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Keeping It Simple: Preventing Fraud On Your Account – Ep. 99
Have you been the victim of identity theft? Or experienced fraud on your account?
Statistically it’s going to happen again but let’s talk about what you can do to prevent fraud on your account in a simple manner!
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Podcast Key Points:
0:00 – Episode Overview
1:30 – Types of Fraud
2:39 – Password Security
4:31 – Multi-Factor Authentication
7:13 – Daily Money Minute
9:23 – Recap
10:14 – Smart Hackers
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6 Simple Ways to Prevent Fraud and Identity Theft Online
Have you been the victim of identity theft or experience fraud on your account? Statistically, it’s gonna happen again. But let’s talk about what you can to what you can do to prevent fraud on your account in a simple manner. All right, for keeping it simple about preventing fraud. Here we go.
This is the Your Money Your Life podcast. I’m your host, Aimee Cerka, a money confidence coach for female entrepreneurs on the path to six figures. After over 10 years in the personal finance industry and multiple personal financial and medical crisis, I was fed up with the lines that are being shouted from the rooftops by the gurus and the media.
So now I help you simplify, solidify and scale your money. By blending tactile money strategies with mindset work, you can create unstoppable finances together, you’ll finally figure out the money thing. So, you can make more money in less time without living off of beans and rice, or sacrificing your lifestyle.
Episodes here on the podcast are short and sweet. Being married, having four kids at home, homeschooling being the CEO running the household, I’m kind of busy. And I know you are too. So, let’s keep it simple and get to the point. Welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.
Understanding Different Ways Fraud Can Happen
All right, we are back talking about fraud, identity theft, and how you can actually prevent it on your account. Again, in a simple manner with confidence. This is not about fear. This is about you moving forward with confidence.
Okay, so there are so many different forms of fraud. We have identity theft, there’s phishing, they can do card scamming. Like, so many things, okay, one out of four people actually experience fraud. And I’m betting that number is significantly higher now, in a post COVID era, because I know during that timeframe, when I was talking with a couple of my banks, they were seeing record numbers.
Record numbers of people breaking into other accounts, you know, like stealing passwords. All those things, stealing cards, because there was so much fear going on. And they needed to make money, right?
Strong Passwords: Your Shield Against Hackers
So, it’s really important that we have to be proactive. And on top of that, be mindful about safeguarding your personal and financial information.
So how the heck can we do that, right? First thing is with passwords. I love LastPass, because LastPass handles all of this for me. Okay. We need to use strong and unique passwords for each online account. This is not about like using your dog’s name, or your anniversary, or your kid’s birthday, or your high school mascot, whatever it might be.
Okay, you need strong and unique passwords. It is proven time and time again, like they’re just getting smarter with hacking your passwords and all of those surveys that you fill out on Facebook and about like your favorite color and those things that start with your name. They’re not helping, like you’re giving them all the information that they need, okay.
You can create strong passwords easily using a password management software like LastPass. It’s going to keep track of them for you securely and they create strong passwords so like it’s a win-win. And LastPass is free.
As a business owner I do pay for like a portion of mine, but like the personal side is absolutely free. You can use it for your business and on the personal side.
I pay with the way that I have the team structured I’m pretty sure because what we pay for, but I think we’ve even changed some of that still. So next time, we might not have to pay for it. I don’t remember exactly. But it’s not like my ballgame. Mine is at a high cost for what you’re getting and how important this is.
Okay, you they also have something that’s fun. This is like the competitive side of me. They have like these security challenges. So, they rate like how secure you are with reuse passwords and weak passwords and some of those things. So, like it’s a game to see like how I can keep improving my score.
Adding Extra Layers of Security With Two-Factor Authentication
Okay, so if something has multi-factor authentication, please enable it, especially Facebook and Instagram. You’ve got a business you’re running this for Facebook and Instagram like this is an important part of this for you. You need to have two-factor authentication on because so many people have lost their accounts because they’re hacked and they don’t have the two-factor authentication on.
Turn it on. Got it and using it everywhere. There’s so many places that enable it. It’s just a higher form of security, you can take care of yourself better when you have the two-factor authentication on okay.
Recognizing Phishing Attempts: Don’t Take the Bait
Then with phishing, this is going to be like, they normally do this through emails, text messages, sometimes websites, where they’re trying to grab your information. One of the most common ones, it’ll be like your package has shipped with like a fake tracking number. And the best way to do this, like, ideally, don’t open the emails.
And you can see from the sender, like if it’s from like, a random 25468YW, like email address, that’s not UPS. Okay. That’s a phishing attempt. Just delete it.
If you did move it, or open it, have some sort of like security software in place. I use Norton. I use their VPN, like having those things there, that just being aware of what’s going on what you’re clicking on what you’re looking at. If you haven’t ordered something, then don’t click on it. If you’re not sure if you ordered something, don’t click on it. Okay.
Same thing with text messages. I got one the other day that was trying to be Wells Fargo that was like here, verify your account, okay? No, that wasn’t Wells Fargo, it was spelt wrong.
Like, be mindful, read it again. Don’t just freak out because that’s what they’re counting on. They want you to freak out and be like, oh, crap, I gotta do this now.
And actually, take a look at it, take a breath, read through it again, or look at the headline, make sure that it’s legitimate before we open it. This is the phishing information; they’re trying to access your personal information.
Keep Personal Info Private
So just a couple other things when it comes to personal information. Keeping track of your sensitive information, the thing that I like a lot LastPass is I can add it in their social security numbers, bank account details.
Your name and address on mail, those things need to be shredded or burned, something like that. Be careful with what you’re sharing on social media. I share a lot on social media, but I try and keep the personal information like that. You can have your identification information off, okay.
Protect Your Online Footprint
Just be mindful about what you’re sharing. Right? Then keeping an eye on your account, this is why we use the Daily Money Minute to help see like, hey, something is going on. And if that is not a charger that you recognize, like check it out. And you’re gonna check and catch it that much faster.
If you’re staying in contact with your accounts, whether this is through a Daily Money Minute weekly check in whether this is having somebody do it for you with personal money management or bookkeeper side of things. If you have suspicious transactions, contact your bank immediately. If somebody has shown your identity, go on to all three of the credit bureaus freeze your credit so that nobody can run your credit.
Yes, you need to report this to the authorities. If your identity has been stolen, you file a report with your local police station, but freeze your credit so they can’t do it again. And most of the time, like the police station won’t even tell you that.
Regular Account Check-Ups: Stay In the Know
So, these are the things that you need to be mindful of moving forward. Um, see, I think I’ve got everything here, just the really the best thing you can do is being mindful. Okay.
What can people do with this information, asking the questions like what could happen? What do I need to be mindful of what do I need to watch out for? Whether it’s shredding mail, like whether they have your address on there or not posting all of your favorite things online so they can find your password or just remembering one secure password. So, you can use LastPass to take care of everything else, moving forward one step at a time.
And if you’re thinking about using LastPass, like set it up, and then just start using passwords and integrate them as you go. This does not have to be like this massive thing on your to-do list and pour all your passwords into LastPass. That’s not sustainable right now, because you have too much going on.
Start with one and then keep going forward. And if you’re inside Money Mastery Academy, there is a whole quick checklist for you about minimizing your risk for identity theft, because that is a whole training inside the profit power of library.
Empowering Yourself Online: Simple Steps, Big Protection
So that’s what I got for today. We talked about quite a bit. We kept it simple, but we talked about how like the different types of identity theft a little bit and how you can strengthen your passwords using the two-factor authentication, how to recognize phishing attempts on steps to take to secure your personal information, being mindful of monitoring your bank accounts and the transactions and then if there is fraud. Like you need to of course contact the authorities and freezing the accounts; freezing your credit. They also freeze your account when you contact your bank or credit card company.
Ah, let’s see, I feel like I missed something here monitoring accounts? Oh, yes, with the fraud on your bank account. A lot of times, like we use the Walmart plus. So, like, we’ll place our grocery order, even if you do the online pickup order. The charges don’t necessarily hit your account for a couple of days.
And you’re just like, oh, yeah, we went to Walmart and you kind of approved those. The hackers have gotten smarter, and they’re shopping at places that are more frequent. So, try to start being mindful and like actually checking the amounts when they come through, because they’re using your card at places that you probably will go to, like Walmart and the gas station, and then it’s no big deal. And you just approve it when actually it’s fraud.
So not only we’re using the daily Money Minute, like looking at the transactions, but like truly look at them, and be mindful of what we’re actually spending. Okay.
That’s what I’ve got for now. Make sure to stick with us because we’ve got 1,2,3,4,5,6 more episodes on are Keeping It Simple. I just really want these to be to the point action steps that you can take and be mindful of how you can move forward in these different areas.
They’re so important to be able to take care of and they just add piece by piece of extra confidence to you as you go. If you have topic ideas, something that you would love for me to cover, make sure to send me a message on Instagram or reach out to us on the website. Either one, I would love to hear about future things that you want me to cover. That’s what I’ve got for now. We’ll see you next time.
Special Gift For You
Thank you so much for listening to the Your Money, Your life podcast. I’ve got a special gift for you for sticking around to the end. And if you’re tired of your finances being a mess, this is for you.
What if you could take charge of your money without feeling overwhelmed? Even if you’re not a numbers person, even if you just don’t know where to begin, even if you don’t have the time, even if you failed in the past and even if you don’t want to sacrifice your lifestyle. Take messy action and finally make progress with your finances without feeling overwhelmed pinching pennies or staring at a spreadsheet for hours with the 14-Day Money Mastery Action Plan. And when you use coupon code podcast, I’m gonna give you 40% off. Just visit aimeecerka.com/action and grab the 14-day action plan for less than $20. Alright, talk soon.
