The
world is changing and many of us are now spending more time during the week
connecting with friends and family online than we do over the phone or in
person. It is becoming habitual to share our lives over the internet through
emails, chat rooms, and social media websites. A good joke or news story can
spread like wild fire through these cyber avenues making us all feel connected.
The internet has shrunk the world bringing everyone closer together… including
criminals. How can you protect yourself from cyber crime and what are some
effective ways to prevent identity theft online?
- Limit
your use of social media websites. It is ok to stay connected with friends
through these websites but it might be best to keep your journal bedside
rather than online.
- Having
a mobile internet device is convenient, but thieves often use popular wifi
hotspots to hack people’s devices. Be careful where you use your mobile
device because not all hotspots are secure.
- Change
your online passwords regularly. The way to create a strong password is to
make very symbol random. Create something difficult for even you to
remember. Write it down and keep it safe.
- The
more you use credit cards and electronic banking the more you expose
yourself to the possibility of fraud. This is especially true with online
transactions. Use cash more often and use cards for emergencies.
Screen to Screen or
Face to Face?
There
are many wonderful reasons to use social media websites. We now have the
ability to easily reconnect and stay in touch with our friends throughout life.
We can push a button, type an address in and speak face to face with someone
online from the other side of the world. This power should not be taken lightly
because the ease which we can do this can also be easily used for the wrong
purposes.
Read More About How to Protect Your Self From Cyber Crime Identity Theft!
Crime at home from far
away
Tech
savvy criminals know how to follow trends and access people’s computers from
remote locations. Often much of this will even go unnoticed because the
criminal won’t find anything on someone’s computer worth their time. However
more and more people are now keep sensitive information on their computers. It
is now convenient to do taxes online. We can also file and save this
information to the hard drive without ever having a physical copy. A criminal
could potentially steal a social security number or a bank account number by
hacking into your computer from thousands of miles away. Corporations are
constantly dealing with this threat, but in the wild west of the cyber world
anyone connected to the internet can become a victim.
The
best ways to prevent identity theft right now are to vigilantly look behind
you. This means checking your credit regularly, updating your banking accounts
so you know all activity taking place, and keeping things locked up and secure.
Change your passwords, and insist that your family keep an eye out for each
other. The more we look out for each other and collectively create ways to stopidentity theft, the more secure our lives will be. To learn more about identity
theft and the prevention of this crime visit www.legal-yogi.com or call them directly
for a free consultation at 1-800-397-1755.
