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The Long-Term Effects of Identity Theft

Jeannie Mark — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 13:00:46 +0000

Identity theft involves cybercriminals gaining access to financial information or credentials that can be used to establish credit or make purchases in your name. Regardless of how you are victimized, there can be long-lasting consequences of being a victim. Find out how identity theft can affect you and what you can do to discover if someone has fraudulently used your information.

Effect #1 – Financial Loss
The most severe consequence of identity theft is the loss of personal funds. Often times, fraudulent purchases made using stolen credit or debit card information is covered by the bank or company issuing the card. Sometimes, though, money that’s stolen through other means such as wire fraud or bogus money orders or cashier’s checks can be more difficult to recover and can be difficult to prove. Also, if time has passed and the victim doesn’t notice the fraud in a timely manner, the odds of recovering the stolen money greatly decreases. In certain circumstances, the victim can be left financially devastated. Recovering lost funds could take years and in some cases, the money might never be recovered.

Effect #2 – Employment Woes
Identity fraud doesn’t only ruin credit scores affecting the ability for you to apply for credit cards, mortgages or get financing but also affect employment. Many employers not only drug test and check criminal history, but conduct a credit check as well. Those with bad credit scores have a much more difficult time finding a job.

Effect #3 – Mental Stress
It can take hundreds of hours to clear up an identity theft case. In many instances, victims find that issues that they thought were resolved may pop up again years later leading to ongoing damage control that can take an emotional toll. The stress and fear of financial insecurity can have a lasting impact on mental health. Many identity theft scams have cost families their vehicles, home, and life savings and left them penniless. The fear of losing everything can be emotionally crippling, cause anxiety and in extreme cases has lead to ending marriages, hospitalization, and even suicide.

Avoid Becoming an Identity Theft Target
Fortunately, there are things you can do to protect yourself from becoming a victim and actions you can take if your identity is stolen.

ONE, credit monitoring services help discover suspicious activity concerning your financial business and insure against loss if your identity is stolen. You can also manually check your bank account, credit card statements and credit reports for fraudulent activity.

TWO, using dfndr security can protect your mobile device from phishing attacks and the Identity Theft Report feature can help you find out if your email addresses have been leaked. Also, the Identity Theft Monitoring feature can be used to watch ALL your logins and will even alert you if any of your accounts are compromised. Try em’ out!

THREE, if you receive credit card statements or banking statements in your inbox, be sure to archive those properly in a secure cloud service. This helps prevent hackers from having access to documents that lists your private information.

FOUR, contact one or more of these agencies if your identity has been compromised:

www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ (Federal Trade Commission).

www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm (Identity Theft: What to Do if It Happens to You).

www.idtheftcenter.org (For information on consumer focused items, click on “consumer resources” on the left side of the page).

https://www.stopfraud.gov/protect-identity.html (Department of Justice).

These Were the Most Common Passwords in 2016

PSafe Newsroom — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 00:00:23 +0000

Despite advice from security experts, tech experts, and beyond, many people still aren’t taking the time to make their passwords unique, complex, long, and strong. The following are the most common passwords from 2016. A password company recently released this list, and it shows that not much has changed in the realm of common passwords. If your password is on this list, then you should highly consider either using a random password generator or else create a more unique password to prevent hackers from easily accessing your information.

Tips for Creating a Good Password
Many hackers purchase machines that can test billions of passwords in minutes, so it’s important to have a password that is not common. When you look at the top passwords from 2016, it’s pretty clear that most of them are easy to type and easy to remember. The only downside to that is if it’s easy for you to type and remember, then it’s probably easy for others to type and remember. You want your password to be as unique as possible to keep your password safe from hackers and thieves.

Another password problem to avoid is using personal information in your password. Passwords that have a sports team, kids’ names, phone number, or birthday are very susceptible to being hacked. Hackers can find this personal information on your public social media accounts and then plug it into their machines to create password combinations of your personal information.

When creating a password, remember to use numbers, symbols, upper- and lowercase letters, and to make it as long as possible. If you’re having trouble thinking of a new password, try using a passphrase. Just make sure that the phrase is not a commonly known phrase, such as those related to a nursery rhyme or a historical event.

Top Passwords from 2016
Many people will be surprised that “password” is still in the top 10 passwords, but the even more shocking fact is that “123456” made up almost 17% of the 10 million passwords that the security company analyzed. This also means that simple passwords like “password” and “123456” are the most likely to be hacked.

These are the top passwords from 2016: 123456, 123456789, qwerty, 123445678, 111111, 1234567890, 1234567, password, 123123, 987654321, qwertyuiop, mynoob, 123321, 666666, 18atcskd2w, 7777777, 1q2w3e4r, 654321, 555555, 3rjs1la7qe, google, 1q2w3e4r5t, 123qwe, zxcvbnm, and 1q2w3e.

If your password was on this list, then it’s time for you to find a random password generator online or create all new passwords to keep your private information and data safe from hackers.

5 Phishing Clues to Look for in Emails from Your Contacts

PSafe Newsroom — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 00:00:51 +0000

Hackers and online predators have unfortunately become very savvy in recent years. This means that they’ll go to almost any lengths to trick you and obtain your sensitive information. Now, hackers are even making emails and messages appear to be from one of your contacts, then compromising your system when you click on any malicious links. Actively looking for these clues and practicing caution as you open emails — in conjunction with using the anti-hacking feature on your Android device — will ensure that you keep your information and accounts private, safe, and totally secure. Click here to protect yourself from phishing attacks:

Read More: The Rise of Increasingly Sophisticated Ransomware

The Email Address Doesn’t Match Your Records
As mentioned, hackers are savvy. They have the capability to make emails appear as if they’re from someone in your contact list, when really, they are from a different and malicious email account. Always verify that emails containing outbound links are actually from whom they claim to be from. Check the email address in your records. You’d be surprised — sometimes hackers use email addresses at domains containing dead giveaways like the word “evil.”

It Has a General Salutation
Hackers may put in a general salutation that isn’t personalized or isn’t how your friend or family member would actually greet you. It may say “Hi!” or something else devoid of a specific name.

The URL Doesn’t Go Where it Claims to Go.
Hackers know how to make URLs (that are embedded into emails) look like they’re going to direct you somewhere that they aren’t. Before clicking on a link, hover over it to verify that it is going to direct you to a trusted site or at least to where it claims it will send you.

The Email Urges Immediate Action.
Phishing emails often attempt to trick you into clicking on a link and divulging sensitive information that you wouldn’t want to be compromised. If your “contact” sends an email that seems to be pushing you towards clicking a link, filling out a form, or completing a request, be cautious.

The Email Contains Attachments
You should always be cautious when opening attachments in emails, even if they appear to come from a trusted source. Look at the attachment name, verify the email address from your records, and even follow up directly with your contact to confirm they’ve sent an attachment before opening it if you find it to be questionable. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!

Is It Safe to Let Your Android’s Browser Remember Passwords?

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:02 +0000

Is it safe to have your Android remember passwords for you? As you may have guessed, as badly as you want the answer to be “yes,” it’s a wholehearted “no.” Having your Android remember passwords for you may allow you to access your email or banking website more swiftly, but if your phone somehow falls into the wrong hands, this easy access is going to make your life a whole lot more difficult. Click here to use advanced protection to protect your phone’s security in the event of loss or theft:

There are a few ways your passwords can be turned against you when you save them to your browser. Because your phone travels everywhere with you, there is always a chance you will lose it, and if you have passwords saved in it, anyone just needs to get to the home screen and everything will be open to them.

The same can be true if someone is able to access your phone remotely. Essentially, the hard work has already been done for them. It doesn’t matter if your password is a series of impossible to guess numbers and letters — if it is already saved, the guesswork is already done. Even something as innocuous as your email can have huge ramifications. Besides sending prank emails, most sites allow you to reset your password through the use of your email, and a would-be hacker can use your email to gain access to numerous accounts while simultaneously locking you out.

How to Protect Your Device
There are other resources to defend yourself against hacks. dfndr’s applock feature allows you to lock your apps with a password, to further protect yourself against potential hacks and thieves. Even with additional security measures, the best thing you can do is to avoid situations that could result in your phone falling into the wrong hands. This means keeping an eye on your phone at all times while you are out and about, as well as while you are with friends.

It may seem like a paranoid habit, but the simple truth is that it’s always better to be safe than sorry. The same is true for your Internet browsing. Make sure to always use secure networks, and be careful about the sites that you use. If you don’t know the site, look it up and make sure it is legitimate — any information you put into an untrusted site could be used against you.