We all make seemly innocent mistakes every single day when it comes to protecting our identity, our personal information, and our finances, without even realizing it. This is the number one reason that many colleges and universities are offering things like a cyber security degree. Prevention is far easier than trying to reclaim or recoup your losses after you’ve been a victim of internet fraud so maybe it’s time to evaluate how many bad habitsyou’re guilty of.
- Writing down your password.
- I am always shocked at how many people keep a “passwords” file right on their computer desktop or written on a sheet of paper tucked under their keyboard or in their wallet. There are a few obvious places that people hide this important information and believe me when I say that thieves are well aware of what they are.
- The Fix- With the necessity of so many passwords for so many things in our daily life, it is definitely possible to lose track of them, and thieves count on this fact. If you absolutely have to write down passwords, use a little creativity. Add them to your address book under a relatives name with your password disguised as the phone number, fax or email address.
- Using the same password for everything.
- Though you may think of it as necessary or convenient, using the same password for everything leaves you incredibly vulnerable. Once a scammer cracks one password, they suddenly have access to every other site you’ve used it for. Think about that for a second. Scary, isn’t it?
- The Fix- Again, because so many passwords are required these days, it does seem easier to remember a universal one. If you truly have a difficult time remembering multiple passwords, consider creating several different versions of your preferred code rather than just one. Keep them close enough to the original to remember, but individual enough to not be obvious.
- Believing what’s too good to be true.
- If you’re a gullible person, you are a prime target for thieves. Whether it’s the old scam of a bazillion dollars that you have to help them claim from a foreign country in order to get a big chunk of it yourself, or the always popular buying or selling of online items that don’t really exist or will never arrive. These two alone put millions of dollars in the wallets of internet scammers every single year.
- The Fix- You only need to keep one simple rule in mind. If this “amazing opportunity” requires you to send money in order for it to happen, RUN. There’s a reason it seems too good to be true. IT IS! The elderly are particularly vulnerable to both phone or internet scams so make sure your older loved ones are informed and aware of the risks
- You don’t have to change much to keep yourself safer online. The very best way is to recognize your bad habits and then change them!
