An interesting new report is out on computer crime and ID theft. 2 things to point out:

• Of all the financial email spam out there, one third of it was the "pump and dump" scam. Today's Kansas City Star article explains that term. The lesson is that you need to assume any unsolicited hot stock tip is garbage.
• Your info can be sold to an ID thief for a song. Data hackers who steal personal information generally sell it for anywhere from $15 down to one lousy buck.

Reminds me of the old movie Trading Places, where the Wall Street billionaires intentionally destroy a man's life, then bet one dollar on whether he can pull himself out of it. All that devastation, and just one dollar on the line.