subject: 5 Common Online Mistakes that Can Compromise Your Identity (and Credit!) [print this page] Most people use the Internet every day, without ever thinking of the potential risks to their identitys security. Considering the facts about identity fraud, maybe they should. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 1 in 6 Americans will be a victim of identity theft, this year alone! Since its easier to prevent identity theft than it is to get credit repair help, here are five common mistakes that you might be making: 1. Assuming your security software is keeping you safe. Criminals create new viruses all the time, and unless you constantly update your security software, it wont keep you safe. To keep yourself from signing up for a credit repair program in the future, make sure you have the latest version of your security software. 2. Accessing your accounts through email links. If your bank sends you an email suggesting that you update your account information, manually type in the URL you want to go to never click the link. Phishing scams have become wildly popular, because theyre so effective and extremely hard to detect. Save yourself the headache of having to use a credit repair program, and type the link in yourself. 3. Using the same password for all of your accounts. Unless you want to pay somebody for credit repair help, change up your passwords! Use a variety of numbers and letters, and change your passwords at least twice a year. Otherwise, youre leaving yourself susceptible to the cyber crooks that want to max out your credit cards. 4. Downloading free software. Were not saying that everyone who downloads free software will need credit repair help in the future, but be wary of downloading something just because its free. Before installing anything, do a little online research to see if anyone has had problems with the software. As many identity fraud victims can tell you, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! 5. Shopping online without checking to see if youre secure. Before you buy anything online, make sure the URL starts with https, which offers much more security than http. Its also a good idea to frequently check your credit report just in case. If you find something unusual, find an expert and get credit repair help immediately. The longer you ignore it, the worse it will be later on.
5 Common Online Mistakes that Can Compromise Your Identity (and Credit!)
By: Mick Bernard
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