Tag Archive for: identity theft

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Take control of your identity: 5 proven strategies to prevent identity theft

While all types of fraud pose serious challenges, identity fraud is one of the most potent, and consumers must take extra care to detect and avoid it. People need to educate themselves on protecting their personal information, but many might feel they don’t know where to begin. Five main steps can be taken to guard against identity fraud and stop fraudsters and scammers from obtaining personal information or accessing accounts.

Beware of phishing

Phishing emails are a vital tactic for scammers and have developed beyond the clumsy, poorly written-efforts of the past. However, many still contain tell-tale signs of a scam, such as lousy formatting and unofficial email addresses. Phishing emails are designed to convince consumers to click on a malicious link, so consumers should avoid following links they do not recognize. Pay extra attention to an email that calls for immediate action, such as requiring payment to keep your energy on; scammers know that consumers are more likely to make a mistake if there’s urgency.

The best way to root out the fakes is to independently check the information by logging into personal accounts on the company website—companies will often post a warning on their website if they are aware of the scam email. Smishing, where phishing is conducted via a text message, isn’t a new threat but has evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic and represents another avenue where consumers need to be hyper-vigilant.

Activate two-factor authentication

Many online accounts offer two-factor authentication, which can help to prevent online account takeover. Text messaging is the most popular second factor, but this is also vulnerable to takeover, so individuals should choose an alternative factor if one is available.

Sign up for activity alerts from financial institutions

Signing up for activity alerts with bank or credit card companies can alert consumers to any suspicious activity associated with their accounts. People are notified straight away, and this can prevent any further fraudulent charges or withdrawals. Do not delay reporting suspected fraud to your bank, and ask about the possibility of closing the account in question.

Set up identity and credit monitoring

Individuals can sign up for an identity and credit monitoring service that will warn them if their data is at risk. Due to personal information being traded on the dark web, monitoring services focus on places where data is known to be bought and sold and will send alerts if personal data is identified. Credit monitoring services will notify individuals of any changes to their credit profile, such as new trade lines or hard credit inquiries. If individuals suspect fraudulent use of their information, a professional can assess the extent of the fraud and assist with identity restoration.

Follow password security best practices

There is a lot of advice available on how to create strong, unique passwords for every account. However, with the average person having 70-80 accounts, it can be difficult to remember them all, leading many people to reuse passwords. Installing a password manager can help you generate and store passwords for all your accounts on your devices. Although using common passwords like “QWERTY” or your pet’s name is not safe, it can suggest a nearly impossible alternative to guess.

The most important thing to remember is that there is no single solution to ensure complete protection against identity theft. The best thing you can do is to stay vigilant and use caution. By adopting the layers of security discussed above, you can give yourself the highest level of protection against a threat that is certain to become increasingly dangerous in the future.

If you are looking for an expert to help you find the best solutions for your business talk to GCInfotech about a free technology assessment

Published with consideration from TechRadar SOURCE

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FBI Warns of Escalating Elderly Fraud – Here’s What You Need To Know

In America, more than 93,000 people fall victim to financial fraud annually. Whether you are a victim of identity theft, check fraud, email scams, ATM bank card theft, or another form of financial bilking, the results are devastating.

For older adults, the devastation is swift and nearly permanent. Unfortunately, as technology advances, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) warns that crooks and scammers are becoming more and more sophisticated in the variations of scams they use to con elderly persons out of massive sums of money. 

Serious Sums

To put into perspective just how severe online and over-the-phone scams are for the elderly, an estimated $28.3 billion is lost annually to these criminals. A retired Navy veteran, Rich Brune, expressed his horrible situation after encountering a Cryptocurrency scam last year. “I will probably be forced to take out a reverse mortgage. I will be virtually penniless as soon as I pay off the IRS.” 

Brune, who is 75 years old, was contacted online by a person posing as a Microsoft employee and told that someone had hacked his computer and his financial accounts were at risk. The thief then instructed him to deposit his money, over five months, into a cryptocurrency account that supposedly was “safe from purported hackers.” 

During those five months, the person stole a nest egg worth a reported $800,000, and another $200,000 is now owed to the Internal Revenue Service because most of the money came from Brune’s retirement accounts. 

Words of Warning

For their part, Microsoft says that every online interaction, whether through their websites or email, must be initiated by the customer. A spokesperson for the tech giant said, “Microsoft will never proactively send unsolicited messages or make unsolicited phone calls to request personal or financial information or to provide technical support to fix your computer. The customer must initiate any communication. Any error message your device initiates will never have a number to call.”

Supervisory Special Agent Keithly of the FBI said the bureau is seeing a massive spike in what they call ‘Phantom Hacker Scams. They relayed this about these particular financial thefts. “It starts with the tech support scam, and the tech support scammer informs the victim that their accounts are at risk of being hacked. And the next player in the scam is somebody purporting to be from a financial institution. And then they tell the victim, ‘Your [financial] accounts have been hacked.”

These interactions impart fear to elderly victims, and the criminals prey on that fear to motivate their victims to move their money. Before you know it, the victims are often broke, and generally, there’s minimal help your financial institutions or the IRS can offer at that point. 

Helpful Information

For seniors, keeping financial records safe and money where it belongs is essential to ensuring their futures are well in order. To that end, the FBI, AARP, and Microsoft all have valuable information for anyone dealing with online interactions. 

  • Microsoft will never initiate contact on behalf of their company or your accounts.
  • The FBI warns that the US government will never ask individuals to transfer money to any government-run agency or cryptocurrency exchange. People should report any attempt to gain that information or activity to their local law enforcement agency. 
  • The AARP advises that you report any contact requesting your Social Security or Medicare/Medicaid information to law enforcement, as these are always scams.

Unfortunately, despite efforts to stem the effects of fraud on the elderly, in 2022, reported cases of crime were up 84% over 2021. Investigators continue to urge individuals to avoid unsolicited pop-ups and messages (both text and email) and to decline to download unknown software or requests for remote access to personal computers. 

Published with consideration from Microsoft SOURCE

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