Smart401k Blog

Have you ever Googled your address?  Well I did and found more than I bargained for. In a matter of seconds, I was able to find out when I bought my house and at what price, estimated square footage, current estimated price and much more.  There was even a 3D picture of my house as if the cameraman was sitting in a tree in my front yard!  It got me thinking about how much I could find out about myself.  Boy was I surprised.  In a matter of minutes I was able to find out my likes, the fact that I had a dog and where I grew up.  You would have thought they got all their information from Facebook or my LinkedIn page.  The truth is they did.

Many people use the computer on a daily basis for work, checking emails, buying or selling or for social networking.  If you fall into any of these categories be sure to take some precautionary measures to protect your personal privacy.  Here are some tips on protecting your personal information and yourself from fraud and some real life situations when these tips weren’t followed.

Social Networking

Real Life situation:  A friend of mine found out her pictures from a family reunion that were posted on her Facebook account had been used as part of an Adult website’s banner ads.  Fortunately they hadn’t been obscene pictures or doctored to look that way.  Her account was set to public so anyone could view her pictures.

In my situation, I had left my accounts open to the public as well.  Database sites gather personal information and will post it on their site.  They make money by selling our personal information.  I quickly switched all my accounts that have public information to private so if I get a cat or develop a new hobby, database search engines like Spokeo and Zabasearch won’t know about it.  (You can remove your personal information by going to the Privacy page of both of these sites.)

• Set your privacy settings so that only those you have approved can view your personal information.   By default some sites will allow anyone to view your profile.  Be sure to access the privacy settings and make the necessary adjustments.
• Don’t approve everyone that requests to be your friend.
• Don’t share personal information you wouldn’t be comfortable with the world knowing.

Email

Real Life Situation:  I received an email from my brother telling me about this great new diet he was on.  He lost 30 pounds in less than 2 months.  The email looked real and the message seemed believable.  The only reason I knew it was fake is the fact that my brother only weighs about 145 pounds sopping wet.  If he lost 30 pounds…yikes call the doctor! I called him up and sure enough, his email was hacked because he had clicked on an email from a friend who was also hacked.

• Protect your password.  According to experts, your password should have at least eight characters and include numbers or symbols. Avoid common words: some hackers use programs that can try every word in the dictionary.  Don’t use your personal information, your log in name, or adjacent keys on the keyboard as passwords.  Lastly change your passwords regularly.
• Be careful of phishing scams.  Phishing is the process of attempting to acquire sensitive information by masquerading as a trustworthy entity such as your bank, social web site, etc.  Don’t respond to a message asking you to click to a website or call a phone number to update your account information or claim a prize or benefit.  Even if it looks like it’s from your bank, don’t click it.
• Don’t ever give out your social security number, banking information or passwords via email.  You might even receive an email from what looks to be your bank. Don’t fall for it!
• If you get an email from someone you don’t know, do not open the links or attachments.  This can upload a virus to your computer without you even knowing it.
• Follow your instincts.  If you get an email from a friend talking about how to make $10,000 easy, or how to lose 15 pounds in 2 weeks in the subject line, don’t open it!
• Only visit websites you are familiar with or are reputable.

Buying or Selling Online

Real Life Situation:  A friend posted his car for sale on Craigslist and added his address and number.  He started to receive strange phone calls and visits at all hours of the day.  Even after delisting the ad and trading in the car, people still kept coming by.  If you don’t want random people coming to your house at random times, don’t include your address.

• Just as with Social Networking, don’t post information you wouldn’t want the world to know about you.
• Know who you’re dealing with.  Only buy from reputable sellers.  Do an independent search on the seller to see if there are any reviews.  Negative reviews might be your first sign to walk away.
• Use a reputable service such as PayPal as an intermediary for making payments.  This way, the merchant never sees your personal banking information.
• Set up a new email address that you will use only to communicate with buyers and sellers.

I believe the measures listed above are a start to protecting your personal information and in combating identity theft.  They might seem like common sense suggestions, but how many of us provide websites with information about ourselves and don’t think twice about it?  It might be something as innocent as your pet’s name.  But how many people use their pet’s name as a password or the answer to a reset-your-password question?  I use to use Mila’s, I mean my Dog’s name in that way, but I’ve changed all my passwords and have taken the first steps in protecting my personal information.   Additional steps can be found at The Federal Trade Commission’s website.  This site will outline further ways to protect you and your family from those looking to take advantage of your information online.  If you have other suggestions, please be sure to share!

Jeff Studebaker

Smart401k Adviser

About Smart401k

Smart401k is a Web-based investment adviser providing unbiased advice to help employees invest in their employer-sponsored retirement plans.  Smart401k provides service to almost 11,000 clients who collectively have more than $1.5 billion in assets. Individuals receive personalized investment recommendations based on the funds in their plan and support of professional investment advisers available to answer all investment questions. Based in Overland Park, KS, Smart401k can be found at Smart401k.com.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at 7:53 am and is filed under Personal Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.