5 Tips To Stay Financially Secure Online
Financial security online may seem like old news, but it is a landscape that is forever changing with new threats constantly emerging. We must be aware of which behaviors are safe and which should be avoided or risks mitigated. Identity theft and online fraud are rife these days, once your data is compromised, it is difficult to reverse the damage. Here are our five tips to stay financially secure online as we all are at home more, we spend more time online.
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Keep Passwords Safe
Good password management is an essential tool in keeping your data safe online. Various things can keep our passwords from falling into the incorrect hands. Never use an equivalent password for each account and website. Avoid using personal data, such as address or date of birth as your password. This also goes for loved one’s names. If you can, use a mixture of character types, letters, numbers, and symbols should be as random as possible.
Update Software Regularly
Software updates come up regularly on your phone and computer. Everything will have regular updates, ranging from the free tax software you use, to the antivirus programs installed on your system. As inconvenient as they seem, they often contain essential patches and updates to guard against new viruses that hackers may use to access your data. For phones especially, make sure your current version of Android is still supported otherwise, you will be left exposed.
Be Aware Of Scams
We all hear of scams where unscrupulous people use tricks to get access to your money or information. Never click unsolicited links in emails or messages, albeit they seem to return from your bank. Use the contact details on your bank card or statement to ask if they wanted to discuss something. Bank staff will never ask for PINs or passwords over the phone.
Use Secure Money Transfers
When sending money, we should be extra careful to use the most secure methods. I prefer buying BTC and sending funds that way. Bitcoin is ultra-secure, as it’s a cryptocurrency, which means it is virtually un-hackable. The advantage of using these types of currency for sending money isn’t just the security, it is also an inexpensive way to send money overseas.
Only Use Trusted Sites
I also try to only use trusted sites, especially for financial or sensitive purposes. If you are required to sign up for an account on a site, think carefully, if the information they ask for is relevant to what the site is about? New or unknown sites that take payments are to be suspicious of. Take buying bitcoin, I just gave an example of buying this cryptocurrency from a trusted exchange site. The problem with cryptocurrency is that many people are looking to jump on the bandwagon. You could end up losing a lot of money by dealing with a website that seems too good to be true.
Look For Good Investments
Not all ways of losing money online are due to fraud or hacking. We need to be wary of bad opportunities. There are plenty of investment opportunities that provide the impossible. This article has been contributed on behalf of Paxful. However, the knowledge provided herein isn’t and isn’t intended to be, investment, financial, or other advice.
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