Tag Archives: identity theft

General Safety Issues

HOW TO COMPARE IDENTITY THEFT SERVICES BEFORE CHOOSING (GUEST POST)

It is very crucial to consider various factors before you choose  identity  theft protection services. Identity theft can affect your credit history and your social image. Goons have been known to exploit your personal information for achieving lucrative returns. A number of companies claim to provide Id theft protection services, however, it is very essential to compare id theft protection services before you subscribe to one of them. 

Our company has been providing id theft protection to individuals and corporate industries. They have industry experts, who specialize in security of all forms, to protect you and your personal credentials. Here are a few words from industry experts on how to compare id theft protection services before choosing them. 

1.         Check for the security features

Many companies provide standard security services, which safeguard the personal information of the individual. They provide information about their level of security and the means by which they safeguard information. However, a very few companies like Keepmyid.org provide some additional features, which are useful along with the core ones. These extra features include fraud alerts and account monitoring along with freezing the accounts when a fraud occurs. 

2.         See whether the company provides recovery assistance

Most of the companies claim to offer services to mitigate the mishap. However, a very few company offer recovery support in case of loss of information or at times when the id theft occurs. Keepmyid.org has been known to have concrete protocols and practices that will assist you in recovering the lost information. The company will assist you in blocking your credit cards, alerting the credit bureau and other financial institutions for Identity theft Prevention.  It will also help in identifying those disputed transactions and will help in notifying the creditors with the same.
 

3.         Check if 24×7 support is available

Before you compare id theft protection services, ensure that the company provides round the clock support. Mishaps can occur at any moment of time, and the protecting company should come to your rescue immediately, by placing a phone call. Also, the support staff should be empathetic and handle the situation in a calm way.

Sent to us by Jonas Patrick.  We just can’t be too careful in keeping our personal information private!

General Safety Issues

Tips for Keeping Your Personal Information Secure Online (Guest Post)

Submitted by Nicky Elkins

For most people, the internet is used to connect with friends, look at funny pictures, or to do some online shopping. However, what people don’t expect to happen is to have their identity stolen. In the digital age, it is very easy for a hacker or someone to steal valuable information from you. Keeping your information secure while you are online is very important, and can prevent having your identity stolen. There are a few things you can do to help prevent someone from seeing your information and taking you for a ride.

Having a unique password is important, but you should also have multiple passwords for multiple online accounts. This helps keep your information safer than if you just had one password. If you had multiple passwords and someone did hack into one of your accounts, you would only need to change one password for one account. However, if you had the same password for every website and account, you would then need to go in and change every account password. When you create a password, try to think of something that is unique to you and that you will remember. Most websites have password requirements to help ensure you have a unique password. These requirements may be anything from how many characters you can have to what numbers or symbols you use. If you have a lot of accounts and need a way to keep track of your passwords, you can use a password manager like LastPass.

Not only are the ads on the side of webpages annoying sometimes, they can also be harmful to your computer and information. These ads aren’t always on webpages; they can also be in emails or social media. Any adds that claim you are a “winner”, or that you could “enter to win” normally have you fill out a form with your personal information in order to “collect your prize”. However, when you fill out this information, you have actually entered in a scam to win having your identity stolen. Other ads may not have you fill anything out, but may instead download malware or a virus onto your computer. Once these have been installed on your computer, it can be hard to get rid of it all.

Your information could be targeted through your email. Make sure to set your email to separate spam messages from your regular mail. Having your spam setting set up to block suspicious emails can help reduce the chance of falling victim to different email scams and phishing scams. If you do get an email from someone you don’t know, it is best to not open it, mark it as spam, and delete it. Some scammers are tricky and will send you an email that looks like it came from your bank, Twitter, or even Facebook. These emails normally ask you to verify your account, or tell you that something is wrong with your account and you can dispute or report a problem by clicking a link below and filling out the information. These forms have the same concept as those used by “enter to win” scams; you fill out your information and give everything to the scammer. If you get an email but are unsure, you can check the “from” address to tell if it is real or not. If it is from Facebook, it should be from a Facebook.com account, not a Facemail.com account. Another thing you can check is the link in the email. You can hover over them without clicking and see the URL that it points to. If the URL doesn’t take you to the official login, support page, or the official page it claims to be going to, do not click on it. Scammers try to fool you by putting in links to fake login pages like usatwitter.com/login instead of twitter.com/login. If you are still unsure if it is real or not, and are concerned about your information, you can call the company or file a report with their support department.

Part of keeping your information safe is also keeping it backed up. You should be backing up your computer files regularly. A lot of people keep just about everything on their computers, such as family photos, business reports, and other important documents. If you do end up getting a virus and it shuts down your computer, it can be difficult to restore your computer back to how it was before the virus. Sometimes the damage is irreversible and you end up having to buy a new laptop completely. By backing up your files regularly ensures that no matter what happens to your computer, you don’t lose valuable files and information. You can invest in Backup Software or an external hard drive to store your information. Most backup software stores your information to a server allowing you to access the information by logging in. Using an external hard drive to back up your computer lets you carry it with you and it is easy to share and transfer files to a new computer if you need to.

Majority of computers come with anti-virus protection. Having the proper security on your computer will help you protect your personal information. Security systems and anti-virus software will do several scans and give you reports as to how many problems, viruses, potential viruses, and malware you have on your computer and then fix the problem. Some software will even inform you when a site you are about to go to contains malicious and harmful contents. It is easy to get a laptop that already has virus protection on it, or you can easily find affordable software that will keep you safe while browsing.

If you travel a lot, or work on a computer that isn’t in your home, more than likely when you are connected to the internet it is through a WiFi hot-spot. When you are connected to the internet with this type of connection, avoid sharing your personal information. Free WiFi or community hot-spots, while convenient, aren’t as secure as your own personal internet connection. If you are using this type of connection and you need to login to a personal account or need to use your information, you can check the URL to see if it is a secure site. Most banking sites will show you that it is a secure site by displaying padlock icon in the address bar. You can also look at the URL address to double check. If the URL starts with “http://” then you do not have a secure connection. However, if it starts with “https://” then you are on a secure connection since the “s” stands for secure.

 Nicky Elkins is a freelance writer for http://www.bbgeeks.com/BBGeeks.com and is from Pensacola, Florida. She attended the University of West Florida and earned her Graduate degree in Creative Writing. Nicky now uses her gift for writing and her love of all things technology to help others enjoy and understand consumer electronics, social media, and the coolest new gadgets.

General Safety Issues, Home Safety Products

THREE THINGS YOUR TEEN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA AND HOME SECURITY

Raising teens presents some special challenges for parents.  You know that your child still needs your protection, but teenagers are growing more concerned with their independence and at times want to be on their own.  Furthermore, teens today are more increasingly involved with social media, which means they are susceptible to those who may have an identity other than what they claim from behind a computer screen.  Of course, there are ways you can keep your teen safe both at home and when he or she is online.  You need to make your teen aware of a few things so that he or she stays safe. 

1.         Some Information Should Not Be Posted on Facebook

You would be hard pressed to find a teen that is not connected to Facebook.com in some way.  Even though users must be at least 14 before creating an account, you will still find lots of teenagers using the social medium.  However, there are a few things you need to make sure you tell your teen not to post on the site.  These include:

  •            Birthday
  •            Explicit or Potentially Embarrassing Photos
  •            Extended or Short Vacation Plans
  •            Home Address
  •            Mother’s Maiden Name
  •           Phone Number
  •           Photos of the Home
  •           Place of Birth
  •           Searchable Public Profile

Information such as this can be used by identity thieves and burglars.  Furthermore, this type of information can leave your teen as a target by pedophiles and stalkers.  You can find more information about what not to share on these kinds of networks on sites such as howstuffworks.com. 

2.         Know How to Use a Home Security System

You may invest in a wireless home security system such as those you find at lifeshield.com to protect your family.  However, you need to consider that your teen can be home alone at certain times and may need to get in and out of the house securely when you are not there.  In this case, you need to trust your teen with any security codes needed for safe entry into the house.  You may also have to impose some ground rules such as limiting the amount of guests your teen can have over at one time while you are away and not allowing guests in certain areas of the home or property. 

3.         Be Careful About Using Apps

Since smartphones and mobile devices continue to grow in popularity, you will find that many teens are using them to document every aspect of their lives in cyberspace.  This can be especially dangerous when using geo-location apps and services or services such as Foursquare.  A friend can check in to your home and make it a public location with this kind of app.  While these may be fun for your teens to use and tell everyone where they are and who they are with, they can let cyber stalkers keep track of them and also inadvertently announce when they are and are not home.  You need to make your teen aware of how social media is connected to home security. 

Jennifer Kurtz is a stay-at-home mom who writes about Technology and Lifestyle on her blog.  She worked in marketing before her son was born, and keeps up with the tech field through her blog.  She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, her 2-year-old son, and a cat named Einstein.

Jennifer, this is excellent advice for the parents of teens.  Our world has become too dangerous to take chances, and parents should monitor what their teens are doing online, and other social medias, as much as possible.  Thanks again. pb