Avoid Being a Victim of Identity Theft
Aug 24th 2008greenbucksBlogging101 & Business & File and data management & Making Money Online & Money Watch & Web Tools
To be a victim of phishing is not a pleasant experience for anyone involved with any online transaction.
To be a victim of online identity thefts is definitely not pleasant.
There have been stories of people, bloggers and non bloggers whose online earnings or savings accounts have been violated and their monies victims of theft.
So how should one protect his online accounts?
- When suspicious emails arrive and there are links to open, check first if the links are legit. Put your cursor over the link and see what is being seen in the browser. If these are not matched, then it is suspicious and might be fraud.
- Now, why would you open a mail that asks you to confirm about an item that you ordered when you know you didn’t order anything? That is suspicious too.
- Change your passwords every now and then, every two weeks if need be. Go for passwords not associated to you and use letters and numbers and characters in the password. Do NOT store these passwords in your computer.
- There are identity thieves that use keystroke-logging software to know the usernames and passwords through emails, freeware and yes, instant messaging.
- Be careful when downloading anything from unknown sources for these files may contain malicious software programs that might be accompanied by spyware.
- Do not respond to emails requesting for your personal information.
I remember this episode from Psych, one my favorite (very funny) detective tv series. They were in a speed dating club and had to sit with other people and get to know them by asking questions. Shawn noticed that one woman’s questions were different. She was asking about these things:
- hometown where the guy grew up
- mother’s maiden name
- favorite color
So naturally, Shawn’s interest perked up. They finally got this woman and her husband who was also working in the dating club for identity theft.
These are just some of the things one has to look out for in order to protect online accounts. I am very sure there are a lot more different ways these thieves have that will enable them to do their illegal activities.
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I did not write these things because I assume I know everything. I wrote these things as a reminder that I too, need to beef up what I need to do to protect myself from identity theft.
If financial institutions and government offices have been victimized, we can be too. I hope not me, of course.
10 Comments »
lady cess on 26 Aug 2008 at 8:50 am 1thanks for the tips julie. i think i need to change all my passwords!
chateau a.k.a. imom on 26 Aug 2008 at 10:41 am 2thanks for these tips, julie. So it’s not safe to store passwords with the password manager?
I saw that episode of Psych too! Masyadong personal na ang questions, pang identity verification na.
monaco on 29 Aug 2008 at 10:17 pm 3Thanks for these reminders, Julie. We always have to be reminded of these things.
greenbucks on 02 Sep 2008 at 1:20 pm 4You are welcome, Cess. This post was inspired by what happened to Mitch š
greenbucks on 02 Sep 2008 at 1:24 pm 5I honestly do not know what a password manager is, imom š It is stored in your pc? Made-detect pa din yun. What I do is use a separate tool for all these things I have to remember. Oh, I have two, a PDA and my hubby š
greenbucks on 02 Sep 2008 at 1:30 pm 6Monaco, this was inspired by what happened to a friend who had her PayPal hacked and her money from eon. That one that happened with her EON account is really a puzzle to me.I haven’t used my EON yet š
About the reminders, sometimes we slack when nothing bad is happening, sometimes we beef up the security when things happen to others.
GreenBucks » My Favorite Television Series on 21 Oct 2008 at 8:59 am 7[…] I would have loved to watch these on HDTV but I know we still have to wait awhile to be able to afford this kind of viewing pleasure. I had fun getting re-acquianted with Shawn and Gus (finished all episodes till season 3), Don and Charlie (finished all episodes till Season 3) and of course, Chuck. I even mentioned an episode of Psych in one of my posts in this blog that talked about Phishing. […]
GreenBucks » Blog Archive » How to Avoid Being Phished on 18 Dec 2009 at 9:24 am 8[…] careful with online activity is something one should take note […]
Treasure Jar » Online Safety on 18 Aug 2010 at 11:42 am 9[…] So, if people get laptop insurance, they should also protect their email addresses (and files!) from being compromised to avoid phishing and becoming victims of identity theft. […]
teacherjulie.com » Online Security on 27 Mar 2011 at 10:45 pm 10[…] People have toĀ scrutinizeĀ and research about security settings before signing up on anything online or evenĀ consideringĀ to buy gold online or book a flight. Children and adults too should know not put up their photos online unless necessary, their school names or workplace, addresses and telephone numbers not just to avoid phishing but also for security reasons. […]