Personal experience: what I learned about security after becoming a victim of data theft - ForumDaily
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Personal experience: what I learned about security after I became a victim of data theft

Naples Daily News columnist and professional organizer Marla Ottenstein faced painful, expensive and completely changed her life experience when last summer fraudsters stole her personal data.

Фото: Depositphotos

She decided to share her story with others and tell what to do to avoid becoming a victim of data theft.

You can not even imagine how many accounts you have on the Internet. Understanding of this, according to Ottenstein, comes only when, because of theft, you need to close the email account that you used for 20 years. And it almost destroys your ability to secure your other accounts.

Just think: if you need to change the password of an account, you click "Forgot your password", and a link will be sent to your email address to create a new password. But what if there is no more access to e-mail? ... Now imagine that you need to change the user name in all accounts, which in most cases is your e-mail address, which is no longer valid.

According to Ottenstein, if you are a victim of identity theft, then you, and not criminals, will have problems for many months. Even if you manage to completely remove fraudulent transactions and restore your credit history, your credit rating will still be affected, which will naturally lead to higher mortgage rates, higher auto and homeowner insurance rates and higher auto loan rates.

According to Carrie Kersky, president of the company Griffon Force, which specializes in the theft and recovery of personal data, the offender “does not need to dig deeply to find out the person’s name, address, date of birth and social security number, and he spends all that on average $ 3.

Ottenstein emphasizes the importance of having as many safeguards as possible to protect personal data. The woman has compiled a list of several basic things you can do. They do not guarantee the prevention of fraud, but they will make you less vulnerable to data theft:

1. Passwords and username. It is amazing how many people still use their date of birth, the last four digits of their social security number, or the zip code of their area as a password, which makes it easy for a criminal to steal data. Make your passwords random and difficult.

2. Multifactorial verification. Set up a multi-factor check on all accounts: bank and credit cards, utilities, the Internet, as well as on mobile and landline phones.

3. Travel notifications. Regardless of where you go and for how long, report on trips to companies that serve your credit cards and to banks.

4. Transaction warnings. Set up alerts on your bank and utility accounts, ATM / debit and credit cards. You can tailor these alerts to your specific needs. For example, set an alert for all purchases in excess of 10 dollars, as well as all foreign and non-card transactions.

5. Account monitoring. In addition to transaction alerts, set up online account monitoring for your bank accounts and credit cards and check your balances every day. If your smartphone has face recognition features, it is highly recommended to use this unique feature that will make it easier for you to access your accounts.

6. Buy an identity protection plan. 200 or 300 dollars a year that you spend on a protection plan, such as IdentityForce or LifeLock, compensate for the time, money and energy you spend if someone decides to steal your identity.

7. Credit reports. You will receive one FREE credit report once a year from each of the three main credit rating bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). Be careful when requesting and reviewing these reports.

8. Freeze accounts. There is no excuse that FREE account freezing for security purposes is not provided by all three major credit bureaus. Yes, this is a bit inconvenient, especially if you are trying to get a new credit card, but nowadays it’s dangerous not to block accounts when you want to be robbed.

9. Wi-Fi in public areas and VPN. Avoid the temptation to use an unsecured wireless network, but if necessary, make sure that a virtual privacy network (VPN) is activated on your devices.

If your data has been stolen from you, file an application with the police as soon as possible and contact the credit bureau immediately to warn you of fraud.

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