Practical Ways To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
Identity theft is an absolute nightmare. Imagine waking up one morning only to realize you are locked out of your bank account or find it completely emptied. The FTC reported 4.8 million identity theft in 2020 alone, representing a 45% increase from 2019 numbers primarily due to over 100 percent increase in complaints.
Cybersecurity continues to be more widespread as more people are increasingly making their data available online due to social media and networking. The availability of information on social media sites has led to a huge increase in phishing attacks, orchestrated through good old fashioned social engineering, where the victim might be approached using fake accounts of their friends, the information of which is freely available online. In these cases, it's imperative for people to check what they're clicking on and think twice before opening or downloading files online. While data privacy and protection are becoming more challenging, here are practical ways to shield your data and secure it against identity theft and other targeted attacks that can cause all sorts of damage.
Keep phones locked
Your smartphone is the most valuable commodity for an identity thief. The present tech evolution means your smartphone stores everything – from emails and social media to IM and many other potentially logged-in apps. Your smartphone is your personal data “world bank,” and whoever owns it owns you. A robust authentication method to lock it is crucial. Your swipe to unlock pattern and four-digit pins won’t cut it. Biometric authentication like facial recognition and fingerprint features offered on most smartphones today is your best bet.
Protect your documents
Your important documents like birth certificates, social security cards, tax returns, and others don’t have to be accessible. Consequently, keep them in a lockbox or a fireproof safe in your home. This is a better option than using a bank safe deposit box. Your bank may not insure your box content at total value. Additionally, these home boxes are disaster or fireproof, making them your safest choice.
Meanwhile, banks are noted for drilling holes in boxes without any notice to the owners. Don’t stop at the physical documents but secure your digital documents too. You can use encryption ware; should somebody even manage to break in; your sensitive data won’t make any good reading for them.
Strengthen your passwords
Creating a strong password is the most common way to secure your online identity. However, it is common to see people using words and numbers they associate with, like phone numbers, birthdays, the name of a relative, loved one, and even their pet. These passwords aren’t so tricky to figure out since anybody close to you can guess correctly.
For solid passwords, combine numbers, letters, and some special characters. Also, don’t forget to use both upper and lower cases. This way, it is almost impossible to have your details stolen. Remember to change your passwords from time to time, mainly when there is a data breach with your host sites since your login credentials may be compromised.
Don’t overshare
You may have to share some of your data with certain service providers. For instance, your new insurance account or mortgage will require you to provide some sensitive information. You may have initiated the signup process and confirmed that the service provider is legit. Yet when the company contacts you asking you for personal details, either by phone, email, or snail-mail, don’t share. If the contact details appear legit to you, ask them if there is another way to reach them after you have done some examination. Like the famous saying – loose lips sink ships. Therefore, be the captain of your boat and secure it firmly.
Shred, and continue shredding
Don’t discard or recycle your bank statements, bills, and any other document that may contain sensitive information. Whether at your office or home, using a document shredder is essential for protecting your data and ensuring digital security. You can invest in a document shredder for use at home. You may never know how important this is until your personal information gets out there. Therefore, shred it now.
Secure your computer
With the present cybersecurity threats, securing the computer from hackers and criminals is paramount. Identity thieves can gain unauthorized access to your computers to steal sensitive data like your financial data or company details. The problem is that these criminals may use Trojans or malware to gain constant access to your computers and stay hidden for several months. The only time you may notice is when your PC begins to shut down, crash or slow down randomly. This isn’t only a sign of old age but a malware symptom.
At this point, you may want to troubleshoot your computer and secure it with the most effective anti-malware program.
Get personal data protection
Getting personal data protection is another practical way for securing your online and sensitive data when sharing your identity information. This data security suite is excellent for ensuring your every data, including emails, social media platforms, personal message programs, or other blogs. You can additionally thwart a hacking attempt with a private data security suite.
Hide your private data
You may accidentally share your data with others when your browser is not correctly set up. This is more common when you get a new PC, downloading or installing browser software. For proper configuration, head over to the browser setup tab in a browser such as Wave Browser, and configure it not to reveal details like name, email, and other information. This additional step is vital when downloading or installing a web browser to secure your privacy and safety.
Only enable website cookies when necessary
Don’t enable cookies when setting up your web browsers unless a website requires you to. Enabling cookies is another excellent option for securing your data online. Cookies are details stored by websites on your PC, including data about your visit sites and your online activities. Several websites manage the data themselves. However, it is another way criminals can access your online data. If you want to enable your cookies, be measured in your approach to allow only the websites you want.
Don’t fall for phishing frauds
It is nice to get support for your IT or computer problems, yet some of these offers can cost you a lot. Individuals who portray themselves as tech or computer specialists may contact you via email, phone, or other means claiming your computer is spreading viruses. These supposed experts can be persuasive by employing urgency tactics to have them clean your computer. After all the wild stories, they will eventually ask for your passwords or request remote computer access. They sometimes mimic banking and other sensitive websites, hoping you enter your username and password.
In some cases, you may be redirected to the actual website to remain undetected as they steal your credentials. Phishing isn’t only a personal problem but a corporate one too. Identity thieves can be very convincing in their emails and communication to get even business executives to give more information than they bargained for, in some cases transferring cash into shady accounts.
Turn on your browser blacklisting
The absence of web security is partly because of how web programs are being utilized. Many internet browsers have extra security features, for example, blacklisting. This permits you to set the standards for the websites you intend to explore. However, most of today’s popular browsers like google chrome, apple safari, Microsoft edge, and internet explorer come with features to detect potentially harmful web pages. The browser automatically displays a warning notification to keep you informed. Yet, it is essential to visit only trusted, secure websites.
Closing thoughts
It is common to see many advertisements promising to protect you against identity theft. Yet, most of these services usually help you deal with the consequence instead of protecting you against it. For this reason, it is essential to consider what identity theft service providers do and whether you are willing to pay for their service. There is no point turning your life upside down only to guard against identity theft. Fortunately, you can thwart theft efforts with these simple tips.
