5 Ways to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
There are simple steps we can take to lower the risk of identity theft.
5 Ways to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft:
- Never Share Your Passwords or SMS OTPs
Trust no one. No matter who they claim to be. No one but you has the right to know your passwords or one time passcodes. A bank or financial service will never ask you to disclose your passwords for any reason.
- Set Up Multi Factor Authentication on All Your Accounts
Use multifactor authentication to protect your user credentials. This means that a service will verify that you are you via multiple channels before allowing access to your account, e.g. requiring you to input a username and password on their website, and confirming on another device that you own (like your phone) that it really was you trying to access the account. This additional security of multifactor authentication helps ensure your account’s protection in the event of a system compromise.
- Beware of Tempting Offers
If something sounds too good to be true, like a lottery you won, or a job offer you didn’t apply for, it probably is. Do some research first before letting yourself be convinced, and verify if you are dealing with a legitimate offer or a scam.
- Don’t Open Suspicious Emails, Links or Attachments
Don’t answer any emails where you are unsure of the sender’s identity. Review the source of the email like the email ID, carefully for anything that’s odd or out of the ordinary. Scammers that spoof email addresses that purportedly comes from a bank for instance, may have made a spelling or grammatical mistake. To be safe, verify the content by visiting your bank’s website directly via your browser or bank app and not through any links sent via email or SMS.
- Use an Antivirus and Antimalware Solutions
Make sure that you keep your antivirus and antimalware software updated. Set them to automatic updates and perform daily scans for possible infections.
Those are our 5 quick tips to protect yourself from Identity Theft. Consider signing up for an Identity Theft Protection Solution Like Siren (link to How Siren Protects from Identity Theft) for continuous peace of mind.
Siren will constantly monitor for and block any suspicious activity on your personal device that could result in Identity Theft. Siren blocks and alerts you to potential social engineering scams that target you via phishing calls, messages, emails and apps, with the added protection of the Siren Guarantee in case you do fall victim. Visit SirenID.com for details.
