Episode 86 Cyber Security

Cyber criminals have many motives and goals, but separating you from your hard earned cash is one of the most lucrative for the criminals and potentially devastating for you.  I've put  a checklist on my website at https://www.moneypilotadvisor.com you can download for free with more details and tips.

Do you use the same password to log into multiple websites? Or use common phrases or personal information in your passwords?  If someone gets your login for one account they may be able to log into other important accounts, like your bank account or investment accounts. I know it’s a pain to have all those t passwords with random letters, numbers, symbols. Try using a password manager that can generate and save unique passwords for you. If your device has biometric authentication, use it to unlock our devices and to access stored passwords. And whenever possible used two factor identification. That's when the company you're trying to login to sends you a text or an email to verify it's actually you logging in. 

Do you sharealot of personal information on social media sites? Some cyber criminals look on these sites for key information like your birth date, place of birth, or mothers maiden name which can aid them in resetting passwords associated with your financial accounts giving them access and locking you out. Consider making your social media account private where possible or hiding sensitive personal information. 

Are images in emails you receive set by default to download to your computer automatically? This is one way cyber criminals lure you into clicking links or opening attachments which are then redirected to a compromised website. When you receive an unsolicited email don't open any attachments until you can confirm who the sender really is. 

Research the apps before you install them on your phone.  And give them the minimal permission necessary to use your data. Cyber criminals can build legitimate looking apps that can steal your data and monitor your phones actions. 

Always remember if someone calls claiming to be from a government agency either offering you relief payments or demanding payments for fines or taxes, this is a scam. The IRS for example will never call or email you. Any official communication they will send you through snail mail. The same goes for someone claiming you won sweepstakes. Or someone calling from the “credit card department” asking you for your credit card information .

A common thread is the thieves will contact you by email, phone, or text, pressure you with immediate deadlines or threats, and try to get you to send them money, gift cards, credit card information, or a check. Or work to get key personal information from you like account numbers, passwords, to steal your identity and rob you through impersonation. Hang up, don’t text back, and don’t open the email. Call the company or agency directly using a phone number you know is correct to see if they are legitimately trying to contact you.

If your data is stolen, consider freezing your credit immediately by contacting the three major major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union. Change your password on any sites that have the same credentials. Report fraud immediately to your financial institutions . If you lost money in a scam or victim of identity theft file a report with your local police and the Federal Trade Commission. Check you credit report details regularly. By law you can receive a free copy from each of the three credit agencies once a year at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action  
Don’t wait to find out our a victim of fraud until you get denied for a mortgage, car loan, or line of credit, or worse flagged on your security clearance investigation. 

Transcript

Kathleen Cannon: 0:14

Welcome to the Money Pilot Financial Advisor podcast, where you team up with Money Pilot founder, former Army helicopter pilot, and your host Katie Cannon to put your money where your heart is. Together, we'll tackle issues big and small so you can take charge and land your financial life. Hello, and welcome back to the podcast. Today we're talking about cyber security. I know you hear about this all the time. But today, we're not talking about the security of the nation's power grid or your unit's mission. We're talking about your money. Cyber criminals have many motives and goals. But separating you from your hard earned cash is one of the most lucrative for the criminals and potentially devastating for you. I'll be giving you some pointers to help you see if you're at risk for having your identity stolen or becoming a victim of fraud. I'll share my story of a brush with fraud. And I'll add a link in the show notes and my website where you can download a checklist for free with details and tips. One of the main areas of concern is how do you log into accounts on the web? Do you use the same password to log into multiple websites? Are there common phrases or personal information in your passwords. Both of these are big risks. If someone gets your login information for one account, they may be able to log into other important accounts like your bank account or investment accounts. When you use one or two passwords for everything, you're not even trying to protect yourself, you might as well just leave the door wide open. I know it's a pain to have all those different passwords, especially the long ones with random numbers, letters and symbols. But instead of cutting corners by reusing passwords, try using a password manager that can generate and save unique passwords for you. And if your device has biometric authentication, use it to unlock your devices and to access stored passwords. And whenever possible, use two factor identification. That's when the company you're trying to log into sends you a text or an email to that to verify it's actually you logging in. Here. I know it's a pain in the butt. But again, there's a lot on the line here. And this is another good line of defense. Do you share lots of personal information on social media sites? Some cyber criminals look on these sites for key information like your birth date, place of birth or mother's maiden name, which can help them in resetting passwords, associating with your financial accounts, giving them access and locking you out. Consider making your social media account private where possible, or hiding sensitive personal information. All right, so hopefully you're taking steps to not just give away your personal and login information to would be cyber thieves. What other gaps are there in your defenses? Are images and emails you receive set by default to download to your computer automatically? This is one way cyber criminals conduct phishing scams, hoping to lure you into clicking links or opening attachments which are then redirected to a compromise site. When you receive an unsolicited email. Don't open any attachments until you confirm who the sender really is. Along the same lines. If you get an odd request or link from friends or family, consider calling them but before clicking on anything in the email, the sender's email account may have been hacked, and the email sent by a would be scammer. When in doubt, check it out. And what about all those apps on your phone? You really should research the apps before you install them and give them the minimal permissions necessary to use your data. Cyber criminals can build legitimate Looking apps that can steal your data and monitor your phone's actions. Check with your phone manufacturer about ways to limit information that different apps can access on your phone. Most of them will ask for just about everything, which they don't really need. And cyber criminals can be very inventive and are always coming up with ways to scam you out of your money. Always remember, if someone calls claiming to be from a government agency, either offering you relief payments, or demanding payments for fines or taxes. This is a scam. The IRS for example, will never call or email you. Any official communication, they will send you through snail mail. Another example is a thief calling to be from the Social Security Administration in hopes of convincing you to reveal your social security number, which they then can use for all kinds of identity theft and fraud. And the same goes for someone claiming you won a sweepstakes or a gift card or a distant relative asking for money. Or someone calling from the credit card department asking you for your credit card information to straighten out some issue. A common thread in many of these scams is the thieves will contact you by email, phone or text and pressure you with immediate deadlines or threats and try to get you to send them money, gift cards, credit card information, or cheque or the work to get key personal information from you like account numbers, passwords, or key personal information so they can steal your identity and rob you through impersonation. Hang up. Don't text back and don't open the email. Call the company or agency directly using a phone number you know is correct to see if they are legitimately trying to contact you. Now, what do you do if your data has been stolen? Consider freezing your credit immediately by contacting the three major credit card bureaus, which are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Change your password on any sites that have the same credentials. When in doubt, change your password. If you become a victim of a scam or other fraud, immediately contact your financial institutions to report the fraud and contain your exposure. If you lost money in a scam, or are the victim of identity theft, file a report with your local police and the Federal Trade Commission and notify the credit bureaus and other relevant agencies. This is no time to let shame or regret force you into the shadows. So last I'll finish up with a quick story about my experience with financial fraud. Quite some time ago, I went to open a new credit card and was surprised to find out that it was denied. I always had excellent credit. So I figured it with some sort of mistake. After checking with a credit card Bureau, I found out my credit history had a line of credit with Dell computer. That was in default, my called the credit agency. I never had a line of credit with Dell. But they wouldn't change anything based on my word and told me to contact Dell. I did. And the representative at Dell said that their records showed I had bought a computer from them a year ago on credit and never made any of the payments. They confirmed my basic information. And then we discovered the computer had been sent to an address I moved away from five years prior. It seemed Dell had occasionally sent offers to me at the old address well after I moved down and a later tenant filled out the application that already had my name and address printed on it to buy the computer I credit. In the end what saved my bacon was that the thief didn't know my Social Security number and had made one up to open the account. I took about a month to straighten everything out and repair my credit. Had the thief actually gotten access to my key personal information like date of birth and social security number, it would have been a very different story. That kind of identity theft can take years to resolve if at all. So the bottom line, be vigilant and guard your personal information like your financial life depends on it. Because it does, and check your credit report details regularly. By law you can receive a free copy from each of the three credit agencies once a year, do that at annualcreditreport.com. Don't wait to find out you're a victim of fraud until you get denied for a mortgage, car loan or line of credit, or worse, flagged on your security clearance investigation. You probably already knew most of this information. Now gird up and protect yourself like your financial life depends on it. And we'll talk with you again next week.

Announcer: 10:32

Thank you for joining today's podcast. Like to find out more? Visit us at moneypilotadvisor.com Let's team up and land your financial life.