even if you are not of Chinese heritage, If you a bit superstitious or if you just want an extra bit of good fortune, a wedding held on 8/8/08 may be your lucky day.
Why 8? In Chinese culture, 8 is considered the luckiest of all numbers, as it portends prosperity and wealth. The number 8 is so lucky in fact for the Chinese, that in China, they often auction off license plates for thousands of dollars just because they contain the lucky number. The number is also coveted for addresses, phone numbers and bank accounts. A single 8 on a piece of property lends a sense of high status among the Chinese, as they know top dollars were paid just to obtain that number. Lucky 8 is so lucky, that the Beijing Olympics are due to open on 8/8/08 at exactly 8:08:08 PM. (for the whole story, if you really want it click the link)
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-NEW-Lucky-Wedding-Date---8-8-08&id=779719

Here are a few things to watch out for. You need to not only watch for this skimming thing but i have seen some articles recently when gas was at 4 gallons, of people having fuel stolen out of their vehicles. You have to watch out for your own back, no one will do it for you.

Be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware) which mention "F.B.I. vs. facebook". The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to view an article about the FBI and Facebook. Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the Internet connected device and causes it to become infected and become part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised machines under the control of a single user. Botnets are typically set up to facilitate criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft, denial of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the Internet.
The following is a sample image of the web page utilized for the e-mail scheme:
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/fbi-facebook.asp http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/storm.asp

Thieves skim credit card data at fuel pumps
By Katharine Lackey, USA TODAY
Customers and police agencies across the USA are dealing with another pain at the pump — thieves who install hard-to-detect electronic devices at stations to steal credit and debit card data.
The skimmed data are used to create cards used at the victims' expense, says James Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin Strategy and Research, a financial consulting firm that focuses on fraud and identity theft.
Investigations of theft related to skimming devices at gas pumps continue in California, Washington, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Delaware, according to various police departments.
Though the most recent cases don't necessarily represent an epidemic, the Secret Service is investigating incidents across the country, says Ed Donovan, spokesman for the agency, which has financial and electronic crimes units.
Skimming devices have been used for several years, most often at ATMs. Thieves increasingly target pumps because it's a cheap, easy way to steal credit and debit card information, Van Dyke says.
"Card fraud at gas pumps is a significant problem, and that's because of the unintended nature of the checkout devices," he says. "Essentially, every gas pump is an electronic cash register."
The skimming devices can be installed outside or inside the pump. Thieves glue a plastic sleeve, equipped with covered wires that capture data, over the pump's card reader or connect the device directly to the reader inside.
The devices are molded and painted to match the machine and are small, making them hard to detect, Van Dyke says. Among recent cases:
•California: San Jose police are investigating a case that began in May, when thieves placed a skimming device at an Arco station, eventually taking more than $200,000 from up to 180 victims, says police department spokesman Jermaine Thomas. The device was on the pump for more than a month, after which the suspects retrieved the machine, Thomas says.
"Your normal, average person would not even know that the skimming device is attached," he says.
• Washington: The Pierce County Sheriff's Office is investigating a case where thieves installed a skimming device at an Arco gas pump last August, leaving it there for 11 months and cleaning out at least 120 victims' bank accounts over the July 4th weekend, says sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer.
Reports of fraudulent withdrawals are still pouring in, and the number of victims could reach 250 with a total of $500,000 stolen, he says.
• Pennsylvania: State police recovered four skimming devices installed inside gas pumps at Wawa stations in Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Bucks counties beginning in April, trooper Christopher Shoap says. He suspects more devices were used at other stations and estimates that several dozen victims have lost tens of thousands of dollars.
•Delaware: The Pennsylvania case is linked to one in Delaware, where police suspect a device was placed and later retrieved at a New Castle Wawa pump, Shoap says. The Secret Service is investigating, says Cpl. Jeff Whitmarsh of the Delaware State Police. The Secret Service would not comment because the investigation is continuing.
•Nevada: The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is investigating two devices placed at gasoline pumps within the past four months, in addition to several cases where devices were placed on ATMs, says Lt. Bob Sebby of the financial crimes unit.
The combined cases total $1 million to $3.5 million stolen from hundreds of victims' accounts, Sebby says. The department is trying to prevent additional identity fraud by asking gas stations to consider placing sticker seals on the pumps that employees can check daily.
"With identify theft, it's not a matter of if you're going to be a victim, it's a matter of when," Sebby says.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-08-04-gaspumpskimming_N.htm

This is probably a political stunt, but i personally think it is good thing. It may be nothing more then the house getting mad at DC for thumbing their nose at the Supreme court decision.

House seeks to end D.C. gun measures August 5, 2008 - 10:14amWASHINGTON (AP) - House leaders have agreed to allow a vote next month on a bill that would end local handgun control in the District of Columbia.
The measure was filed last week by several conservative Democrats, and supporters say it has a good chance of passing the House. Its prospects in the Senate are unclear.
The Supreme Court struck down the city's 32-year-old handgun ban in June. Since then, D.C. lawmakers have passed emergency legislation that maintains strict regulations.
The House bill seeks to eliminate those measures.
The legislation would allow D.C. residents to own handguns without registering them with police if they meet federal requirements for firearms ownership.
The bill also would end a requirement that owners keep their handguns unloaded and disassembled in their homes and would repeal the city's ban on most semiautomatic handguns. ___
Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/
http://wtop.com/?nid=596&sid=1441828

11 Charged in Massive Credit Card Fraud Case
NEW YORK — The Department of Justice announced Tuesday the indictment of 11 people whom they say stole millions of credit and debit card numbers from major retailers in the nation's largest case of identity theft.
The 11 people — including three Americans — allegedly targeted such retailers as TJX Companies, BJs Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21 and DSW.
"This is the single largest and most complex identity theft case ever charged in this country," Attorney General Michael Mukasey said at a hastily planned press conference in Boston Tuesday.
Named as the alleged ringleader in the indictment is Albert "Segvec" Gonzalez, of Miami, who had worked as a confidential informant for the Secret Service. He has been charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy for his role in the scheme and faces the possiblilty of life imprisonment.
"The Boston indictment alleges that Gonzales and his co-conspirators stole over 40 million credit and debit card numbers making this the largest credit card fraud and identity theft scheme ever identified, investigated and prosecuted in the United States," U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Michael Sullivan said Tuesday.
Also named in the indictments are Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey, also of Miami.
Investigators say Gonzalez and his cohorts were able to tap into computer networks using a technique called "war driving."
"War dirving is simply driving around in a car with a laptop computer looking for accessible wireless computer networks," Sullivan said.
Once they found a retailer's network, officials alleged the men would hack into the system and install "sniffer programs," which would relay sensitive credit card information back to the men.
"This allowed the defendants to remotely capture sensitive information such as the card numbers, passwords and account information," Sullivan said.
Those named in the indictment allegedly sold the information to criminals abroad and in the U.S., or encrypt blank credit cards to withdraw money from ATMs, officials said.
Federal officials discovered Gonzalez was involved in the scheme after he began working for the Secret Service as an informant. He is in custody.
Indictments were unsealed Tuesday in San Diego against Maksym "Maksik" Yastremskiy of Kharkov, Ukraine, and Aleksandr "Jonny Hell" Suvorov of Sillamae, Estonia. The indictments charge them with crimes related to the sale of the stolen credit card data.
Furthermore, indictments against Hung-Ming Chiu and Zhi Zhi Wang, both of China, and a person known only by the online nickname "Delpiero" were also unsealed in San Diego.
The heist was a black eye for retailers like TJX. The company, which initially disclosed the data breach in January 2007, said a few months later that at least 45.7 million cards were exposed to possible fraud in a breach of its computer systems that began in July 2005. Court filings by some banks that sued TJX put the number of cards affected at more than 100 million, based on estimates by officials with Visa and MasterCard, who were deposed in the suit.
In May, TJX said it won support from Mastercard-issuing banks for a settlement that will pay them as much as $24 million to cover costs from the data breach. A similar agreement reached last November with Visa-card issuing banks also was overwhelmingly approved. That agreement set aside as much as $40.9 million to help banks cover costs including replacing customers payment cards and covering fraudulent charges.
Federal officials urged those who think they may have been affected by the ID theft scheme to contact their bank.
FOXNews.com's Sara Bonisteel and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,398141,00.html

You can go to a couple of places that have a ton of info about identity theft and scams.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/lifestyle-and-money/consumer-debt/index.html

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=63