It’s a jungle out there. Every time you register on a website, buy something from an online retailer, do your banking, use Paypal, sell something on Ebay or Craigist, or do any of the online things most people take for granted, your personal info lands on the web. Scammers know this and are constantly coming up with ways to steal it. Info like account logins, passwords, credit cards numbers, and more are highly sought after in the booming underground business of spamming, hacking, and scamming. I’ve seen ads offering high feedback, active Ebay accounts for $299 each, and ads offering various logins, lists of credit card numbers, and huge databases of email accounts. Scammers don’t just steal your info so they can clean out your bank account or go on a shopping spree with your credit card, they also steal it to sell to other scammers.
How can you protect yourself? Common sense is the key, and here are some rules to go by:
Their public nature means they are usually unprotected, making it easy for a hacker to intercept your info.
You’d be surprised at how many people log into their email or Facebook accounts at the library, internet cafe, store displays, and other public places and then walk away without logging out, leaving their personal business wide open for the next person who uses that computer to see!
Many of the newest forms of malware spread via usb drives, so be very careful. Don’t access the drive on your home computer without running a virus scan on it first.
No matter how legit an email may look, remember that NO legit company will ask you to email them your password or other personal info. If it asks you to click on a link, don’t! Instead, let your cursor hover over it and look in the info bar to see where it REALLY points to.
Ever since Facebook revamped their “like” feature scammers have been exploiting it. For example, say you’re looking at your newsfeed and see that a friend likes something such as “eating brownies in bed and reading trashy novels”. You think that sounds cool and click “like” too. Chances are very high you’ll be sent to a page full of games or other interesting looking things to click on. Doing so however will send you into ad hell. This is a click fraud scam. The scammers trick you into visiting their ad page so they’ll make more revenue, and they spam the wall of everyone on your friends list-in your name. Oh, and those apps that claim they can tell you which of your friends visits your profile the most or who has you blocked? More scams. It is not possible for any app to give you that information because Facebook won’t allow it. Instead, it steals your info and spams all your friends.
Most sites require you to create an account, whether you want to leave a comment on a blog, participate in a forum, create an email address or buy something. Most will require you to not only create a password but a secret question as well, and provide you with some helpful suggestions like your mom’s maiden name or where you went to high school. The problem with this is you are turning over some valuable personal info, and info that in many cases could be found out about you online. For example, say you chose your high school as your secret question. Sarah Palin did for her Yahoo email account and a hacker was able to easily find that info out and change her password. It’s crucial to supply answers that no one could possibly know but you-even better, lie! Make up the answer rather than give the real one. Just make sure you’ll be able to remember it, and beware of scams that try and trick you into giving it out. Last year a popular game swept Twitter. Called “Porn Star Name” it sounded rather harmless. Take your Dad’s middle name, your mom’s maiden name, and the name of either the street you grew up on or the name of your high school and that’s your porn star name. Tweet it and encourage your friends to do the same! The problem? Those pieces of info are the most commonly asked secret security questions asked by websites when you’ve forgotten your password! Sneaky, huh?
While it’s tempting to leave it public so people can find you easier, don’t. Not only can it get you in trouble if your boss or potential employer sees a photo or status update you posted in a moment of questionable judgment (that’s a whole other post!) but think about all the info you’re revealing to the web at large. I and many of my friends share our birthdays, phone numbers, family photos, email addresses and other info on our profiles, and I bet you do too. That’s not stuff you want the whole world reading, is it? Didn’t think so. Lock your profile down so that only those on your friends list can see your info, and be careful what friend requests you accept. My rule of thumb is if I don’t know you, we have no mutual friends and you didn’t include a message with your request explaining who you are/why you want to be friends, I deny the request.
When it comes to buying online, make sure the site is legit. If you heard about it via spam, it looks sloppy or very generic, and/or there is no lock icon or https:// on the checkout page, beware!
I hope these tips will help you and your personal info stay safe and secure!
I say this to everyone I know: "Facebook is scary!" Nowadays there are so many easy ways for your identity to get compromised on the internet. It is sad actually. Thankfully there are articles like this that explain in detail how to prevent getting taken advantage of. I used to love being online. It is such a convenience to shop online, and join social networks. Now it is becoming a huge liability, and its almost safer to walk slowly through a crime infested neighborhood with your social security card, house keys and a credit card taped to your forehead.