Hi guys! I hope you are well. Recently I shared my blog posts Fraud/Scam Awareness & Prevention and 18 Most Common Types of Scams. If you read both these articles, you would be concerned about your security. Today I am sharing some basic tips for protecting yourself online.
When it comes to protecting ourselves from hackers, identity theft and other kinds of scams online, there’s definitely a lot of information out there for us to take advantage of, so for the most part, we’re aware of some of the basic things we can do to keep safe.
However, as technology advances and becomes safer, technology is also advancing for hackers and this gives them a bit of an advantage so we have to ensure we’re staying on top of things to protect ourselves – whether that’s taking practical steps or looking into softwares such as identity guard vs lifelock.
As much as most of us are aware of the risks, there are still some things we may be doing online and offline that put us at risk without realizing it, and these things are just habits that can be changed.
So, in this post, we’re going to share with you some of our top tips for simple ways to protect your identity online and offline.
1. Be aware when clicking links
Links are a common part of online life and for most of us we know what links to click and what not to, however, there are scams such as phishing scams that can look extremely realistic when sending bad links and these can massive consequences, so it’s important to always be aware of what you’re clicking, and if something looks suspicious then don’t click on it – even if it appears to come from family or friends.
Common scams include emails from banks, PayPal, and even friends saying they’ve been caught up in some disaster and need help. Your bank will never ask for your user details over email or the phone, nor will PayPal, and a quick call to them will confirm they haven’t sent the email.
2. Update your passwords
Even in this day and age, many people are still using extremely unsafe passwords such as 12345 – and this is like a hacker’s dream. It’s important to use secure and unique passwords for every login you need, and also to update them every few months.
3. Complete transactions in private
When you have to complete things like transactional calls to places like your bank or even when ordering something online and have to share personal and financial details, then it’s incredibly important that this is done in private.
For example, it may be convenient to do this whilst you’re taking a walk in the park or doing your weekly grocery shopping, but you never know who could be listening and making note of your information. Also, avoid using public wi-fi networks to complete such transactions because they’re often not secured which makes them a great place for hackers to come and steal information.
4. Keep things in the cloud where possible
Instead of having everything such as banking information lying around on bits of paper, then you should try to move everything online as much as possible. Not only is this better for the environment to reduce paper consumption, but keeping things on the cloud means you can access it from anywhere and won’t lose anything, plus it keeps it secure and out of reach of any hackers or criminals.
Let us know if these tips helped. How do you protect yourself against online fraud? We would love to know.