Friday 1 June 2018

Finance Fridays – Identity theft


We were looking at ways to save money by going green for last week's Finance Fridays. This week we are seeing how we can protect ourselves from identity fraud. No matter how much we try to protect ourselves our personal details are held by so many companies and organisations just so we can do everyday things. Let's have a look at what we can do to keep our details safe.

Block them out
– Even walking around you could be a target for identity theft. Scammers use radio frequency identification (RfiD) readers to try and transmit your details. These chips can be found in credit cards and passports. Put your cards and documents in a RfiD blocking wallet.

Check first - If you receive an email, text phone call or letter asking you to get in touch about activity on your account don't automatically reply. Check the full email address, find previous correspondence with details you can trust.

Never click on links – Dodgy links in emails could have viruses in them which could infect your computer or mobile. They can also be used to access your personal or financial details.

Don't move money at someone else's request – You could be lured into this by being told a different account has a better interest rate or benefits to it. More likely it will be someone posing as a bank employee saying there is fraudulent activity on your account. If you move transfer money yourself to a bogus account it is unlikely you will be able to get it back.

Ring back on a different phone – This is a particular problem with landline telephones. Even when you hang up if the other caller hasn't hung up then the line will still be in use. One scam is to start playing a dialling tone so you think you are ringing a new number. When someone answers the phone it is actually the fraudster you were speaking to before.

Be imaginative – Don't use the same password or variations of it. If one of your accounts gets hacked it could compromise all your others. If you have trouble remembering passwords get an internet password book to write them down in.

Don't join in – Have you seen those Facebook posts where they ask you to pick your elf name or pop star persona based on the month and day of your birth? Another one will base it on your age and mother's maiden name. In replying to a couple of posts have revealed some very personal details about yourself which could be used by scammers.

If you want to join in with this week's Finance Fridays then add your link to the linky below. Any post concerning financial matters is allowed. Full details here. It doesn't have to be published today as you have until 23.55 on Tuesday 5th June 2018 to join in.
Finance Fridays




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