Posts Tagged ‘electronic payments’
How to Protect Your Mobile Data from Thieves, Digital Pickpockets & Nosy Partners
Your smartphone does double-duty as a wallet and personal computer, holding everything from family photos to sensitive office data. Digital pickpockets and old school thieves can take advantage of this and steal everything in one fell swoop. However, with the right tools, you can keep all of your smartphone data safe and secure.
NQ Mobile Vault
Whether you are protecting your private data from a thief or a nosy partner, NQ Mobile Vault is an important part of your privacy efforts. Priced around $20 per year, this service for iPhones and Androids uses bank-level encryption methods to keep sensitive texts, contacts, call logs, and photos in a hidden vault. With this tool, you can have a secure chat away from Facebook, or you can set a four-digit code to protect any apps that need an extra layer of protection from prying eyes.
Spread the Risk
Instead of keeping everything important on your smartphone, move some of your accounts to a tablet. Companies like T-Mobile include tablets in their telecommunication plans. You are much less likely to lose a Nexus 7 than you are to leave a smartphone lying around. However, keep in mind that you need to protect your tablets just as aggressively as you do your smartphones, and most of the methods listed here can be used for tablets as well as smartphones.
Virtual Private Network
If you use your smartphone over a public Wi-Fi, any hacker on that network can lift your passwords and usernames as well as any text that you transmit. You can avoid this by sticking with your phone’s data plan and accessing what you need over 4G. However, that can get expensive.
Express VPN enables you to save on data charges and use shared Wi-Fi safely via a VPN (virtual private network). For less than $9 per month, VPN Express will encrypt everything that you transmit over your phone, making it impossible for anyone to track you and giving you peace of mind when using public Wi-Fi.
FaceLock Pro
The FaceLock Pro app for Android and iOs devices won’t unlock anything unless it sees your face. Based on powerful face identification software, FaceLock Pro can be used to protect your entire phone or just your most sensitive apps. Unless your twin steals your phone, this app will keep thieves at bay.
Fido Anti-Theft
Better than a guard dog, this free app works with Android and iOs devices. If anyone swipes your phone, you can set off an audible alarm using this app. If the thief is in earshot, the alarm will alert you to the location of the phone, and if that tactic fails, Fido can remotely lock or wipe out your phone. As an added bonus, Fido scans each app that you download, keeping your phone safe from malware, spyware, and other malicious content.
Last Word
In addition to the fancy apps listed above, CTIA, The Wireless Association, reminds you to make sure that you don’t overlook the basics. Lock your phone with a hard-to-guess password; be aware of your surroundings, and guard your phone as if it is your wallet. Finally, save everything in a second secure spot like a cloud, external hard drive, or a PC to ensure that even if something is lost, you can reclaim it. Connect with Linda at the Identity Advocate for more educational opportunities. 310-8310-4400
For Victims of Target Breach – Don’t Let the Crooks Double Dutch You
The compromise of millions of consumers’ information now has Target sending out millions of data breach notification letters and emails to victims and potential victims all over the country. If you’re among that population, you may have already received some form of communication from Target informing you of the potential exposure of your information and what you might do about it.
But consumer beware. The high profile nature of this breach has scammers and identity thieves swooping in to ravage this already exposed population like vultures after a carcass. The primary method seems to be sending fraudulent emails or notification letters purporting to be representing Target in an effort to trick consumers into giving them their personal information. So if you’ve received a letter from “Target,” here are a few ways to check to ensure the letter you’ve received is legitimate, and not an attempt to scam you.
- The Email Address: Actual Target breach emails are coming from TargetNews@target.bfi0.com. If your email is from any other address, be very careful.
- The Letter Sounds Urgent: Target is currently offering free credit monitoring for victims of the exposure, provided they sign up by April 30, 2014. If the email you receive urges you to respond immediately, there’s a good bet it’s a scam. Scammers don’t want you to take time to think, they want your information.
- They Ask For Personal Information: A legitimate organization will neverask for personally identifying information in an email. Period. The End. Any time such a request is made, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s from a would-be scammer. The actual Target email will send you a token inside an email which will take you to a secure website to enter your information. That website is creditmonitoring.target.com. At your request, they will send you an activation code which, following an email authentication, will allow you to sign up for the free service.
- There Are Spelling and Grammatical Errors: Target is a huge corporation. They can afford to hire people that can speak and write the English language with proper grammar. If your letter has glaring spelling or grammatical errors, you can be assured it’s a scam email; likely from another country where English isn’t the first language.
- Signup requires a pre-paid money card, online Pay Pal transfer, or Western Union transfer: Target’s credit monitoring offer is free, so there’s no need to pay anything. Any attempt to collect payment through any method whatever is a fraudster’s attempt to rip you off.
Consumers with additional questions should contact the Identity Theft Resource Center toll free at (888) 500-4430 or visit them online at www.idtheftcenter.org.
“To Victims of Target Breach: Don’t Let Crooks Double Dutch You“ was written by Matt Davis. Matt is Director of Business Alliances at the Identity Theft Resource Center. We welcome you to post/reprint the above article, as written, giving credit to the author and linking back to the original posting.
Linda Vincent, RN. PI.
Vincent & Associates
The Identity Advocate..Empower, Educate, Protect
310-831-4400
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