There are folks out there who use their powers for evil, not good. Let’s not give them
opportunity to sneak into our lives and wreak havoc. Submitted for your reading pleasure are some of my tips to protect yourself and your identity.Gone Phishin’ When I was a wee lass, my Grandpa George would take me to pond on a warm Saturday afternoon and we’d fish for hours. Unfortunately, this type of Phishing has nothing to do with warm fuzzy memories of my Grandfather.
Phishing (sounds just like fishing) usually arrives in your inbox in form of a spoofed e-mail message. It sure looks legit, huh? Well, it’s not. Phishers blast e-mail messages in hopes you’ll take bait and click links, which will redirect you to a fake website. What do they want? Your account numbers, PIN numbers, SSNs: anything they can use to gain entry to bank and brokerage accounts and other financial information.
Remember, your brokerage, bank, credit union and credit card provider will never ask for this information via e-mail. They will never ask you to login to your account to confirm information.
If you feel you’ve been phished, do not access links included in e-mail. Also, reporting phishing to your ISP and Anti-Phishing Working Group (http://www.antiphishing.org/).
The Paper Trail – Snatch that Receipt I bet you’re type to leave receipt at gas pump and at ATM when you make that late night deposit. Smack on hand and shame on you – stop doing that! Take ALL receipts when you make a purchase or a deposit, when you return items, etc. When you go to clothing store, take receipt out of bag and place it in your wallet.
Save all receipts until you receive your end-of-month statements (see Two Dollars below). Also, don’t throw away your receipts; see my notes on shredding
It’s … Like … Magic! Pet Peeve: Folks who use cheesy passwords to protect their online accounts – you people make me crazy! I recently hired a client and I’m managing several e-mail accounts for him. Guess what password he used for ALL of them? You guessed it: magic. I immediately changed passwords on all of accounts and then we had a chat.
You should never use a word you can find in a dictionary as your password. You should never use your birthday, names of your wife or children or dog as passwords. Use a combination of letters and numbers and where possible, add special characters such as a bang (!) to your password. Also, change your passwords frequently, such as once a quarter or every six months.
