Long gone are the days when financial data was kept in file folders at the bank. Today, sensitive information lives online, and it’s up to individuals to keep their personal financial info safe from prying eyes.
Identity theft poses serious risk
Identity theft is a rising problem in America. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, nearly 9 million people are the victims of identity theft each year. In 2010 alone, $13.2 billion in financial loss was attributed to identity theft.
But just what does identity theft entail? The words may conjure up images of a person trying to pose as someone else, but it doesn’t involve anything as complicated as masks or costumes. Identity theft is when a person or persons fraudulently uses someone else’s private data, typically for financial gain. This can be anything from using someone’s credit card to using their password to make purchases online.
Ways to avoid identity theft
Shopping online may be convenient, but it can also leave teens open to identity theft. It’s with this in mind that young people should be sure they’re doing business with a legitimate site when making purchases online. While major retailers can typically be trusted, smaller sites with deals that seem too good to be true should be avoided.
Phishing is also a popular method criminals use to obtain sensitive financial information. Phishing is when a criminal poses as a trusted site in order to collect people’s data. For instance, say a teen is going to log into their bank account but is suddenly asked for information they’re normally not required to provide. This should be a red flag. If any site, even one that a young person trusts, suddenly asks them to hand over personal data, they should avoid it, as it may be a phishing scam.
Password security should also be taken seriously by young people hoping to avoid identity theft. The primary focus should be choosing passwords that are hard for criminals to guess. SplashData reports that as recently as 2012, millions of Americans were using ultra-simple passwords that made it easy for identity theft to occur. These included passwords like “password,” “12345,” “abc123″ and “qwerty.”
Passwords should be longer and more complicated to avoid identity theft. They should also never be reused for multiple accounts. If a criminal is able to guess a teen’s password for one system, they’ll likely try to use it for other accounts as well.
Many sites also allow users to opt for security questions. This is a good way to add an extra layer of protection to sensitive information. However, it’s important that these questions be something hard to guess the answer to. It’s much easier for criminals to answer what city a person was born in compared to their favorite book character.
It’s also smart for teens to check on their accounts periodically to make sure there’s been no suspicious activity. If a bank account suddenly shows purchases or withdrawals that were not made by the account holder, this should be reported immediately.
Computers and smartphones can make our lives much easier, but they can also leave us open to new dangers. A little common sense and responsibility will go a long way to reducing these risks.