How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

Prtoect yourself from identy theft

For the cyber thieves, your personal information is as good as gold. Those data points such as name, email address, phone number, passwords, Social Security numbers, and other information will allow the criminals to wreak havoc on your financial accounts, credit health, medical records, and even your job opportunity.

What is identity theft? Identity theft is a crime committed through stealing information from another person to commit fraud. A criminal will track your Social Security number or name and open credit cards in your name, steal your tax refund or use your information to get medical treatment.

If you’re not used to protecting yourself from identity theft, you should start now. With so many people trying to steal identities online, it can feel impossible to stop them. You should actively hide your information from those potential hackers online.

There are steps you can consider to protect yourself from these predators. Here are few ways to reduce the chance of stealing your identity against those criminals and reduce the fallout from identity theft.

Limit what you share online

Criminals may be able to figure out the answers to your security questions, guess your password and confirm your identity through your post on social media sites. Ensure not to share your important information on these sites, if you can, try to lie when answering your security questions. It’s a good way to prevent hackers from guessing your answers. Don’t click on any email links if you don’t recognize the sender.

Be careful when giving your information

People don’t understand that posting anything on social media, compromises their personal information. Cybercriminals can access your information by tricking you into giving the data to them, without knowing it. Answering questionnaires can make you more vulnerable to hackers. They often mix fun questions to it that would give away the answer to your security questions. Keep in mind, never give exact information to anyone who contacts you.

Use Strong Passwords

Always consider to improve your password and don’t re-use the old ones. Different passwords for every account can be exhausting, the reason why many people will resort in using simple words. But how simple your password is, it is also as easy for hackers to break into it by using a certain software. In creating a strong password, choose upper and lowercase letters including numbers and symbols. Using a random password generator will help you on this. Once you already have a strong password, don’t forget to change it regularly.

Frequently Update Your Privacy Settings

Fake accounts can be easily created by having a public photo. Publicly shared photos are vulnerable to this type of theft. Ensure that you set your social media accounts in privacy setting and only share your content to your accepted friends.

Check or Freeze Your Credit Reports Regularly

If you noticed of unexplained changes in your credit reports, be alert. Aim to freeze your credit to limit the use of your credit information. Ask help from three major reporting credit bureaus, it’s free to ask for their services. Restricts access to your records so new credit files can’t be opened unless you unfreeze your account. Always consider requesting one report every four months so you can check for any suspicious or incorrect transaction.

Even how careful you are, everyone could become a victim of identity theft. Ensure you take all these steps seriously to protect yourself online. These are important in protecting your identity online as well as the online safety of those in your social network.  If you believe you are the victim of an incorrect credit report and need help rectifying the situation there is a credit repair company that we recommend to help out.  After a free consultation you will be well on your way to righting the ship, improving your credit score and future.

Sharing these tips in your social media circle will help everybody to protect their identity in the online world. Frequently checking your credits will make you aware if you’re already a victim of identity theft. There are tools available online if you find yourself a victim of identity theft. The sooner you discover a problem, the sooner you can fix it.

Tips on Preserving Your Privacy Online

Preserve online privacy

Nowadays, we are living in a remarkable time of social media influence. We make memories by capturing beautiful places, people and things. We do shopping online from the convenience of our homes. Reach thousands of people through social networking and blogging platform.

Is it safe? Or Risky?

As we’ve observed, every individual supply most of the important information in engaging online relationship. Without thinking that there are people who want to steal your identity who will easily get information through the Internet where they can apply their technical skills. Data breaches, identity theft, phishing scams, and even viruses are growing in number and complexity.

Safety and security on the internet impact everyone in it. You should be able to understand what is happening to your personal information and ensure that you have to control how it is being used.

Many people look on ways to protect their privacy online. Check out the following tips below to safeguard your personal information online:

Use of Incognito Tabs

Ad networks have the ability to track their users across the Internet. They will know whether they’re logged into a particular site or not. To prevent such way of surveillance, use Incognito Mode on your Chrome browser. This will anonymize you on the sites you frequently visit, making it hard for the outsiders to link your data. You can also consider using Tor, it’s like a regular browser with privacy benefits.

Use of Multiple Email Address

You’re doing it wrong if you have one email to rule out your transactions online. Maybe you don’t want that medical professional you contacted looking you up on Facebook or if an employee tracked you down in LinkedIn.  The ideal practice is to keep at least three (3) primary email – one for your social media, one for managing customer service and newsletter sign-up and one for your personal interactions. Treat it as your home address, you wouldn’t simply hand it over to every institution or person you interact with.

Disable Using Public Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi will broadcast your detailed information, your location and internet usage – every page you visit will be monitored. Disabling Wi-Fi connection, except when you’re using it will prevent the promiscuous broadcast of information, including your usernames and passwords.

Be Particular in Interacting with Brands

Personal data is so valuable, many brands are asking for more additional information, such as social security number, date of birth and telephone numbers. Brands take advantages of your location data to present specific services and targeted ads. They used this technique to identify who you are. To open a certain site, you should block the third-party cookies on your browser to maintain anonymity.

Encrypt Your Online Connections

What is Encryption? Encryption is the process of encoding a particular information that is only intelligible to those given access. It will help protect the privacy of users and offers a guarantee that they are not looking at the spoof page. Make sure that your browser uses an encrypted connection wherever it is supported. Online services such as Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter also offer encrypted connections. Keep in mind, encryption is only useful if the person you’re communicating also uses a compatible encryption service.

While these measures can provide you with individual protections, the most powerful action to take into consideration is collaborative. We should take safety precautions to our username and password. Use very strong passwords consisting of special characters, letters, and numbers.

With more and more lives moving online, be more responsible in sharing personal information in the Internet world. Use preventative software applications, such as anti-spam, anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewalls. Remember to always clear the browser’s cache and history to avoid duplication of information.

Hopefully, this blog helps you to preserve your important information and your privacy online. If you have questions and inquiries regarding privacy online, just leave a comment.