Old Enough for Pepper Spray

Occasionally I’m asked by parents if they think their child is too young to carry pepper spray? In one of my previous posts I wrote about the legality of Pepper spray, and while pepper spray is legal in all states in the United States; there are other considerations to make before you allow your young person to carry pepper spray. I’m often asked “At what age should a person be allowed to carry pepper spray”? You certainly don’t want to give it to your 8-year-old son – do you? The answer is – it depends. There are several factors to consider. The first factor is the maturity level of the person. Not all 8 year olds are the same, and neither is every 18-year-old, but I would definitely recommend it for most 18 year olds. The person carrying the pepper spray must be able to comprehend that products like pepper spray are not play toys or gag toys and are meant for self-defense purposes only. Parents and Guardians need to understand the needs, responsibility, maturity, and personality of their children before they are allowed them to care self-defense products. If the parent of a 15-year-old young lady feels their daughter is old enough and mature enough to go out on a blind date with a stranger, she’s probably old enough to carry pepper spray. We also suggest that BEFORE they are allowed to carry that they know when and how to use it correctly. Those same parents may also have a wild and sometimes uncontrollable 16-year-old, who if given pepper spray would likely show it off to their friends or even spray them as a prank. We don’t recommend that this child should be allowed to carry pepper spray. Parents just need to feel that their child is ready. You should use the same judgment as if they were going to let their child carry a gun.

The second factor is the environment in which the young person lives. If he or she as to live, go to work, go to school; commute etc. in an area where simply being away from the home or out on the streets poses a risk, that is something that needs to be considered. While I will firmly say that crime can happen any time, and any place, crime is more probable in certain locations than others.

The last factor to consider is local and state ordinances. You should always check to see if there are laws in place that prohibit persons under a certain age from carrying pepper spray. You also need to check school rules on this. I’ve had parents whose children went to trouble schools wanting to purchase pepper spray, and I’ve had to caution them that this could get the child expelled if they can’t carry this type of product on campus. With the growing discipline problems in public schools, most strict rules regarding what school or even college age children can possess are prohibited. Most colleges however do allow pepper spray.

PepperEyes.com is dedicated to providing you with the best and most affordable personal protection products on the market to meet the security needs of you, your family members or your business, by assisting anyone who is unwilling to become a victim of crime. If you want to take personal responsibility for yourself, your home or your business, purchase our high quality discount personal protection products and arm yourself with the knowledge of the best way to stay secure in an ever-increasing violent world. In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option. PepperEyes.com is a division of ONYX knight Enterprises.

Vendor Vetting

As a small business we get offers from companies who claim they want to help me expand my business. While I’m sure that many of them are legitimate offers, there are also those that are not.

The other day I received a call from a man named Frank from an internet radio program. He said that he hard heard of my company and wanted to ask me a few questions to see if I would be a good candidate for an internet radio interview about PepperEyes.com and what we are all about. I knew where this was a sales gimmick. He proceeds to ask about Onyx Knight, our products and our missions. Then he proceeded to tell me I would be a good candidate for their program, and then came the offer. The price of this interview was $2500. Mind you I’ve done lost of interviews, and profiles, and never had to pay 1 copper penny. I let him finished and then informed it that the policy of Onyx Knight Enterprises, was not to any offers over the phone without first getting something in writing and then doing a background check on the company. He said he didn’t do e-mail, but would have his secretary e-mail me the details.

This is the e-mail I received.

As per our conversation I will give you two 30 minute segments on air
with Tina Reynolds.We will also issue a press release announcing
you as a featured guest for the reduced payment of $ 2000.00 U.S.D.
You can also listen to some shows by going to our websites
.http://www.ashfordradio.com and http://www.ashfordpublishing.com We will also give
you a 2 year membership in our registry with access to our other
members worldwide.. Any questions please call             516-222-2266      .EXT 166.

LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP

Tell me… would you do business based on this? And the funny part is this is the second time this company has contacted me.

I sent him a reply e-mail complete with the link on our site on how we vet vendors before doing any business with them.

I’ve written about trusting your instincts, and doing research before doing business. Our typical approach is to check out the business name followed by the words SCAM, REVIEWS and COMPLAINTS. I also recommend checking the Better Business Bureau (BBB.org) to see their ratings.

Here is the reply I sent back

In response to your inquiry, we did some research consistent with the information that we sent you and how we vet vendors (http://www.peppereyes.com/page/473833781).While we know that no business is not without mistakes or complaints, we feel you are not a good fit for us.

Here is a list of what we found

• http://complaintwire.org/complaint/4aUBAAAAAAA/ashford-publishing-aka-premiere-whos-who-and-pinnacle
  
• http://www.ripoffreport.com/news-media/ashford-radio-social/ashford-radio-social-media-pu-b17e0.htm
  
• http://complaintwire.org/complaint/aqQBAAAAAAA/premier-international-who’s-who-registry-of-executives
  
• http://www.complaintboard.com/ashford-publishing-l6379.html
  
• http://www.statshow.com/ashfordradio.com
  
• Your BBB ratings are C and F
  

Based on this information, we feel that it is not in our best interest to do any business with you at this time. We wish you well in your future endeavors.

While we recognize that all business are not free of criticism, and some criticism is bogus. We look at several sources and then trust our gut instinct.

What we suggest

• TRUST your instincts
• We highly advise that your company devise policies and procedures to protect them from scams, and then follow them.

PepperEyes.com
is dedicated to meeting the safety needs of you, your friends, your family members or your business, by assisting anyone who is unwilling to become a victim of crime. If you want to take personal responsibility arm yourself, or your business with our products and the knowledge of the best way to stay safe in an ever-increasing violent world. In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option. –a division of Onyx Knight Enterprises

Beware of SMiShing

I have written before about phishing and how to avoid identity theft or other crimes associated with cyber-theft., but with the popularity of smart phone, criminals have also taken advantage of this new technology

In mobile computing, Smishing is a form of criminal activity using social engineering techniques similar to phishing. The name is derived from “SMs phISHING”. SMS (Short Message Service) is the technology used for text messages on cell phones.

Similar to phishing, smishing uses cell phone text messages to deliver the “bait” to get you to divulge your personal information. The “hook” (the method used to actually “capture” your information) in the text message may be a web site URL, however it has become more common to see a phone number that connects to automated voice response system.

You may have received text messages asking you to join contest, or telling you that you have already won contest ..that you haven’t entered.

Scammers are constantly posting rogue apps on Facebook, putting malware links in Tweets, and sending you phishing e-mails. All for the hopes of baiting you with their schemes.

Most phishing scams play on human fear of any of the following:

• Loss of your money
  
• Identity theft
  
• Harm to your family
  
• something embarrassing being revealed about you (whether it is true or not)
  

Hoping that fear will override common sense, the user may fall prey to taking the bait, because after all you thought you were “too smart” to be fooled by such a thing. A lot of phishing attacks which end up being successful likely go unreported because the victims are ashamed and don’t want people to think they were gullible enough to get conned.

Phishers like other scammers retool their scams over time learning which ones work, and which don’t. Given the short nature of SMS messages, phishers have a very limited canvas on which to work so they have to be extra creative in a smishing attack

Here are a few tips to help you tell spot SMiShing scam texts

• Review your bank’s and/or credit card company’s policy on sending text messages.
  Many banks don’t send text messages because they don’t want people to fall for smishing attacks. If they do send texts find out what number they use to generate them so you will know if they are legitimate. The scammers may use spooed alias numbers that look like they are from your bank, so you should still be skeptical and not reply directly. Contact your bank either via phone or from a different computer to verify if the text was legit or not.
• Beware of messages that have a number that says it is from “5000″
  Email-to-Text services often list 5000 or some other number that is not a cell number as where they originated from. Scammers are likely to mask their identity by using Email-to-Text services so that their actual phone number is not revealed.
• Ask yourself if the suspicious text could be a scam
  If the message content fits into one of the above fear categories above, be extra skeptical. If it is threatening in any way to your or your family members, report it to the local authorities and also to the Internet Crime Complaint Center
• Never reply to a suspicious text without doing research and verifying the source.
  If it is really your bank texting you, then they should know exactly what you are talking about when you call them using the phone number on your latest statement. If they say there are no issues with your account, then the text was obviously bogus.

Defense against Smishing

• Use Common Sense – if you didn’t sign up for something, they wouldn’t contact you, and if there is an emergency, you would more that likey get a call rather than a text message.
• Use Your Cell Providers Text Alias Feature
  Almost all major cell providers allow you to setup an Text Alias that you can use to receive texts. The texts still come to your phone and you can send texts, but anyone you text sees your alias instead of your actual number. You can then block incoming texts from your real number and give all your friends and family the alias you are using. Since scammers most likely won’t guess your alias and can’t look it up in a phone book, using an alias should cut down on the number of spam and smishing texts you receive.
• Enable the “block texts from the internet” feature if available from your cell provider

Most spammers, scammers and smishers send texts via an internet text relay service which helps hide their true identity and also doesn’t count against their text allowance (scammers are notoriously frugal). Many cell providers will let you turn on a feature that will block texts that come in from the internet. This is another easy way to cut down on spam and smishing e-mail

PepperEyes.com is dedicated to providing you with the best and most affordable personal protection products on the market to meet the security needs of you, your family members or your business, by assisting anyone who is unwilling to become a victim of crime. If you want to take personal responsibility for yourself, your home or your business, purchase our high quality discount personal protection products and arm yourself with the knowledge of the best way to stay secure in an ever-increasing violent world. In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option. PepperEyes.com is a division of Onyx Knight Enterprises

Staying Safe during your College Experience

Pretty soon millions of e will be leaving home to enjoy the college experience; for some of you, it will be for the first time. I can still remember my freshman year, thrilled and scared all at the same time. It was much more than that week at summer camp. It was freedom for parents, and taking responsible for so many things. These are probably your thoughts…

So now you are a college student, and on your way to perhaps becoming a terrific adult. You are probably pretty intelligent; otherwise you would not be here. You have at least the desire to explore new ideas, new people, new cultures, and a new direction in your life. You are either looking for to find what you are going to make of your life or you may already have a career in mind, and are looking to obtain the necessary skills and knowledge to compete in that field. Either way, you are probably success oriented and goal directed.

You are probably excite and/or scared about being away from home and watchful parents for an extended period of time for first time in your life. While you are learning to master your independence and enjoying the college with is social and intellectual challenges there is one other thing you need to be mindful of: CRIME

Unfortunately, just like the real world, a college campus does have a criminal element. Some of these are students, some of these are staff, and some of these are the townies who you may encounter either on or off campus.

It can be argued that very few of us go around in the expectation of imminent danger, but the fact is most of us think we are pretty safe no matter where we are. Some students feel they are in a protected shell on campus, and nothing bad can happen there.

Unfortunately, the news is a constant reminder that criminals, or just insane elements exist in our society. On Aug. 1, 1966, college campuses changed forever. They were no longer idyllic places where students read literature, and enamored members of the opposite sex. Now they were places where things could go terribly wrong. A person with a mind and the means to kill could do so, and no one would be prepared to handle the situation. The murder of 16 people and wounding of 31 more by UT student Charles Whitman shooting from atop the Tower changed college campuses. Wither it’s UT, Virginia Tech, Penn State the message is clear. Bad things do happen, anywhere.

Most college crimes are not that violent, but they can happen. They typical college crimes are theft, robbery, substance abuse, sex offenses, assault, grand theft auto, hazing, arson, hacking, bullying, scams, or even sexual exploitation

Have a Great Defense

The great news is that most college campuses take the safety of their students very seriously. Security counter measures are constantly being revised to keep you safe. Here are some ways you can do to stay safe.

• Trust Your Instincts – this is always my number one tip. If you think you are being followed, either on foot or by car, do not ignore the thought. Go to a safe environment. If you feel you are in immediate danger, run, scream, honk your horn, flash your lights – make a scene. Such action could deter a possible attacker from following through with their plans.
  

   

• Get Educated –You campus police offers lots of workshops and classes to teach you how to be safe. Some participate in ProjectID which will mark your property so that it can be identified later if stolen. Some campuses offer a RAD class to teach young ladies self-defense techniques for free.
  
• Avoid walking on campus by yourself, especially at night : The saying, there is safety in numbers is true. It’s easy to become so comfortable on campus that you let your guard down, but bringing a friend (or multiple friends) along with you when you’re going to the gym or the library is always a smart idea. See if your campus has a escort service to walk young ladies across campus. You may feel embarrassed, but it’s such a smart idea. And besides, who wouldn’t want a free ride?!
  
  

  Always go somewhere at night with a friend. Male or female, big or small, safe neighborhood or not, this is always a good idea.
  

   

• Keep Your Door Locked -Make sure the door to your residence hall is locked at all times. You wouldn’t just leave the front door to your house open, would you? Don’t let anyone into your hall that you don’t know. Not letting someone in doesn’t make you look like a jerk. It makes you look like a good neighbor and, if the person is supposed to be in your hall, they’ll be grateful for it. Make sure your room door is locked at all times. Yes, this even means when you run down the hall to borrow a book or hop in the shower. Keep your windows locked. Don’t be so focused on locking your door that you forget to check the windows, too.
  
• Do Not Open Your Door to Strangers - Once you open your door, it is easy to get access. Do not open your door to strangers without checking credentials. Contact the office who sent the visitor for verification of their purpose. For example, call the apartment office for verification if a repairperson requests entrance into your apartment. If someone asks to use your phone, offer to make the call while the stranger waits outside the door. Do not open your door to see credentials, using instead the peephole. If your door does not have one, request that a fisheye peephole be installed.
  

   

• Be careful with your keys. Also, if you lose them, don’t depend on your roommate to keep letting you in, thinking that your keys will just “pop up.” Pay the fine and get a new set.
  

   

• Get a locking device for your laptop. This may be a physical laptop lock or some kind of electronic tracking or locking device. Your laptop may come with some type of tracker, that you can enable. You may even get a Personal Alarm to set up when you are in the library.
  

   

• Never Give a Thief a Chance -Watch your stuff in the library, or your dorm room, or lounge. You may need to take a quick run to the vending machines to clear your mind . . . just as someone happens to walk by and see your MP3 Player, Tablet, and laptop unattended.
  

   

• A Better use for a Cell Phone -Put emergency numbers including campus security in your cell phone. If your wallet is stolen, will you know what phone number to call to cancel your credit/debit cards? Put important phone numbers in your cell so that you can call the moment you notice something is missing. The last thing you want is someone cashing in on the money you’ve been budgeting for the rest of the semester.
  
• Tell a Friend - Make sure someone knows where you are at all times. Heading to a club downtown? Going out on a date? There’s no need to spill all the intimate details, but do let someone (a friend, a roommate, etc.) know where you’re going and what time you expect to get back. Just in case you come up missing- Remember all those spring break stories.
  

   

• 
  Stay Alert -Pay attention to what is going on around you and avoid blocking sounds or using distracting devices such as cell phones or MP3 player. Your ears and eyes are your best defense to being taken by surprise.
  
• Keeping Personal Information Personal -Avoid displaying personal information on mailboxes, key chains, book bags, apartment doors, etc. Get in the habit of using your first initial and last name. Leave a short, non-descript, computerized voice message on your answer machine. The less information a caller can learn from your message, the better.
  
• Get Background Information – If you plan to meet a stranger, for example for a date or a study partner for the first time, meet in a public place like the library or student center. Ask questions before meeting them – such as what activities they are involved in, who their professors are and where they live. Communicate this information to a friend or roommate.
  
• Carry Pepper Spray – I can’t stress just how necessary had having something in your hand and knowing how to use it so that it can help protect you. I recommend pepper spray that contains UV Dye that allows the sprayed person to be easily identified.
  

PepperEyes.com
is dedicated to providing you with the best and most affordable personal protection products on the market to meet the security needs of you, your family members or your business, by assisting anyone who is unwilling to become a victim of crime. If you want to take personal responsibility for yourself, your home or your business, purchase our high quality discount personal protection products and arm yourself with the knowledge of the best way to stay secure in an ever-increasing violent world. In today’s society being equipped mentally and physically is no longer an option.