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There are now over 5 billion active social media users worldwide, representing 62.3% of the global population. While social networks serve as valuable tools for staying connected with loved ones and documenting life events, the ease of sharing information raises concerns. With a mere few clicks, posts and messages can inadvertently divulge significant personal details, potentially compromising privacy and leaving individuals vulnerable to identity theft. That’s why it’s crucial to make sure you’ve got the know-how to keep your privacy protected while using these platforms.
To empower you in this digital age, we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide featuring ten essential tips to fortify your online security and preserve your privacy on social networks:
Whether you’re a seasoned social media user or just dipping your toes into the digital waters, these strategies will equip you with the knowledge and tools needed to safeguard your online identity effectively. With the added support of McAfee+, you can ensure an extra layer of security to keep your online presence more secure and private through advanced privacy features, 24/7 identity monitoring and alerts, and real-time protection against viruses, hackers, and risky links.
The post How to Protect Yourself on Social Networks appeared first on McAfee Blog.
From impersonating police officers in Pennsylvania to employees of the City of San Antonio, scammers have been impersonating officials nationwide in order to scam people. A nurse in New York even lost her life savings to a spoofing scam. Phone spoofing is a technique used by callers to disguise their true identity and phone number when making calls. By altering the caller ID information displayed on the recipient’s phone, spoofers can make it appear as though the call is coming from a different number, often one that looks more trustworthy or familiar to the recipient. This deceptive practice is commonly employed by telemarketers, scammers, and individuals seeking to engage in fraudulent activities, making it more difficult for recipients to identify and block unwanted or suspicious calls.
Most spoofing is done using a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service or IP phone that uses VoIP to transmit calls over the internet. VoIP users can usually choose their preferred number or name to be displayed on the caller ID when they set up their account. Some providers even offer spoofing services that work like a prepaid calling card. Customers pay for a PIN code to use when calling their provider, allowing them to select both the destination‘s number they want to call, as well as the number they want to appear on the recipient’s caller ID.
Scammers often use spoofing to try to trick people into handing over money, personal information, or both. They may pretend to be calling from a bank, a charity, or even a contest, offering a phony prize. These “vishing” attacks (or “voice phishing”), are quite common, and often target older people who are not as aware of this threat.
For instance, one common scam appears to come from the IRS. The caller tries to scare the receiver into thinking that they owe money for back taxes, or need to send over sensitive financial information right away. Another common scam is fake tech support, where the caller claims to be from a recognizable company, like Microsoft, claiming there is a problem with your computer and they need remote access to fix it.
There are also “SMiShing” attacks, or phishing via text message, in which you may receive a message that appears to come from a reputable person or company, encouraging you to click on a link. But once you do, it can download malware onto your device, sign you up for a premium service, or even steal your credentials for your online accounts.
The convenience of sending digital voice signals over the internet has led to an explosion of spam and robocalls over the past few years. Between January 2019 and September 2023, Americans lodged 2.04 million complaints about unwanted phone calls where people or robots falsely posed as government representatives, legitimate business entities, or people affiliated with them.
Since robocalls use a computerized autodialer to deliver pre-recorded messages, marketers and scammers can place many more calls than a live person ever could, often employing tricks such as making the call appear to come from the recipient’s own area code. This increases the chance that the recipient will answer the call, thinking it is from a local friend or business.
And because many of these calls are from scammers or shady marketing groups, just registering your number on the FTC’s official “National Do Not Call Registry” does little help. That’s because only real companies that follow the law respect the registry.
To really cut back on these calls, the first thing you should do is check to see if your phone carrier has a service or app that helps identify and filter out spam calls.
For instance, both AT&T and Verizon have apps that provide spam screening or fraud warnings, although they may cost you extra each month. T-Mobile warns customers if a call is likely a scam when it appears on your phone screen, and you can sign up for a scam-blocking service for free.
There are also third-party apps such as RoboKiller that you can download to help you screen calls, but you should be aware that you will be sharing private data with them.
Enhance your smartphone security effortlessly with McAfee+ which has 24/7 identity monitoring and alerts, advanced privacy features, and AI-powered security for real-time protection against viruses, hackers, and risky links.
The post How to Stop Phone Spoofing appeared first on McAfee Blog.
In the hands of a thief, your Social Security Number is the master key to your identity.
With a Social Security Number (SSN), a thief can unlock everything from credit history and credit line to tax refunds and medical care. In extreme cases, thieves can use it to impersonate others. So, if you suspect your number is lost or stolen, it’s important to report identity theft to Social Security right away.
Part of what makes an SSN so powerful in identity theft is that there’s only one like it. Unlike a compromised credit card, you can’t hop on the phone and get a replacement. No question, the theft of your SSN has serious implications. If you suspect it, report it. So, let’s take a look at how it can happen and how you can report identity theft to Social Security if it does.
Yes. Sort of. The Social Security Administration can assign a new SSN in a limited number of cases. However, per the SSA, “When we assign a different Social Security number, we do not destroy the original number. We cross-refer the new number with the original number to make sure the person receives credit for all earnings under both numbers.”
In other words, your SSN is effectively for forever, which means if it’s stolen, you’re still faced with clearing up any of the malicious activity associated with the theft potentially for quite some time. That’s yet another reason why the protection of your SSN deserves particular attention.
There are several ways an SSN can end up with a thief. Some involve physical theft, and others can take the digital route. To what extent are SSNs at risk? Notably, there was the Equifax breach of 2017, which exposed some 147 million SSNs. Yet just because an SSN has been potentially exposed does not mean that an identity crime has been committed with it.
So, let’s start with the basics: how do SSNs get stolen or exposed?
That’s quite the list. Broadly speaking, the examples above give good reasons for keeping your SSN as private and secure as possible. With that, it’s helpful to know that there are only a handful of situations where your SSN is required for legitimate purposes, which can help you make decisions about how and when to give it out. The list of required cases is relatively short, such as:
You’ll notice that places like doctor’s offices and other businesses are not listed here, though they’ll often request an SSN for identification purposes. While there’s no law preventing them from asking you for that information, they may refuse to work with you if you do not provide that info. In such cases, ask what the SSN would be used for and if there is another form of identification that they can use instead. In all, your SSN is uniquely yours, so be extremely cautious in order to minimize its potential exposure to theft.
Let’s say you spot something unusual on your credit report or get a notification that someone has filed a tax return on your behalf without your knowledge. These are possible signs that your identity, if not your SSN, is in jeopardy, which means it’s time to act right away using the steps below:
1. Report the theft to local and federal authorities.
File a police report and a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Report. This will help in case someone uses your Social Security number to commit fraud since it will provide a legal record of the theft. The FTC can also assist by guiding you through the identity theft recovery process as well. Their site really is an excellent resource.
2. Contact the businesses involved.
Get in touch with the fraud department at each of the businesses where you suspect theft has taken place, let them know of your situation, and follow the steps they provide. With your police and FTC reports, you will already have a couple of vital pieces of information that can help you clear your name.
3. Reach the Social Security Administration and the IRS.
Check your Social Security account to see if someone has gotten a job and used your SSN for employment purposes. Reviewing earnings associated with your SSN can uncover fraudulent use. You can also contact the Social Security Fraud Hotline at (800) 269-0271 or reach out to your local SSA office for further, ongoing assistance. Likewise, contact the Internal Revenue Service at (800) 908-4490 to report the theft and help prevent someone from submitting a tax return in your name.
As we’ve talked about in some of my other blog posts, identity theft can be a long-term problem where follow-up instances of theft can crop up over time. However, there are a few steps you can take to minimize the damage and ensure it doesn’t happen again. I cover several of those steps in detail in this blog here, yet let’s take a look at a few of the top items as they relate to SSN theft:
Consider placing a fraud alert.
By placing a fraud alert, you can make it harder for thieves to open accounts in your name. Place it with one of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax), and they will notify the other two. During the year-long fraud alert period, it will require businesses to verify your identity before issuing new credit in your name.
Look into an all-out credit freeze.
A full credit freeze is in place until you lift it and will prohibit creditors from pulling your credit report altogether. This can help stop thieves dead in their tracks since approving credit requires pulling a report. However, this applies to legitimate inquiries, including any that you make, like opening a new loan or signing up for a credit card. If that’s the case, you’ll need to take extra steps as directed by the particular institution or lender. Unlike the fraud alert, you’ll need to notify each of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax) when you want the freeze lifted.
Monitor your credit reports.
Once a week you can access a free credit report from Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Doing so will allow you to spot any future discrepancies and offer you options for correcting them.
Sign up for an identity protection service.
Using a service to help protect your identity can monitor several types of personally identifiable information and alert you of potentially unauthorized use. Our own Identity Protection Service will do all this and more, like offering guided help to neutralize threats and prevent theft from happening again. You can set it up on your computers and smartphone to stay in the know, address issues immediately, and keep your identity secured.
Of all the forms of identity theft, the theft of a Social Security Number is certainly one of the most potentially painful because it can unlock so many vital aspects of your life. It’s uniquely you, even more than your name alone – at least in the eyes of creditors, banks, insurance companies, criminal records, etc. Your SSN calls for extra protection, and if you have any concerns that it may have been lost or stolen, don’t hesitate to spring into action.
The post How to Report Identity Theft to Social Security appeared first on McAfee Blog.
It happens with more regularity than any of us like to see. There’s either a headline in your news feed or an email from a website or service you have an account with—there’s been a data breach. So what do you do when you find out that you and your information may have been caught up in a data breach? While it can feel like things are out of your hands, there are actually several things you can do to protect yourself.
Let’s start with a look at what kind of information may be at stake and why crooks value that information so much (it’s more reasons than you may think).
The fact is that plenty of our information is out there on the internet, simply because we go about so much of our day online, whether that involves shopping, banking, getting results from our doctors, or simply hopping online to play a game once in a while.
Naturally, that means the data in any given breach will vary from service to service and platform to platform involved. Certainly, a gaming service will certainly have different information about you than your insurance company. Yet broadly speaking, there’s a broad range of information about you stored in various places, which could include:
As to what gets exposed and when you might find out about it, that can vary greatly as well. One industry research report found that the median time to detect breaches is 5 days. Needless to say, the timeline can get rather stretched before word reaches you, which is a good reason to change your passwords regularly should any of them get swept up in a breach. (An outdated password does a hacker no good—more on that in a bit.)
The answer is plenty. In all, personal information like that listed above has a dollar value to it. In a way, your data and information are a kind of currency because they’re tied to everything from your bank accounts, investments, insurance payments—even tax returns and personal identification like driver’s licenses.
With this information in hand, a crook can commit several types of identity crime—ranging from fraud to theft. In the case of fraud, that could include running up a bill on one of your credit cards or draining one of your bank accounts. In the case of theft, that could see crooks impersonate you so they can open new accounts or services in your name. Beyond that, they may attempt to claim your tax refund or potentially get an ID issued in your name as well.
Another possibility is that a hacker will simply sell that information on the dark marketplace, perhaps in large clumps or as individual pieces of information that go for a few dollars each. However it gets sold, these dark-market practices allow other fraudsters and thieves to take advantage of your identity for financial or other gains.
Most breaches are financially motivated, with some researchers saying that 97% of breaches are about the money. However, we’ve also seen hackers simply dump stolen information out there for practically anyone to see. The motivations behind them vary, yet they could involve anything from damaging the reputation of an organization to cases of revenge.
A list of big data breaches is a blog article of its own, yet here’s a quick list of some of the largest and most impactful breaches we’ve seen in recent years:
Needless to say, it’s not just the big companies that get hit. Healthcare facilities have seen their data breached, along with the operations of popular restaurants. Small businesses find themselves in the crosshairs as well, with one report stating that 43% of data leaks target small businesses. Those may come by way of an attack on where those businesses store their records, a disgruntled employee, or by way of a compromised point-of-sale terminal in their store, office, or location.
In short, when it comes to data breaches, practically any business is a potential target because practically every business is online in some form or fashion. Even if it’s by way of a simple point-of-sale machine.
When a business, service, or organization falls victim to a breach, it doesn’t always mean that you’re automatically a victim too. Your information may not have been caught up in it. However, it’s best to act as if it was. With that, we strongly suggest you take these immediate steps.
1. Change your passwords and use two-factor authentication
Given the possibility that your password may be in the hands of a hacker, change it right away. Strong, unique passwords offer one of your best defenses against hackers. Update them regularly as well. As mentioned above, this can protect you in the event a breach occurs and you don’t find out about it until well after it’s happened. You can spare yourself the upkeep that involves a password manager that can keep on top of it all for you. If your account offers two-factor authentication as part of the login process, make use of it as it adds another layer of security that makes hacking tougher.
2. Keep an eye on your accounts
If you spot unusual or unfamiliar charges or transactions in your account, bank, or debit card statements, follow up immediately. That could indicate improper use. In general, banks, credit card companies, and many businesses have countermeasures to deal with fraud, along with customer support teams that can help you file a claim if needed.
3. Sign up for an identity protection service
If you haven’t done so already, consider signing up for a service that can monitor dozens of types of personal information and then alert you if any of them are possibly being misused. Identity protection such as ours gives you the added benefit of a professional recovery specialist who can assist with restoring your affairs in the wake of fraud or theft, plus up to $1 million in insurance coverage.
Our advice is to take a deep breath and get to work. By acting quickly, you can potentially minimize and even prevent any damage that’s done. With that, we have two articles that can help guide the way if you think you’re the victim of identity theft, each featuring a series of straightforward steps you can take to set matters right:
Again, if you have any concerns. Take action. The first steps take only minutes. Even if the result is that you find out all’s well, you’ll have that assurance and you’ll have it rather quickly.
The post What to Do If You’re Caught Up in a Data Breach appeared first on McAfee Blog.
For years now, the popularity of online dating has been on the rise—and so have the number of online romance scams that leave people with broken hearts and empty wallets.
In a recent CBS News story, one Texan woman was scammed out of $3,200 by a scammer claiming to be a German Cardiologist. After months of exchanging messages and claiming to be in love with her, he said that he’d been robbed while on a business trip in Nigeria and needed her help.
According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the reported cost of online romance scams was $1.14 billion in 2023.
Dating and romance scams aren’t limited to online dating apps and sites, they’ll happen on social media and in online games as well. However, the FTC reports that the scam usually starts the same way, typically through an unexpected friend request or a message that comes out of the blue.
With the phony relationship established, the scammer starts asking for money. The FTC reports that they’ll ask for money for several bogus reasons, usually revolving around some sort of hardship where they need a “little help” so that they can pay:
The list goes on, yet that’s the general gist. Scammers often employ a story with an intriguing complication that seems just reasonable enough, one where the romance scammer makes it sound like they could really use the victim’s financial help.
People who have filed fraud reports say they’ve paid their scammer in a few typical ways.
One is by wiring money, often through a wire transfer company. The benefit of this route, for the scammer anyway, is that this is as good as forking over cash. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. The victim lacks the protections they have with other payment forms, such as a credit card that allows the holder to cancel or contest a charge.
Another way is through gift cards. Scammers of all stripes, not just romance scammers, like these because they effectively work like cash, whether it’s a gift card for a major online retailer or a chain of brick-and-mortar stores. Like a wire transfer, once that gift card is handed over, the money on it is highly difficult to recover, if at all.
One more common payment is through reloadable debit cards. A scammer may make an initial request for such a card and then make several follow-on requests to load it up again.
In all, a romance scammer will typically look for the easiest payment method that’s the most difficult to contest or reimburse, leaving the victim in a financial lurch once the scam ends.
When it comes to meeting new people online, the FTC suggests the following:
Scammers, although arguably heartless, are still human. They make mistakes. The stories they concoct are just that. Stories. They may jumble their details, get their times and dates all wrong, or simply get caught in an apparent lie. Also, keep in mind that some scammers may be working with several victims at once, which is yet another opportunity for them to get confused and slip up.
As mentioned above, some romance scammers troll social media and reach out through direct messages or friend requests. With that, there are three things you can do to cut down your chances of getting caught up with a scammer:
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and others give you the option of making your profile and posts visible to friends only. Choosing this setting keeps the broader internet from seeing what you’re doing, saying, and posting, which can help protect your privacy and give a romance scammer less information to exploit.
Be critical of the invitations you receive. Out-and-out strangers could be more than a romance scammer, they could be a fake account designed to gather information on users for purposes of cybercrime, or they can be an account designed to spread false information. There are plenty of them too. In fact, in Q4 of 2023 alone, Facebook took action on 693 million fake accounts. Reject such requests.
Online protection software like ours can help you spot fakes and scams. Features like McAfee Scam Protection use advanced AI to detect scam links in texts, email, and social media messages before you click. Our Personal Data Cleanup can keep you safer still by removing your personal info from sketchy data broker sites — places where scammers go to harvest useful info on their victims. And if the unfortunate happens, we offer $2 million in identity theft coverage and identity restoration support.
If you suspect that you’re being scammed, put an end to the relationship and report it, as difficult as that may feel.
Notify the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov for support and next steps to help you recover financially as much as possible. Likewise, notify the social media site, app, or service where the scam occurred as well. In some cases, you may want to file a police report, which we cover in our broader article on identity theft and fraud.
If you sent funds via a gift card, the FTC suggests filing a claim with the company as soon as possible. They offer further advice on filing a claim here, along with a list of contact numbers for gift card brands that scammers commonly use.
Lastly, go easy on yourself. If you find yourself a victim of online dating or romance fraud, know that you won’t be the first or last person to be taken advantage of this way. By reporting your case, you in fact may help others from falling victim too.
The post How to Spot Dating Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.
In an ever-evolving digital landscape, cybersecurity has become the cornerstone of organizational success. With the proliferation of sophisticated cyber threats, businesses must adopt a multi-layered… Read more on Cisco Blogs
Let’s say that, during the middle of a busy day, you receive what looks like a work-related email with a QR code. The email claims to come from a coworker, requesting your help in reviewing a d… Read more on Cisco Blogs
It’s that time of year again – tax season! Whether you’ve already filed in the hopes of an early refund or have yet to start the process, one thing is for sure: cybercriminals will certainly use tax season as a means to get victims to give up their personal and financial information. This time of year is advantageous for malicious actors since the IRS and tax preparers are some of the few people who actually need your personal data. As a result, consumers are targeted with various scams impersonating trusted sources like the IRS or DIY tax software companies. Fortunately, every year the IRS outlines the most prevalent tax scams, such as voice phishing, email phishing, and fake tax software scams. Let’s explore the details of these threats.
So, how do cybercriminals use voice phishing to impersonate the IRS? Voice phishing, a form of criminal phone fraud, uses social engineering tactics to gain access to victims’ personal and financial information. For tax scams, criminals will make unsolicited calls posing as the IRS and leave voicemails requesting an immediate callback. The crooks will then demand that the victim pay a phony tax bill in the form of a wire transfer, prepaid debit card or gift card. In one case outlined by Forbes, victims received emails in their inbox that allegedly contained voicemails from the IRS. The emails didn’t actually contain any voicemails but instead directed victims to a suspicious SharePoint URL. Last year, a number of SharePoint phishing scams occurred as an attempt to steal Office 365 credentials, so it’s not surprising that cybercriminals are using this technique to access taxpayers’ personal data now as well.
In addition to voice phishing schemes, malicious actors are also using email to try and get consumers to give up their personal and financial information. This year alone, almost 400 IRS phishing URLs have been reported. In a typical email phishing scheme, scammers try to obtain personal tax information like usernames and passwords by using spoofed email addresses and stolen logos. In many cases, the emails contain suspicious hyperlinks that redirect users to a fake site or PDF attachments that may download malware or viruses. If a victim clicks on these malicious links or attachments, they can seriously endanger their tax data by giving identity thieves the opportunity to steal their refund. What’s more, cybercriminals are also using subject lines like “IRS Important Notice” and “IRS Taxpayer Notice” and demanding payment or threatening to seize the victim’s tax refund.
Cybercriminals are even going so far as to impersonate trusted brands like TurboTax for their scams. In this case, DIY tax preparers who search for TurboTax software on Google are shown ads for pirated versions of TurboTax. The victims will pay a fee for the software via PayPal, only to have their computer infected with malware after downloading the software. You may be wondering, how do victims happen upon this malicious software through a simple Google search? Unfortunately, scammers have been paying to have their spoofed sites show up in search results, increasing the chances that an innocent taxpayer will fall victim to their scheme.
Money is a prime motivator for many consumers, and malicious actors are fully prepared to exploit this. Many people are concerned about how much they might owe or are predicting how much they’ll get back on their tax refund, and scammers play to both of these emotions. So, as hundreds of taxpayers are waiting for a potential tax return, it’s important that they navigate tax season wisely. Check out the following tips to avoid being spoofed by cybercriminals and identity thieves:
File before cybercriminals do it for you. The easiest defense you can take against tax season schemes is to get your hands on your W-2 and file as soon as possible. The more prompt you are to file, the less likely your data will be raked in by a cybercriminal.
Keep an eye on your credit and your identity. Keeping tabs on your credit report and knowing if your personal information has been compromised in some way can help prevent tax fraud. Together, they can let you know if someone has stolen your identity or if you have personal info on the dark web that could lead to identity theft.
Watch out for spoofed websites. Scammers have extremely sophisticated tools that help disguise phony web addresses for DIY tax software, such as stolen company logos and site designs. To avoid falling for this, go directly to the source. Type the address of a website directly into the address bar of your browser instead of following a link from an email or internet search. If you receive any suspicious links in your email, investigating the domain is usually a good way to tell if the source is legitimate or not.
Protect yourself from scam messages. Scammers also send links to scam sites via texts, social media messages, and email. McAfee Scam Protection can help you spot if the message you got is a fake. It uses AI technology that automatically detects links to scam URLs. If you accidentally click, don’t worry, it can block risky sites if you do.
Clean up your personal info online. Crooks and scammers have to find you before they can contact you. After all, they need to get your phone number or email from somewhere. Sometimes, that’s from “people finder” and online data brokers that gather and sell personal info to any buyer. Including crooks. McAfee Personal Data Cleanup can remove your personal info from the data broker sites scammers use to contact their victims.
Consider an identity theft protection solution. If for some reason your personal data does become compromised, be sure to use an identity theft solution such as McAfee Identity Theft Protection, which allows users to take a proactive approach to protect their identities with personal and financial monitoring and recovery tools to help keep their identities personal and secured.
The post How to Steer Clear of Tax Season Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.
As taxpayers prepare their returns for April 15th, scammers prepare too. They see tax season as high time to run all kinds of scams and identity theft schemes.
Fake accountants, fake tax software, robocalls, and more all make the list. We’ll give you a look at what’s happening out there right now. And we’ll run down several ways you can keep safe.
A commonly used tactic involves hackers posing as collectors from the IRS, as tax preparers, or government bureaus. This tactic is pretty effective due to Americans’ concerns about misfiling their taxes or accidentally running into trouble with the IRS. Scammers take advantage of this fear, manipulating innocent users into providing sensitive information or money over the phone or by email. And in extreme cases, hackers may be able to infect computers with malware via malicious links or attachments sent through IRS email scams.
Another tactic used to take advantage of taxpayers is the canceled social security number scam. Hackers use robocalls claiming that law enforcement will suspend or cancel the victim’s Social Security number in response to taxes owed. Often, victims are scared into calling the fraudulent numbers back and persuaded into transferring assets to accounts that the scammer controls. Users need to remember that the IRS will only contact taxpayers through snail mail or in person, not over the phone.
Another scam criminals use involves emails impersonating the IRS. Victims receive a phishing email claiming to be from the IRS, reminding them to file their taxes or offering them information about their tax refund via malicious links. If a victim clicks on the link, they will be redirected to a spoofed site that collects the victim’s personal data, facilitating identity theft. What’s more, a victim’s computer can become infected with malware if they click on a link with malicious code, allowing fraudsters to steal more data.
Scammers also take advantage of the fact that many users seek out the help of a tax preparer or CPA during this time. These criminals will often pose as professionals, accepting money to complete a user’s taxes but won’t sign the return. This makes it look like the user completed the return themselves. However, these ghost tax preparers often lie on the return to make the user qualify for credits they haven’t earned or apply changes that will get them in trouble. Since the scammers don’t sign, the victim will then be responsible for any errors. This could lead to the user having to repay money owed, or potentially lead to an audit.
While these types of scams can occur at any time of the year, they are especially prevalent leading up to the April tax filing due date. Consumers need to be on their toes during tax season to protect their personal information and keep their finances secure. To avoid being spoofed by scammers and identity thieves, follow these tips:
File before cybercriminals do it for you. The easiest defense you can take against tax seasons schemes is to get your hands on your W-2 and file as soon as possible. The more prompt you are to file, the less likely your data will be raked in by a cybercriminal.
Keep an eye on your credit and your identity. Keeping tabs on your credit report and knowing if your personal information has been compromised in some way can help prevent tax fraud. Together, they can let you know if someone has stolen your identity or if you have personal info on the dark web that could lead to identity theft.
Beware of phishing attempts. It’s clear that phishing is the primary tactic crooks are leveraging this tax season, so it’s crucial you stay vigilant around your inbox. This means if any unfamiliar or remotely suspicious emails come through requesting tax data, double check their legitimacy with a manager or the security department before you respond. Remember: the IRS will not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages, or social media channels to request personal or financial info. So someone contacts you that way, ignore the message.
Watch out for spoofed websites. Scammers have extremely sophisticated tools that help disguise phony web addresses for DIY tax software, such as stolen company logos and site designs. To avoid falling for this, go directly to the source. Type the address of a website directly into the address bar of your browser instead of following a link from an email or internet search. If you receive any suspicious links in your email, investigating the domain is usually a good way to tell if the source is legitimate or not.
Protect yourself from scam messages. Scammers also send links to scam sites via texts, social media messages, and email. McAfee Scam Protection can help you spot if the message you got is a fake. It uses AI technology that automatically detects links to scam URLs. If you accidentally click, don’t worry, it can block risky sites if you do.
Clean up your personal info online. Crooks and scammers have to find you before they can contact you. After all, they need to get your phone number or email from somewhere. Sometimes, that’s from “people finder” and online data brokers that gather and sell personal info to any buyer. Including crooks. McAfee Personal Data Cleanup can remove your personal info from the data broker sites scammers use to contact their victims.
Consider an identity theft protection solution. If for some reason your personal data does become compromised, be sure to use an identity theft solution such as McAfee Identity Theft Protection, which allows users to take a proactive approach to protect their identities with personal and financial monitoring and recovery tools to help keep their identities personal and secured.
The post Watch Out For IRS Scams and Avoid Identity Theft appeared first on McAfee Blog.
People under 60 are losing it online. And by it, I mean money—thanks to digital identity theft.
In its simplest form, your digital identity is made up of a whole host of things that can be traced back to you and who you are. That can range anywhere from photos you post online to online shopping accounts, email accounts to telephone numbers, and bank accounts to your tax ID.
In this way, your digital identity is like dozens upon dozens of puzzle pieces made up of different accounts, ID numbers, and so forth. When put together, they create a picture of you. And that’s why those little puzzle pieces of your identity are such attractive targets for hackers. If they get the right combination of them, you can end up a victim of theft or fraud.
Here’s what’s happening: people under 60 were twice as likely to report losing money while shopping online. The spotlight also shows that adults under 60 are more than four times more likely to report losing money to an investment scam, and the majority of those losses happened in scams involving some form of cryptocurrency investments.
And it’s no surprise younger adults get targeted this way. They’re far more likely than any other age group to use mobile apps for peer-to-peer payments, transfer money between accounts, deposit checks, and pay bills. In short, there’s a lot of money flowing through the palms of their hands thanks to their phones, as well as their computers.
Protecting yourself from hackers and fraud means protecting your digital identity. And that can feel like a pretty huge task given all the information your digital identity includes. It can be done, though, especially if you think about your identity like a puzzle. A piece here, another piece there, can complete the picture (or complete it just enough) to give a hacker what they need to separate you from your money. Thus, the way to stay safe is to keep those puzzle pieces out of other people’s hands.
It’s actually not that tough. With a few new habits and a couple of apps to help you out, you can protect yourself from the headaches and flat-out pain of fraud. Here’s a list of straightforward things that you can get started on right away:
1. Start with the basics—security software
Protect yourself by protecting your stuff. Installing and using security software on your computers and phones can prevent all kinds of attacks and make you safer while you surf, bank, and shop online. I should emphasize it again—protect your phone. Only about half of people protect their phones even though they use them to hail rides, order food, send money to friends, and more. Going unprotected on your phone means you’re sending all that money on the internet in a way that’s far, far less safe than if you use online protection.
2. Create strong passwords
You hear this one all the time and for good reason—strong, unique passwords offer one of your best defenses against hackers. Never re-use them (or slight alterations of them) across the different platforms and services you use. Don’t forget to update them on the regular (that means at least every 60 days)! While that sounds like a lot of work, a password manager can keep on top of it all for you. And if your platform or service offers the use of two-factor authentication, definitely make use of that. It’s a further layer of security that makes hacking tougher for crooks.
3. Keep up to date with your updates
Updates have a way of popping up on our phones and computers nearly every day, resist the urge to put them off until later. Aside from making improvements, updates often include important security fixes. So, when you get an alert for your operating system or app on your devices, go ahead and update. Think of it as adding another line of defense from hackers who are looking to exploit old flaws in your apps.
4. Think twice when you share
Social media is one place hackers go to harvest personal information because people sometimes have a way of sharing more than they should. With info like your birthday, the name of your first school, your mother’s maiden name, or even the make of your first car, they can answer common security questions that could hack into your accounts. Crank up the privacy settings on your accounts so only friends and family can see your posts—and realize the best defense here is not to post any possibly sensitive info in the first place. Also, steer clear of those “quizzes” that sometimes pop up in your social feeds. Those are other ways that hackers try to gain bits of info that can put your identity at risk.
5. Shred it
Even though so many of us have gone paperless with our bills, identity theft by digging through the trash, or “dumpster diving,” is still a thing. Things like medical bills, tax documents, and checks still might make their way to your mailbox. You’ll want to dispose of them properly when you’re through with them. First, invest in a paper shredder. Once you’ve online deposited that check or paid that odd bill, shred it so that any personal or account info on there can’t be read (and can be recycled securely). Second, if you’re heading out of town for a bit, have a friend collect your mail or have the post office put a temporary hold on your mail. That’ll prevent thieves from lifting personal info right from your mailbox while you’re away.
6. Check your credit
Even if you don’t think there’s a problem, go ahead and check your credit. The thing is, someone could be charging things against your name without you even knowing it. Depending on where you live, different credit reporting agencies keep tabs on people’s credit. In the U.S., the big ones are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Also in the U.S., the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires these agencies to provide you with a free credit check at least once every 12 months. Canada, the UK, and other nations likewise offer ways to get a free credit report. Run down your options—you may be surprised by what you find.
As I just mentioned, the quickest way to get sense of what’s happening with your identity is to check your credit. Identity theft goes beyond money. Crooks will steal identities to rent apartments, access medical services, and even get jobs. Things like that can show up on a credit report, such as when an unknown address shows up in a list of your current and former residences or when a company you’ve never worked for shows up as an employer. If you spot anything strange, track it down right away. Many businesses have fraud departments with procedures in place that can help you clear your name if you find a charge or service wrongfully billed under your name.
Other signs are far more obvious. You may find collection agencies calling or even see tax notices appearing in your mailbox (yikes). Clearly, cases like those are telltale signs that something is really wrong. In that case, report it right away:
Likewise, many nations offer similar government services. A quick search will point you in the right direction.
Another step you can take is to ask each credit bureau to freeze your credit, which prevents crooks from using your personal information to open new lines of credit or accounts in your name. Fraud alerts offer another line of protection for you as well, and you can learn more about fraud alerts here.
With so many bits and pieces of information making up your digital identity, a broader way of keeping it safe involves asking yourself a question: what could happen if someone got their hands on this info? Further realizing that even little snippets of unsecured info can lead to fraud or theft in your name helps—even that un-shredded bill or innocuous refund check for a couple of bucks could give a crook the puzzle piece they need. You can keep your digital identity safe by keeping those pieces of info out of other people’s hands.
The post How to Protect Your Digital Identity appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Before you take the fun-looking quiz that popped up in your social media feed, think twice. The person holding the answers may be a hacker.
Where people go, hackers are sure to follow. So it’s no surprise hackers have set up shop on social media. This has been the case for years, yet now social media-based crime is on the rise. Since 2021, total reported losses to this type of fraud reached $2.7 billion.
Among these losses are cases of identity theft, where criminals use social media to gather personal information and build profiles of potential victims they can target. Just as we discussed in our recent blog, “Can thieves steal identities with only a name and address?” these bits of information are important pieces in the larger jigsaw puzzle that is your overall identity.
Let’s uncover these scams these crooks use so that you can steer clear and stay safe.
“What’s your spooky Halloween name?” or “What’s your professional wrestler name?” You’ve probably seen a few of those and similar quizzes in your feed where you use the street you grew up on, your birthdate, your favorite song, and maybe the name of a beloved first pet to cook up a silly name or some other result. Of course, these are pieces of personal information, sometimes the answer to commonly used security questions by banks and other financial institutions. (Like, what was the model of your first car?) With this info in hand, a hacker could attempt to gain access to your accounts.
Similarly, scammers will also post surveys with the offer of a gift card to a popular retailer. All you have to do is fork over your personal info. Of course, there’s no gift card coming. Meanwhile, that scammer now has some choice pieces of personal info that they can potentially use against you.
How to avoid them: Simply put, don’t take those quizzes and surveys online.
The list here is long. These include posts and direct messages about phony relief funds, grants, and giveaways—along with bogus business opportunities that run the gamut from thinly veiled pyramid schemes and gifting circles to mystery shopper jobs. What they all have in common is that they’re run by scammers who want your information, money, or both. If this sounds familiar, like those old emails about transferring funds for a prince in some faraway nation, it is. Many of these scams simply made the jump from email to social media platforms.
How to avoid them: Research any offer, business opportunity, or organization that reaches out to you. A good trick is to do a search of the organization’s name plus the term “scam” or “review” or “complaint” to see if anything sketchy comes up.
If there’s one government official that scammers like to use to scare you, it’s the tax collector. These scammers will use social media messaging (and other mediums like emails, texts, and phone calls) to pose as an official who’s either demanding back taxes or offering a refund or credit—all of which are bogus and all of which involve you handing over your personal info, money, or both.
How to avoid them: Delete the message. In the U.S., the IRS and other government agencies will never reach out to you in this way or ask you for your personal information. Likewise, they won’t demand payment via wire transfer, gift cards, or cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. Only scammers will.
These are far more targeted than the scams listed above because they’re targeted and often rely upon specific information about you and your family. Thanks to social media, scammers can gain access to that info and use it against you. One example is the “grandkid scam” where a hacker impersonates a grandchild and asks a grandparent for money. Similarly, there are family emergency scams where a bad actor sends a message that a family member was in an accident or arrested and needs money quickly. In all, they rely on a phony story that often involves someone close to you who’s in need or trouble.
How to avoid them: Take a deep breath and confirm the situation. Reach out to the person in question or another friend or family member to see if there really is a concern. Don’t jump to pay right away.
This is one of the most targeted attacks of all—the con artist who strikes up an online relationship to bilk a victim out of money. Found everywhere from social media sites to dating apps to online forums, this scam involves creating a phony profile and a phony story to go with it. From there, the scammer will communicate several times a day, perhaps talking about their exotic job in some exotic location. They’ll build trust along the way and eventually ask the victim to wire money or purchase gift cards.
How to avoid them: Bottom line, if someone you’ve never met in person asks you for money online, it’s a good bet that it’s a scam. Don’t do it.
Now with an idea of what the bad actors are up to out there, here’s a quick rundown of things you can do to protect yourself further from the social media scams they’re trying to pull.
Above and beyond what we’ve covered so far, some online protection basics can keep you safer still. Comprehensive online protection software will help you create strong, unique passwords for all your accounts, help you keep from clicking links to malicious sites, and prevent you from downloading malware. Moreover, it can provide you with identity protection services like ours, which keep your personal info private with around-the-clock monitoring of your email addresses and bank accounts with up to $1M of ID theft insurance.
Together, with some good protection and a sharp eye, you can avoid those identity theft scams floating around on social media—and get back to enjoying time spent online with your true family and friends.
The post Quizzes and Other Identity Theft Schemes to Avoid on Social Media appeared first on McAfee Blog.
What’s the difference between identity fraud and identity theft? Well, it’s subtle, so much so that it’s easy to use them nearly interchangeably. While both can take a bite out of your wallet, they are different—and knowing the differences can help you understand what’s at stake.
Let’s start with an overview and a few examples of each.
So there’s that subtle difference we mentioned. Identity fraud involves the misuse of an existing account. Identity theft means the theft of your personal information, which is then used to impersonate you in some way, such as opening new accounts in your name.
Above and beyond those definitions and examples, a couple of real-life examples put the differences in perspective as well.
As for identity fraud, individual cases of fraud don’t always make the headlines, but that’s not to say you won’t hear about it in a couple of different ways.
The first way may be news stories about data breaches, where hackers gain things like names, emails, and payment information from companies or organizations. That info can then end up in the hands of a fraudster, who then accesses those accounts to drain funds or make purchases.
On a smaller scale, you may know someone who has had to get a new credit or debit card because theirs was compromised, perhaps by a breach or by mistakenly making a payment through an insecure website or by visiting a phony login page as part of a phishing attack. These can lead to fraud as well.
It usually starts with someone saying anything from, “That’s strange …” to “Oh, no!” There’ll be a strange charge on your credit card bill, a piece of mail from a bill collector, or a statement from an account you never opened—just to name a few things.
With that, I have a few recent blogs that help you spot all kinds of identity crime, along with advice to help keep it from happening to you in the first place:
While there are differences between identity fraud and identity theft, they do share a couple of things in common: you can take steps to prevent them, and you can take steps to limit their impact should you find yourself faced with one or the other.
The articles called out above will give you the details, yet staying safe begins with vigilance. Check on your accounts and credit reports regularly and really scrutinize what’s happening in them. Consider covering yourself with an identity monitoring solution — and act on anything that looks strange or outright fishy by reporting it to the company or institution in question.
The post How To Tell The Difference Between Identity Fraud and Identity Theft? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
When it comes to identity theft, trust your gut when something doesn’t feel right. Follow up. What you’re seeing could be a problem.
A missing bill or a mysterious charge on your credit card could be the tip of an identity theft iceberg, one that can run deep if left unaddressed. Here, we’ll look at several signs of identity theft that likely need some investigation and the steps you can take to take charge of the situation.
Unfortunately, it can happen in several ways.
In the physical world, it can happen simply because you lost your wallet or debit card. However, there are also cases where someone gets your information by going through your mail or trash for bills and statements. In other more extreme cases, theft can happen by someone successfully registering a change of address form in your name (although the U.S. Postal Service has security measures in place that make this difficult).
In the digital world, that’s where the avenues of identity theft blow wide open. It could come by way of a data breach, a thief “skimming” credit card information from a point-of-sale terminal, or by a dedicated crook piecing together various bits of personal information that have been gathered from social media, phishing attacks, or malware designed to harvest information. Additionally, thieves may eavesdrop on public Wi-Fi and steal information from people who are shopping or banking online without the security of a VPN.
Regardless of how crooks pull it off, identity theft is on the rise. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), identity theft claims jumped up from roughly 650,000 claims in 2019 to 1 million in 2023. Of the reported fraud cases where a dollar loss was reported, the FTC calls out the following top three contact methods for identity theft:
However, phone calls, texts, and email remain the most preferred contact methods that fraudsters use, even if they are less successful in creating dollar losses than malicious websites, ads, and social media.
Identity thieves leave a trail. With your identity in hand, they can charge things to one or more of your existing accounts—and if they have enough information about you, they can even create entirely new accounts in your name. Either way, once an identity thief strikes, you’re probably going to notice that something is wrong. Possible signs include:
As you can see, the signs of possible identity theft can run anywhere from, “Well, that’s strange …” to “OH NO!” However, the good news is that there are several ways to check if someone is using your identity before it becomes a problem – or before it becomes a big problem that gets out of hand.
The point is that if you suspect fraud, you need to act right away. With identity theft becoming increasingly commonplace, many businesses, banks, and organizations have fraud reporting mechanisms in place that can assist you should you have any concerns. With that in mind, here are some immediate steps you can take:
Whether you spot a curious charge on your bank statement or you discover what looks like a fraudulent account when you get your free credit report, let the bank or business involved know you suspect fraud. With a visit to their website, you can track down the appropriate number to call and get the investigation process started.
Some businesses will require you to file a local police report to acquire a case number to complete your claim. Even beyond a business making such a request, filing a report is still a good idea. Identity theft is still theft and reporting it provides an official record of the incident. Should your case of identity theft lead to someone impersonating you or committing a crime in your name, filing a police report right away can help clear your name down the road. Be sure to save any evidence you have, like statements or documents that are associated with the theft. They can help clean up your record as well.
The FTC’s identity theft website is a fantastic resource should you find yourself in need. Above and beyond simply reporting the theft, the FTC can provide you with a step-by-step recovery plan—and even walk you through the process if you create an account with them. Additionally, reporting theft to the FTC can prove helpful if debtors come knocking to collect on any bogus charges in your name. You can provide them with a copy of your FTC report and ask them to stop.
You can place a free one-year fraud alert with one of the major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax), and they will notify the other two. A fraud alert will make it tougher for thieves to open accounts in your name, as it requires businesses to verify your identity before issuing new credit in your name.
A credit freeze goes a step further. As the name implies, a freeze prohibits creditors from pulling your credit report, which is needed to approve credit. Such a freeze is in place until you lift it, and it will also apply to legitimate queries as well. Thus, if you intend to get a loan or new credit card while a freeze is in place, you’ll likely need to take extra measures to see that through. Contact each of the major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax) to put a freeze in place or lift it when you’re ready.
This can run the gamut from closing any false accounts that were set up in your name, removing bogus charges, and correcting information in your credit report such as phony addresses or contact information. With your FTC report, you can dispute these discrepancies and have the business correct the record. Be sure to ask for written confirmation and keep a record of all documents and conversations involved.
If you receive a notice from the IRS that someone used your identity to file a tax return in your name, follow the information provided by the IRS in the notice. From there, you can file an identity theft affidavit with the IRS. If the notice mentions that you were paid by an employer you don’t know, contact that employer as well and let them know of possible fraud—namely that someone has stolen your identity and that you don’t truly work for them.
Also, be aware that the IRS has specific guidelines as to how and when they will contact you. As a rule, they will most likely contact you via physical mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. (They won’t call or apply harassing pressure tactics—only scammers do that.) Identity-based tax scams are a topic all of their own, and for more on it, you can check out this article on tax scams and how to avoid them.
Another downside of identity theft is that it can mark the start of a long, drawn-out affair. One instance of theft can possibly lead to another, so even what may appear to be an isolated bad charge on your credit card calls for keeping an eye on your identity. Many of the tools you would use up to this point still apply, such as checking up on your credit reports, maintaining fraud alerts as needed, and reviewing your accounts closely.
With all the time we spend online as we bank, shop, and simply surf, we create and share all kinds of personal information—information that can get collected and even stolen. The good news is that you can prevent theft and fraud with online protection software, such as McAfee+ Ultimate.
With McAfee+ Ultimate you can:
In all, it’s our most comprehensive privacy, identity, and device protection plan, built for a time when we rely so heavily on the internet to go about our day, whether that’s work, play, or simply getting things done.
Realizing that you’ve become a victim of identity theft carries plenty of emotion with it, which is understandable—the thief has stolen a part of you to get at your money, information, and even reputation. Once that initial rush of anger and surprise has passed, it’s time to get clinical and get busy. Think like a detective who’s building – and closing – a case. That’s exactly what you’re doing. Follow the steps, document each one, and build up your case file as you need. Staying cool, organized, and ready with an answer to any questions you’ll face in the process of restoring your identity will help you see things through.
Once again, this is a good reminder that vigilance is the best defense against identity theft from happening in the first place. While there’s no absolute, sure-fire protection against it, there are several things you can do to lower the odds in your favor. And at the top of the list is keeping consistent tabs on what’s happening across your credit reports and accounts.
The post How to Detect Signs of Identity Theft appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Can thieves steal identities with only a name and address?
In short, the answer is “no.” Which is a good thing, as your name and address are in fact part of the public record. Anyone can get a hold of them. However, because they are public information, they are still tools that identity thieves can use.
If you think of your identity as a jigsaw puzzle, your name and address are the first two pieces that they can use to build a bigger picture and ultimately put your identity at risk.
With that, let’s look at some other key pieces of your identity that are associated with your name and address—and what you can do to protect them.
For starters, this information is so general that it is of little value in and of itself to an identity thief. Yet a determined identity thief can do a bit of legwork and take a few extra steps to use them as a springboard for other scams.
For example, with your name and address a thief could:
There are volumes of public information that are readily available should someone want to add some more pieces to your identity jigsaw puzzle, such as:
In the U.S., the availability of such information will vary from state to state and different levels of government may have different regulations about what information gets filed—in addition to whether and how those reports are made public. Globally, different nations and regions will collect varying amounts of public information and have their own regulations in place as well. More broadly, though, many of these public databases are now online. Consequently, accessing them is easier than the days when getting a hold of that information required an in-person visit to a library or public office.
Cybercriminals can gain additional information about you from other online sources, such as data brokers. And data brokerage is a big business, a global economy estimated at $280 billion U.S. dollars a year. What fuels it? Personal information, representing thousands of data points on billions of people scraped from public records, social media, smartphone apps, shopper loyalty cards, third-party sources, and sometimes other data broker sites as well.
The above-the-board legal intent of data broker sites is to sell that information to advertisers so that they can create highly targeted campaigns based on people’s behaviors, travels, interests, and even political leanings. Others such as law enforcement officials, journalists, and others who are conducting background checks will use them too.
On the dark side, hackers, scammers, and thieves will buy this information as well, which they can use to commit identity theft and fraud. The thing is, data brokers will sell to anyone. They don’t discriminate.
Phishing attacks aren’t just for email, texts, and direct messages. In fact, thieves are turning to old tricks via old-fashioned physical mail. That includes sending phony offers or impersonating officials of government institutions, all designed to trick you into giving up your personally identifiable information (PII).
What might that look like in your mailbox? They can take the form of bogus lottery prizes that request bank information for routing (non-existent) winnings. Another favorite of scammers is bogus tax notifications that demand immediate payment. In all, many can look quite convincing at first blush, yet there are ready ways you can spot them. In fact, many of the tips for avoiding these physical mail phishing attacks are the same for avoiding phishing attacks online.
Recently, I’ve seen a few news stories like this where thieves reportedly abuse the change-of-address system with the U.S. Postal Service. Thieves will simply forward your mail to an address of their choosing, which can drop sensitive information like bank and credit card statements in their mailbox. From there, they could potentially have new checks sent to them or perhaps an additional credit card—both of which they can use to drain your accounts and run up your bills.
The Postal Service has mechanisms in place to prevent this, however. Among these, the Postal Service will send you a physical piece of mail to confirm the forwarding. So, if you ever receive mail from the Postal Service, open it and give it a close look. If you get such a notice and didn’t order the forwarding, visit your local post office to get things straightened out. Likewise, if it seems like you’re missing bills in the mail, that’s another good reason to follow up with your post office and the business in question to see if there have been any changes made in your mail forwarding.
So while your name and address are out there for practically all to see, they’re largely of little value to an identity thief on their own. But as mentioned above, they are key puzzle pieces to your overall identity. With enough of those other pieces in hand, that’s where an identity thief can cause trouble.
Other crucial pieces of your identity include:
Let’s start with the biggest one. This is the master key to your identity, as it is one of the most unique identifiers you have. As I covered in my earlier blog on Social Security fraud, a thief can unlock everything from credit history and credit line to tax refunds and medical care with your Social Security or tax ID number. In extreme cases, they can use it to impersonate you for employment, healthcare, and even in the event of an arrest.
You can protect your Social Security Number by keeping it locked in a safe place (rather than in your wallet) and by providing your number only when absolutely necessary. For more tips on keeping your number safe, drop by that blog on Social Security fraud I mentioned.
Thieves have figured out ways of getting around the fact that IDs like these include a photo. They may be able to modify or emulate these documents “well enough” to pull off certain types of fraud, particularly if the people requesting their bogus documents don’t review them with a critical eye.
Protecting yourself in this case means knowing where these documents are at any time. (With passports, you may want to store those securely like your Social Security or tax ID number.) Also be careful when you share this information, as the identifiers on these documents are highly unique. If you’re uncomfortable with sharing this information, you can ask if other forms of ID might work—or if this information is really needed at all. Also, take a moment to make copies of these documents and store them in a secure place. This can help you provide important info to the proper authorities if they’re lost or stolen.
With data breaches large and small making the news (and many more that do not), keeping a sharp eye on your accounts is a major part of identity theft prevention. We talk about this topic quite often, and it’s worth another mention because protecting these means protecting yourself from thieves who are after direct access to your finances and more.
Secure your digital accounts for banking, credit cards, financials, and shopping by using strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts that you change every 60 days. Sound like a lot of work? Let a password manager do it for you, which you can find in comprehensive online protection software. By changing your strong passwords and keeping them unique can help prevent you from becoming a victim if your account information is part of a breach—by the time a crook attempts to use it, you may have changed it and made it out of date.
In addition to protecting the core forms of identity mentioned above, a few other good habits go a long way toward keeping your identity secure.
By protecting your devices, you protect what’s on them, like your personal information. Comprehensive online protection software can protect your identity in several ways, like creating and managing the strong, unique passwords we talked about and providing further services that monitor and protect your identity—in addition to digital shredders that can permanently remove sensitive documents (simply deleting them won’t do that alone.) Further, it can monitor your identity and monitor your credit, further protecting you from theft and fraud.
Identity theft where thieves dig through trash or go “dumpster diving” for literal scraps of personal info in bills and statements, has been an issue for some time. You can prevent it by shredding up any paper medical bills, tax documents, and checks once you’re through with them. Paper shredders are inexpensive, and let’s face it, kind of fun too. Also, if you’re traveling, have a trusted someone collect your mail or have the post office put a temporary hold on your mail. Thieves still poach mail from mailboxes too.
Getting statements online cuts the paper out of the equation and thus removes another thing that a thief can physically steal and possibly use against you. Whether you use electronic statements through your bank, credit card company, medical provider, or insurance company, use a secure password and a secure connection provided by a VPN. Both will make theft of your personal info far tougher on identity thieves.
A VPN is a Virtual Private Network, a service that protects your data and privacy online. It creates an encrypted tunnel to keep you more anonymous online by masking your IP address, device information, and the data you’re passing along that connection. In this way, it makes it far more difficult for advertisers, data brokers, and bad actors to skim your private information—in addition to shielding your information from crooks and snoops while you’re banking, shopping, or handling any kind of sensitive information online.
Give your statements a close look each time they come around. While many companies and institutions have fraud detection mechanisms in place, they don’t always catch every instance of fraud. Look out for strange purchases or charges and follow up with your bank or credit card company if you suspect fraud. Even the smallest charge could be a sign that something shady is afoot.
This is a powerful tool for spotting identity theft. And in many cases, it’s free to do so. In the U.S., the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires the major credit agencies to provide you with a free credit check at least once every 12 months. Canada provides this service, and the UK has options to receive free reports as well, along with several other nations. It’s a great idea to check your credit report, even if you don’t suspect a problem.
If the thought of your personal info being bought and sold puts you off, there’s something you can do about it. Our Personal Data Cleanup service can scan some of the riskiest data broker sites and show you which ones are selling your personal info. It also provides guidance on how you can remove your data from those sites, and with select products, it can even manage the removal for you.
While thieves need more than just your name and address to commit the overwhelming majority of fraud, your name and address are centerpieces of the larger jigsaw puzzle that is your overall identity.
And the interesting thing is your puzzle gets larger and larger as time goes on. With each new account you create and service that you sign into, that’s one more piece added to the puzzle. Thieves love getting their hands on any pieces they can because with enough of them in place, they can try and pull a fast one in your name. By looking after each piece and knowing what your larger jigsaw puzzle looks like, you can help keep identity thieves out of your business and your life.
The post Can Thieves Steal Identities With Only a Name and Address? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Elder scams cost seniors in the U.S. some $3 billion annually. And tax season adds a healthy sum to that appalling figure.
What makes seniors such a prime target for tax scams? The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states several factors. For one, elders are typically trusting and polite. Additionally, many own their own home, have some manner of savings, and enjoy the benefits of good credit—all of which make for an ideal victim profile.
Also according to the FBI, elders may be less able or willing to report being scammed because they may not know the exact way in which they were scammed, or they may feel a sense of shame over it, or even some combination of the two. Moreover, being scammed may instill fear that family members will lose confidence in their ability to look after their own affairs.
If there’s one thing that we can do for our elders, it’s help them raise their critical hackles so they can spot these scams and stop them in their tracks, particularly around tax time. With that, let’s see how crooks target elders, what those scams look and feel like, along with the things we can do to keep ourselves and our loved ones from getting stung.
The phone rings, and an assertive voice admonishes an elder for non-payment of taxes. The readout on the caller ID shows “Internal Revenue Service” or “IRS,” the person cites an IRS badge number, and the victim is told to pay now via a wire transfer or prepaid gift card. The caller even knows the last four digits of their Social Security Number (SSN). This is a scam.
The caller, and the claim of non-payment, are 100 percent bogus. Even with those last four digits of the SSN attempting to add credibility, it’s still bogus. (Chances are, those last four digits were compromised elsewhere and ended up in the hands of the thieves by way of the black market or dark web so that they could use them in scams just like these.)
Some IRS imposter scams take it a step further. Fraudsters will threaten victims with arrest, deportation, or other legal action, like a lien on funds or the suspension of a driver’s license. They’ll make repeated calls as well, sometimes with additional imposters posing as law enforcement as a means of intimidating elders into payment.
The IRS will never threaten you or someone you know in such a way.
In fact, the IRS will never call you to demand payment. Nor will the IRS ever ask you to wire funds or pay with a gift card or prepaid debit card. And if the IRS claims you do owe funds, you will be notified of your rights as a taxpayer and be given the opportunity to make an appeal. If there’s any question about making payments to the IRS, the IRS has specific guidelines as to how to make a payment properly and safely on their official website.
It’s also helpful to know what the IRS will do in the event you owe taxes. In fact, they have an entire page that spells out how to know it’s really the IRS calling or knocking at your door. It’s a quick read and a worthwhile one at that.
In all, the IRS will contact you by mail or in person. Should you get one of these calls, hang up. Then, report it. I’ll include a list of ways you can file a report at the end of the article.
Whether it’s a disembodied voice generated by a computer or a scripted message that’s been recorded by a person, robocalls provide scammers with another favorite avenue of attack. The approach is often quite like the phone scam outlined above, albeit less personalized because the attack is a canned robocall. However, robocalls allow crooks to cast a much larger net in the hopes of illegally wresting money away from victims. In effect, they can spam hundreds or thousands of people with one message in the hopes of landing a bite.
While perhaps not as personalized as other imposter scams, they can still create that innate sense of unease of being contacted by the IRS and harangue a victim into dialing a phony call center where they are further pressured into paying by wire or with a prepaid card, just like in other imposter scams. As above, your course of action here is to simply hang up and report it.
Here’s another popular attack. An elder gets an unsolicited email from what appears to be the IRS, yet isn’t. The phony email asks them to update or verify their personal or financial information for a payment or refund. The email may also contain an attachment which they are instructed to click and open. Again, all of these are scams.
Going back to what we talked about earlier, that’s not how the IRS will contact you. These are phishing attacks aimed at grifting prized personal and financial information that scammers can use to commit acts of theft or embezzlement. In the case of the attachment, it very well may contain malware that can do further harm to their device, finances, or personal information.
If you receive one of these emails, don’t open it. And certainly don’t open any attachments—which holds true for any unsolicited email you receive with an attachment.
Beyond simply knowing how to spot a possible attack, you can do several things to prevent one from happening in the first place.
First let’s start with some good, old-fashioned physical security. You may also want to look into purchasing a locking mailbox. Mail and porch theft are still prevalent, and it’s not uncommon for thieves to harvest personal and financial information by simply lifting it from your mailbox.
Another cornerstone of physical security is shredding paper correspondence that contains personal or financial information, such as bills, medical documents, bank statements and so forth. I suggest investing a few dollars on an actual paper shredder, which are typically inexpensive if you look for a home model. If you have sensitive paper documents in bulk, such as old tax records that you no longer need to save, consider calling upon a professional service that can drive up to your home and do that high volume of shredding for you.
Likewise, consider the physical security of your digital devices. Make sure you lock your smartphones, tablets, and computers with a PIN or password. Losing a device is a terrible strain enough, let alone knowing that the personal and financial information on them could end up in the hands of a crook. Also see if tracking is available on your device. That way, enabling device tracking can help you locate a lost or stolen item.
There are plenty of things you can do to protect yourself on the digital front too. Step one is installing comprehensive security software on your devices. This will safeguard you in several ways, such as email filters that will protect you from phishing attacks, features that will warn you of sketchy links and downloads, plus further protection for your identity and privacy—in addition to overall protection from viruses, malware, and other cyberattacks.
Additional features in comprehensive security software that can protect you from tax scams include:
And here’s one item that certainly bears mentioning: dispose of your old technology securely. What’s on that old hard drive of yours? That old computer may contain loads of precious personal and financial info on it. Look into the e-waste disposal options in your community. There are services that will dispose of and recycle old technology while doing it in a secure manner so the data and info on your device doesn’t see the light of day again.
As said earlier, don’t let a bad deed go unreported. The IRS offers the following avenues of communication to report scams.
In all, learning to recognize the scams that crooks aim at elders and putting some strong security measures in place can help prevent these crimes from happening to you or a loved one. Take a moment to act. It’s vital, because your personal information has a hefty price tag associated with it—both at tax time and any time.
The post How to Spot, and Prevent, the Tax Scams That Target Elders appeared first on McAfee Blog.
There are more online users now than ever before, thanks to the availability of network-capable devices and online services. The internet population in Canada is the highest it has been, topping the charts at 33 million. That number is only expected to increase through the upcoming years. However, this growing number and continued adoption of online services pose increasing cybersecurity risks as cybercriminals take advantage of more online users and exploit vulnerabilities in online infrastructure. This is why we need AI-backed software to provide advanced protection for online users.
The nature of these online threats is ever-changing, making it difficult for legacy threat detection systems to monitor threat behavior and detect new malicious code. Fortunately, threat detection systems such as McAfee+ adapt to incorporate the latest threat intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI) driven behavioral analysis. Here’s how AI impacts cybersecurity to go beyond traditional methods to protect online users.
Most of today’s antivirus and threat detection software leverages behavioral heuristic-based detection based on machine learning models to detect known malicious behavior. Traditional methods rely on data analytics to detect known threat signatures or footprints with incredible accuracy. However, these conventional methods do not account for new malicious code, otherwise known as zero-day malware, for which there is no known information available. AI is mission-critical to cybersecurity since it enables security software and providers to take a more intelligent approach to virus and malware detection. Unlike AI–backed software, traditional methods rely solely on signature-based software and data analytics.
Similar to human-like reasoning, machine learning models follow a three-stage process to gather input, process it, and generate an output in the form of threat leads. Threat detection software can gather information from threat intelligence to understand known malware using these models. It then processes this data, stores it, and uses it to draw inferences and make decisions and predictions. Behavioral heuristic-based detection leverages multiple facets of machine learning, one of which is deep learning.
Deep learning employs neural networks to emulate the function of neurons in the human brain. This architecture uses validation algorithms for crosschecking data and complex mathematical equations, which applies an “if this, then that” approach to reasoning. It looks at what occurred in the past and analyzes current and predictive data to reach a conclusion. As the numerous layers in this framework process more data, the more accurate the prediction becomes.
Many antivirus and detection systems also use ensemble learning. This process takes a layered approach by applying multiple learning models to create one that is more robust and comprehensive. Ensemble learning can boost detection performance with fewer errors for a more accurate conclusion.
Additionally, today’s detection software leverages supervised learning techniques by taking a “learn by example” approach. This process strives to develop an algorithm by understanding the relationship between a given input and the desired output.
Machine learning is only a piece of an effective antivirus and threat detection framework. A proper framework combines new data types with machine learning and cognitive reasoning to develop a highly advanced analytical framework. This framework will allow for advanced threat detection, prevention, and remediation.
Online threats are increasing at a staggering pace. McAfee Labs observed an average of 588 malware threats per minute. These risks exist and are often exacerbated for several reasons, one of which is the complexity and connectivity of today’s world. Threat detection analysts are unable to detect new malware manually due to their high volume. However, AI can identify and categorize new malware based on malicious behavior before they get a chance to affect online users. AI–enabled software can also detect mutated malware that attempts to avoid detection by legacy antivirus systems.
Today, there are more interconnected devices and online usage ingrained into people’s everyday lives. However, the growing number of digital devices creates a broader attack surface. In other words, hackers will have a higher chance of infiltrating a device and those connected to it.
Additionally, mobile usage is putting online users at significant risk. Over 85% of the Canadian population owns a smartphone. Hackers are noticing the rising number of mobile users and are rapidly taking advantage of the fact to target users with mobile-specific malware.
The increased online connectivity through various devices also means that more information is being stored and processed online. Nowadays, more people are placing their data and privacy in the hands of corporations that have a critical responsibility to safeguard their users’ data. The fact of the matter is that not all companies can guarantee the safeguards required to uphold this promise, ultimately resulting in data and privacy breaches.
In response to these risks and the rising sophistication of the online landscape, security companies combine AI, threat intelligence, and data science to analyze and resolve new and complex cyber threats. AI-backed threat protection identifies and learns about new malware using machine learning models. This enables AI-backed antivirus software to protect online users more efficiently and reliably than ever before.
AI addresses numerous challenges posed by increasing malware complexity and volume, making it critical for online security and privacy protection. Here are the top 3 ways AI enhances cybersecurity to better protect online users.
1. Effective threat detection
The most significant difference between traditional signature-based threat detection methods and advanced AI-backed methods is the capability to detect zero-day malware. Functioning exclusively from either of these two methods will not result in an adequate level of protection. However, combining them results in a greater probability of detecting more threats with higher precision. Each method will ultimately play on the other’s strengths for a maximum level of protection.
2. Enhanced vulnerability management
AI enables threat detection software to think like a hacker. It can help software identify vulnerabilities that cybercriminals would typically exploit and flag them to the user. It also enables threat detection software to better pinpoint weaknesses in user devices before a threat has even occurred, unlike conventional methods. AI-backed security advances past traditional methods to better predict what a hacker would consider a vulnerability.
2. Better security recommendations
AI can help users understand the risks they face daily. An advanced threat detection software backed by AI can provide a more prescriptive solution to identifying risks and how to handle them. A better explanation results in a better understanding of the issue. As a result, users are more aware of how to mitigate the incident or vulnerability in the future.
AI and machine learning are only a piece of an effective threat detection framework. A proper threat detection framework combines new data types with the latest machine learning capabilities to develop a highly advanced analytical framework. This framework will allow for better threat cyber threat detection, prevention, and remediation.
The post The What, Why, and How of AI and Threat Detection appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Did you just get word that your personal information may have been caught up in a data breach? If so, you can take steps to protect yourself from harm should your info get into the hands of a scammer or thief.
How does that information get collected in the first place? We share personal information with companies for multiple reasons simply by going about our day—to pay for takeout at our favorite restaurant, to check into a hotel, or to collect rewards at the local coffee shop. Of course, we use our credit and debit cards too, sometimes as part of an online account that tracks our purchase history.
In other words, we leave trails of data practically wherever we go these days, and that data is of high value to hackers. Thus, all those breaches we read about.
Whether it’s a major breach that exposes millions of records or one of many other smaller-scale breaches like the thousands that have struck healthcare providers, each one serves as a reminder that data breaches happen regularly and that we could find ourselves affected. Depending on the breach and the kind of information you’ve shared with the business or organization in question, information stolen in a breach could include:
What do crooks do with that data? Several things. Apart from using it themselves, they may sell that data to other criminals. Either way, this can lead to illicit use of credit and debit cards, draining of bank accounts, claiming tax refunds or medical expenses in the names of the victims, or, in extreme cases, assuming the identity of others altogether.
In all, data is a kind of currency in of itself because it has the potential to unlock several aspects of victim’s life, each with its own monetary value. It’s no wonder that big breaches like these have made the news over the years, with some of the notables including:
As mentioned, these are big breaches with big companies that we likely more than recognize. Yet smaller and mid-sized businesses are targets as well, with some 43% of data breaches involving companies of that size. Likewise, restaurants and retailers have seen their Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals compromised, right on down to neighborhood restaurants.
When a company experiences a data breach, customers need to realize that this could impact their online safety. If your favorite coffee shop’s customer database gets leaked, there’s a chance that your personal or financial information was exposed. However, this doesn’t mean that your online safety is doomed. If you think you were affected by a breach, you can take several steps to protect yourself from the potential side effects.
One of the most effective ways to determine whether someone is fraudulently using one or more of your accounts is to check your statements. If you see any charges that you did not make, report them to your bank or credit card company immediately. They have processes in place to handle fraud. While you’re with them, see if they offer alerts for strange purchases, transactions, or withdrawals.
Our credit monitoring service can help you keep an eye on this. It monitors changes to your credit score, report, and accounts with timely notifications and guidance so you can take action to tackle identity theft.
Breached and stolen information often ends up in dark web marketplaces where hackers, scammers, and thieves purchase it to commit yet more crime. Once it was difficult to know if your information was caught up in such marketplaces, yet now an identity monitoring service can do the detective work for you.
Our service monitors the dark web for your personal info, including email, government IDs, credit card and bank account info, and more. This can help keep your personal info safe with early alerts that show you if your data is found on the dark web, an average of 10 months ahead of similar services. From there, you’ll get guidance that you can act on, which can help protect your info and accounts from theft.
If you suspect that your data might have been compromised, place a fraud alert on your credit. This not only ensures that any new or recent requests undergo scrutiny, but also allows you to have extra copies of your credit report so you can check for suspicious activity. You can place one fraud alert with any of the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) and they will notify the other two. A fraud alert typically lasts for a year, although there are options for extending it as well.
Freezing your credit will make it highly difficult for criminals to take out loans or open new accounts in your name, as a freeze halts all requests to pull your credit—even legitimate ones. In this way, it’s a far stronger measure than placing a fraud alert. Note that if you plan to take out a loan, open a new credit card, or other activity that will prompt a credit report, you’ll need to take extra steps to see that through while the freeze is in place. (The organization you’re working with can assist with the specifics.) Unlike the fraud alert, you’ll need to contact each major credit reporting agency to put one in place. Also, a freeze lasts as long as you have it in place. You’ll have to remove it yourself, again with each agency.
You can centrally manage this process with our security freeze service, which stops companies from looking at your credit profile, and thus halts the application process for loans, credit cards, utilities, new bank accounts, and more. A security freeze won’t affect your credit score.
Ensure that your passwords are strong and unique. Many people utilize the same password or variations of it across all their accounts. Therefore, be sure to diversify your passcodes to ensure hackers cannot obtain access to all your accounts at once, should one password be compromised. You can also employ a password manager to keep track of your credentials, such as the one you’ll find in comprehensive online protection software.
If the unfortunate happens to you, an identity theft coverage & restoration service can help you get back on your feet. Ours offers $1 million in coverage for lawyer fees, travel expenses, and stolen funds reimbursement. It further provides support from a licensed recovery expert who can take the needed steps to repair your identity and credit. In all, it helps you recover the costs of identity theft along with the time and money it takes to recover from it.
You can take this step any time, even if you haven’t been caught up in a data breach. The fact is that data broker companies collect and sell thousands of pieces of information on millions and millions of people worldwide, part of a global economy estimated at $200 billion U.S. dollars a year. And they’ll sell it to anyone—from advertisers for their campaigns, to scammers who will use it for spammy emails, texts, and calls, and to thieves who use that information for identity theft.
Yet you can clean it up. Our personal data cleanup service can scan some of the riskiest data broker sites and show you which ones are selling your personal info. It also provides guidance on how you can remove your data from those sites and, with select products, even manage the removal for you.
Comprehensive online protection software will offer you the tools and services listed above, along with further features that can protect you online. That includes a VPN to keep your time online more private from online data collection while protecting it from thieves who’re out to steal credit card and account information. It also includes web browsing protection that can warn you of sketchy websites and malicious downloads that look to steal your information. In all, it’s thorough protection for your devices, privacy, and identity. And in a time of data breaches, that kind of protection has become essential.
The post How to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft After a Data Breach appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Since the European Union (EU) signed the second version of the Network and Information Security (NIS2) Directive in December 2022, there has been a real frenzy all around Europe about it. NIS2 is now… Read more on Cisco Blogs
Deep fakes are a growing concern in the age of digital media and can be extremely dangerous for school children. Deep fakes are digital images, videos, or audio recordings that have been manipulated to look or sound like someone else. They can be used to spread misinformation, create harassment, and even lead to identity theft. With the prevalence of digital media, it’s important to protect school children from deep fakes.
Educating students on deep fakes is an essential step in protecting them from the dangers of these digital manipulations. Schools should provide students with information about the different types of deep fakes and how to spot them.
Media literacy is an important skill that students should have in order to identify deep fakes and other forms of misinformation. Schools should provide students with resources to help them understand how to evaluate the accuracy of a digital image or video.
Schools should emphasize the importance of digital safety and provide students with resources on how to protect their online identities. This includes teaching students about the risks of sharing personal information online, using strong passwords, and being aware of phishing scams.
Schools should monitor online activity to ensure that students are not exposed to deep fakes or other forms of online harassment. Schools should have policies in place to protect students from online bullying and harassment, and they should take appropriate action if they find any suspicious activity.
By following these tips, schools can help protect their students from the dangers of deep fakes. Educating students on deep fakes, encouraging them to be media literate, promoting digital safety, and monitoring online activity are all important steps to ensure that school children are safe online.
Through quipping students with the tools they need to navigate the online world, schools can also help them learn how to use digital technology responsibly. Through educational resources and programs, schools can teach students the importance of digital citizenship and how to use digital technology ethically and safely. Finally, schools should promote collaboration and communication between parents, students, and school administration to ensure everyone is aware of the risks of deep fakes and other forms of online deception.
Deep fakes have the potential to lead to identity theft, particularly if deep fakes tools are used to steal the identities of students or even teachers. McAfee’s Identity Monitoring Service, as part of McAfee+, monitors the dark web for your personal info, including email, government IDs, credit card and bank account info, and more. We’ll help keep your personal info safe, with early alerts if your data is found on the dark web, so you can take action to secure your accounts before they’re used for identity theft.
The post How to Protect School Children From Deep Fakes appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Social media is part of our social fabric. So much so that over 56% of the global population are social media users to some degree or other. With all that sharing, conversing, and information passing between family and friends, social media can be a distinct digital extension of ourselves—making it important to know how you can protect your social media accounts from hacks and attacks.
Beyond the sheer number of people who’re on social media, there’s also the amount of time we spend on it. People worldwide spend an average of 147 minutes a day on social media. With users in the U.S. spending just over two hours on social media a day and users in the Philippines spending nearly four hours a day, that figure can vary widely. Yet it’s safe to say that a good portion of our day features time scrolling and thumbing through our social media feeds.
Given how much we enjoy and rely on social media, now’s a fine time to give your social media settings and habits a closer look so that you can get the most out of it with less fuss and worry. Whether you’re using Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or whatnot, here are several things you can do that can help keep you safe and secure out there:
Passwords mark square one in your protection, with strong and unique passwords across all your accounts forming primary line of defense. Yet with all the accounts we have floating around, juggling dozens of strong and unique passwords can feel like a task—thus the temptation to use (and re-use) simpler passwords. Hackers love this because one password can be the key to several accounts. Instead, try a password manager that can create those passwords for you and safely store them as well. Comprehensive security software will include one.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and others give you the option of making your profile and posts visible to friends only. Choosing this setting keeps the broader internet from seeing what you’re doing, saying, and posting, which can help protect your privacy.
Be critical of the invitations you receive. Out-and-out strangers could be more than just a stranger, they could be a fake account designed to gather information on users for purposes of cybercrime, or they can be an account designed to spread false information. There are plenty of them too. In fact, in Q3 of 2021 alone, Facebook took action on 1.8 billion fake accounts. Reject such requests.
Nothing says “there’s nobody at home right now” like that post of you on vacation or sharing your location while you’re out on the town. In effect, such posts announce your whereabouts to a broad audience of followers (even a global audience, if you’re not posting privately, as called out above). Consider sharing photos and stories of your adventures once you’ve returned.
It’s a famous saying for a reason. Whether your profile is set to private or if you are using an app with “disappearing” messages and posts (like Snapchat), what you post can indeed be saved and shared again. It’s as simple as taking a screenshot. If you don’t want it out there, forever or otherwise, simply don’t post it.
We’re increasingly accustomed to the warnings about phishing emails, yet phishing attacks happen plenty on social media. The same rules apply. Don’t follow any links you get from strangers by way of instant or direct messengers. And keep your personal information close. Don’t pass out your email, address, or other info as well. Even those so-called “quiz” posts and websites can be ruses designed to steal bits and pieces of personal info that can be used as the basis of an attack.
Sadly, social media can also be a place where people pull a fast one. Get-rich-quick schemes, romance cons, and all kinds of imposters can set up shop in ads, posts, and even direct messages—typically designed to separate you from your personal information, money, or both. This is an entire topic to itself, and you can learn plenty more about quizzes and other identity theft scams to avoid on social media.
Some platforms such as Facebook allow users to review posts that are tagged with their profile names. Check your account settings and give yourself the highest degree of control over how and where your tags are used by others. This will help keep you aware of where you’re being mentioned by others and in what way.
Security software can protect you from clicking on malicious links while on social media while steering you clear of other threats like viruses, ransomware, and phishing attacks. It can look out for you as well, by protecting your privacy and monitoring your email, SSN, bank accounts, credit cards, and other personal information. With identity theft a rather commonplace occurrence today, security software is really a must.
Now you can point to a number that shows you just how safe you are with our Protection Score. It’s an industry first, and it works by taking stock of your overall security and grading it on a scale of 0 to 1,000. From there, it calls out any weak spots and then walks you through the steps to shore it up with personalized guidance. This way, you’re always in the know about your security, privacy, and personal identity on social media and practically wherever else your travels take you online.
The post How to Protect Your Social Media Accounts appeared first on McAfee Blog.
While you can’t delete your personal info from the internet entirely, you can take strong steps to remove it from risky places. Several where others could tap into it for profit or harm.
Why is it so important to take control of our personal info? It has street value, and it has for some time now. Because so much of business, finance, healthcare, and life in general runs on it, your personal info has a dollar sign to it. Plenty of people want to get a hold of it.
Personal info fuels targeted advertising and marketing campaigns, just as it helps adjusters set insurance rates and healthcare providers make projections about our well-being. Businesses want it for employment background checks. Law enforcement uses it when investigating persons of interest. Banks and credit card companies base their approvals on it. Websites and apps collect it for their own purposes, which they sometimes share or sell to third parties.
And of course, hackers, scammers, and thieves want it too. To steal your identity, drain your accounts, and wage other attacks on you.
No doubt, your personal info has value. High value. And that makes a strong argument for doing what you can to control what you share and where you share it to the best possible degree. With so much that hinges on your personal info, it’s good to know that you can take control in powerful ways. We’ll show how it’s far easier to do that today than ever before.
Taking control of your personal info starts with a look at your digital shadow. Everyone casts one. And like everyone else’s digital shadow, yours gets filled with info about you — personal info stored online across the internet.
For starters, your digital shadow includes things like posts in forums, social media profiles, the posts that you put up there, and other people’s posts that mention you. It includes other sources of info, like pictures of you in an online newsletter, your name listed in the standings of your co-ed soccer league, and a bio of you on your company’s “About Us” page. Online reviews provide potential sources too. In all, this part of your digital shadow grows larger in two ways — as you say more things, and as more things are said about you.
Your shadow grows yet more with the addition of public records. That might include what you paid for your home, who lives there with you, your age, your children, your driving record, education, occupation, and estimated income. It all depends on where you live and what data regulations are in place there. Some regions have stricter privacy rules in place than others when it comes to public records. For example, in the U.S., California, Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Utah, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, Oregon, Montana, Texas, and Delaware have strong data privacy laws on the books. The European Union has its well-known GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation, in place.
Then there’s all manner of info about you gathered and sold by online data brokers. Data brokers pull hundreds of data points from public sources, not to mention private sources like supermarket club cards that track your shopping history. Other private sources include info from app developers and websites with less restrictive privacy policies when it comes to sharing and selling info. These data brokers sell personal info to anyone who’ll pay, including hackers, scammers, and spammers.
Finally, a sizable swathe of your shadow comes from info stored on the deep web. It forms the 95% of the internet that’s not searchable. Yet, you likely take trips there daily. Any time you go through a paywall or use a password to access internet content, you’re entering the deep web.
Examples include logging into your bank account, accessing medical records through your healthcare provider, or using corporate web pages as part of your workday. Even streaming a show can involve a trip to the deep web. None of that content is searchable.
What’s in there, aside from your Netflix viewing history? Think of all the info that forms the basis of your credit score, your health history, your financial info, and all the info that websites and advertisers capture about you as you simply spend time online. That’s the deep web too.
A subset of the deep web is the dark web. It’s not searchable as well, and it requires a special browser to access. Some of the sites and data stores found there are entirely legitimate, others questionable, and several are outright illegal. Some of your info might be there too. And yes, you’ll find dark marketplaces here where bad actors put up personal info for sale.
Everyone online indeed has a digital shadow. And some shadows are longer than others.
So, what’s the big deal? That’s how the internet works, right?
That’s a fair question. Part of the answer comes down to how important a person thinks their privacy is. Yet, more objectively, keeping a lower profile online offers better protection from cybercrime.
Consider research published by the science journal Nature, in 2019. Here’s an excerpt from the authors:
Using our model, we find that 99.98% of Americans would be correctly re-identified in any dataset using 15 demographic attributes. Our results suggest that even heavily sampled anonymized datasets are unlikely to satisfy the modern standards for anonymization set forth by GDPR [Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation] and seriously challenge the technical and legal adequacy of the de-identification release-and-forget model.
Put in practical terms, imagine a hacker or snoop gets their hands on a large set of public or private data. Like say, health data about certain medical conditions. Even though that data has been “scrubbed” to make the people in it anonymous, that hacker or snoop only needs 15 pieces of info to identify you in that mix. From there, they could pinpoint any health conditions linked to you.
In a time when all kinds of organizations gather all kinds of data, the impact of this research finding is clear. Data breaches happen, and a determined person can spot you in a batch of breached data with relative ease. They have several tools readily available that can cobble together those other 15 pieces of info to identify you. That further strengthens the argument for taking control of your personal info.
Shortening your so-called digital shadow helps improve everyday life in several ways. It can:
Cut down the number of sketchy texts, emails, and calls you get. If a hacker, scammer, or spammer can’t track down your contact info, they can’t reach you on your computers and phones. Removing info from data broker sites, old accounts you no longer use, and even social media can make it harder for them to reach you.
Reduce the risk of identity crimes, like theft, fraud, and harassment. Bad actors turn people’s info against them. With it, they take out loans in other people’s names, file bogus insurance claims, and, in more extreme cases, impersonate others for employment or criminal purposes. When you have less info online, they have less info to work with. That makes their attacks tougher to pull off. So tough that they might turn to another, easier target who has much more info online.
Keep snoops out of your business when taking care of things online. Tracking and monitoring are simple facts of going online. Sites and businesses do it for performance and marketing purposes. Hackers and bad actors do it for outright theft. Taking steps to mask and outright hide your activities online benefits your privacy and your security.
Take control of what people do and don’t know about you. Most broadly, increased privacy largely gives you the power to share your info. Not someone else. The fact is that many companies share info with other companies. And some of those other third parties might have looser data privacy and data security measures in place. What’s more, you likely have no idea who those third parties are. Increased privacy helps you take far more control of where your info does and doesn’t go.
The following can help:
1. Delete old apps. And be choosy about permissions on your phones. Fewer apps mean fewer avenues of potential data collection. If you have old, unused apps, consider deleting them, along with the accounts and data linked with them.
2. Delete old accounts. Many internet users can have over 350 online accounts, many of which they might not know are still active. McAfee Online Account Cleanup can help you delete them. It runs monthly scans to find your online accounts and shows you their risk level. From there, you can decide which to delete, protecting your personal info from data breaches and your overall privacy as a result.
3. Make your social media accounts more private. Our new McAfee Social Privacy Manager helps safeguard your privacy on social media by personalizing your privacy based on your preferences. It does the heavy lifting by adjusting more than 100 privacy settings across your social media accounts in only a few clicks. This ensures that your personal info is only visible to the people you want to share it with. It also keeps it out of search engines where the public can see it.
4. Remove your info from data brokers that sell it. McAfee Personal Data Cleanup helps you remove your personal info from many of the riskiest data broker sites out there. Running this feature regularly can keep your name and info off these sites, even as data brokers collect and post new info. Depending on your plan, it can send requests to remove your data automatically.
5. Take preventive measures. A few steps can help you keep your info off the internet in the first place. A VPN helps make your time online more private and more secure by obscuring things like your IP address and other identifying info. It also prevents hackers and snoops from monitoring your activity when you bank, shop, and access other accounts. Also, check out our article that covers privacy on your phone. Because phones offer others so many ways to gather personal info, making your phone more private helps make you more private.
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