Personal Security Awareness
It is a sad commentary on our
society that we should even have to worry about our own personal
security. Unfortunately there really are people who watch our every
move, just to see if we will let our guard down, even for a moment, that
is when they will make their move.
The buzz words
are
identity
theft, ATM
security, and
Internet
fraud, (more resources at those links) and
there are many, many more scams with new ones coming to light all the
time. However lets just talk a little about being aware of those 3, some
of the ways they work, and how we can combat them.
Identity
theft can happen many ways, the risks are
very real, however with the formation of a few judicious habits, we
can go a long way toward prevention of this crime of opportunity.
-
Cut down on the
number of credit cards you carry, and never give the number over the
phone or Internet, unless you have purposely initiated the
transaction.
-
Never give out
your social security number.
-
Buy a paper
shedder and use it to shred all personal trash from your home or
business.
-
Never include
address information on your key ring.
-
By very careful with
the personal information you give to anyone you don't know, it takes
very little information for the unscrupulous people in our midst to
start building their new identity to match you.
ATM
Security
Internet fraud
-
Never open an
email attachment from someone you are not familiar with, or were not
expecting to receive.
-
Never give
personal information on a web site if you did not initiate the
contact via a link you have used to contact that company before. I
get at least 1 or 2 scam emails a day, that look exactly like the
real thing, no matter how convincing they sound, almost no
legitimate company or financial institution will ever send you an
email asking for account numbers or any other personal information,
most will not ask you to clink a link within that email. if they ask
you to contact them, be sure you enter a link you trust.
-
If you accept
credit cards over the internet, be very wary of multiple orders from
the same person using different cards, they are almost always
stolen.
Admittedly these are
just starting points, view some of the sites and resources on the
individual pages for more tips on avoiding these crimes, and what to do
if you are a victim.
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