Identity theft online can not only affect you economically but crate many legal related problems for you as well. Hence while shopping online, doing any transaction, giving any personal information to someone, you need to be very careful about it. There are many precautions that you can take to protect yourself from identity theft. Take a look at the following:
- Keep all your passwords and vital information separately and do not share with anyone.
- While doing any online shopping see for the credibility of the shopping site as well as the payment mode and payment partner that you are going through.
- It is advisable to not keep any personal information physically as people have easier access to it. Try to keep it in soft copy form and keep that also password prtrected4
- Any paper which contains your personal information should not be thrown away and should be destroyed first. This applies to your ATM receipt as well about which we are generally very careless.
- When doing any transaction at the ATM machine make sure to cancel everything before leaving. In case you did not get the amount wanted but the same was dedicated from your account, contact the bank immediately. The same applies to any payment done online.
- Always give attention to your bank account and review it timely. See that all the transactions shown are done by you and if there are any discrepancies, contact your bank immediately.
To maintain your online security, you can follow the following steps as well:
- Make sure you have a firewall and anti-virus system installed in your PC and laptops so that you are warned about any probable threat.
- Also ensure about the security of your personal wireless and modem connections.
- There is trend of inviting people for parties via email. Be very careful while opening these and only open the ones that are from your acquaintances.
- Only use trusted payment systems and trusted payment partners. Take note of any unsecured websites released in the press.
- Be careful about the information you provide on social media and other platforms.
All these kept aside, the first and foremost thing is to see to whom you provide your personal information too. Avoid sharing with anyone. Also keep changing your passwords regularly. Banks make sure you do this by compulsory imposing it on you but do it for all your transaction means as well.
