In an age that has seen the internet become increasingly omnipresent in everyday life, it can be difficult to keep tabs on the countless online portals we submit personal information to. The upshot of this is there is an increased danger of confidential information falling into the wrong hands.
However, the online world needn’t be any more hazardous than the offline world if a few simple safeguards are put in place.
With so many websites requiring the user to register a chosen password, it can be easy to follow a ‘one password fits all’ approach, to minimise the chances of forgetting it. This is only playing into fraudsters hands though, as once a cyber-criminal manages to identify the password on their victim’s account, they can easily discover what other online applications and services they are registered for and subsequently wreak havoc with somebody’s entire private life.
It’s important to set up a unique password for all online accounts – especially bank accounts – so that a hacker is limited in the amount of damage they can cause.
Similarly, when choosing a password it’s important to avoid easy-to-guess phrases such as ‘password’ or ‘123456’. It’s for this reason that many online accounts insist on a minimum number of characters consisting of a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters such as ‘&’ or ‘£’. This may seem like a pain at the time, but it does significantly reduce the chances of an internet fraudster gaining access to very sensitive information.
Of course, taking preventative measures is all well and good, but what can someone do to find out if sensitive personal information has already found its way into the wrong hands? Well, the first step should be to request a
free credit report which will help identify any obvious inaccuracies such as credit cards that have been taken out in their name.
By signing up to receive regular credit reports, this reduces the chance of any unpleasant scenarios developing further down the line. Often, people don’t realise they’ve been subjected to fraud until they apply for a credit facility such as a mortgage or a bank loan, at which point they are turned down due to outstanding debts that have been racked up by an impostor.
Those who don’t have much of a credit history can often find it difficult applying for such things as mobile phone contracts. Often, a mobile phone company will automatically reject an application for a contract if someone doesn’t have a high enough credit rating, but they may manually approve the application if the applicant submits a copy of their credit report.
So by taking care to prevent online fraud in the first instance and then requesting regular credit reports, it’s possible to minimise the chances of becoming yet another cyber fraud victim.
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Adam Singleton writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.
