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How to Protect Yourself from Scammers, Hackers and Thieves

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The following tips suggest the 20 best ways to shield yourself from scammers, hackers and thieves that troll the internet:

  1. Maximize your privacy settings on social networks. For example, limit your Facebook page’s visibility to friends only.

  2. Don’t use your real phone number when communicating with someone over the internet. Instead, use a internet phone to protect your identity.

  3. Use different usernames across various websites.

  4. Monitor your credit report regularly.

  5. Use sophisticated passwords that are tough or impossible to guess.

  6. Change your passwords frequently.

  7. To protect the data on your mobile phone, use Apple’s Find My iPhone or Android’s Device Manager so that you can erase all of your personal data if your phone gets stolen or lost.

  8. Place a security freeze on your credit. Creditors won’t even be able to look at your file in order to grant that phony new line of credit to ID thieves.

  9. Set up a pin, password or lock-screen pattern on your mobile phone.

  10. Permanently delete everything in your mail box that is not junk mail. Apps such as Fellowes Powershred 99Ci work wonderfully.

  11. If you would like to sign up for online contests, use a disposable email address to protect your mail email account.

  12. Register for the Do Not Call list to stop telemarketers from spamming you and reaching out to you unsolicited.

  13. Use a VPN.

  14. Refrain from ever giving out your personal information such as social security number, banking information, etc unless you completely trust the source.

  15. Use anti-virus and anti-malware protection.

  16. Be extremely skeptical when browsing online, even odd emails that may come through from friends of yours.

  17. Avoid giving in to pressure tactics. Scammers can be very creative and convincing.

  18. Educate yourself by keeping up with the latest scams by reading blogs such as ours.

  19. Do your homework whenever making a financial purchase online. Ensure that the businesses you are dealing with are legitimate.

  20. Do not buy products or services from websites that appear sketchy and shady.