How to Protect Your Personal Data Traveling & At Home
It’s story time!
About a year ago, I had just come back from South Africa and was settling into the routine of being home. I’m not a super strict budgeter when I travel, but I had a rough idea of what I had spent and logged into my bank account to confirm my spenditure.
Immediately, something did not look right.
My heart dropped to the floor and my mind started racing.
I had spent $10,000.
How was that possible?
No. There was NO WAY that was accurate.
I’m a pretty thrifty traveler, and the only expensive part of our trip — our safari — had been paid for months ago. I started going through the transactions…
$200 ATM withdrawal — sounds right.
$1,000 transfer from savings — sounds right.
And then I saw it…. a $10,000 transfer to a random financial services company that I had not authorized. Or had I done it accidentally? Before I sounded the alarm, I wracked my brain to make sure this was not of my own doing.
But it wasn’t. It was fraud.
I called my bank and submitted a claim. They said they would look into the situation, but I was crushed… and had no idea how long that would take. $10K was a LOT of money to me.
Not very good at sitting still, I decided to proactively reach out to the financial services company that the money had been transferred to. The woman on the other line was very helpful and sympathetic. She said she would contact the bank and member services to get to the bottom of things.
Within a week Wells Fargo had transferred my money back to me, but it was definitely a stressful time wondering if I was going to get it back!
I never want to go through that again, and immediately got to work putting as many securities on my accounts as I could — and modifying my behavior both on and offline. When you’re constantly traveling and on-the-go, it can be tempting to want to take shortcuts — reusing passwords, saving login and credit card info, etc — but it’s not worth the potential catastrophes that can ensue. TRUST ME!
So I wanted to share a few tips from a NON TECH-SAVVY PERSON for protecting your data and keeping your personal accounts safe — whether you’re a digital nomad traveling or at home awaiting your next adventure, these tips are crucial for all walks of life.
I live at a really fast pace and am constantly on the move, but these suggestions will add only minutes to your routine and are definitely worth it in the end… especially compared to the disaster of having your identity stolen, which can take months to resolve!
One more thing to note…. some articles like this can get a little complicated and confusing to the technically-challenged like myself, so I tried to make sure everything on this list is straightforward and actionable for ANYONE reading ☺.
Choose complex passwords.What do I mean by that? Not your birthday, your name, your pet’s name, etc. This is all information that a really savvy hacker could probably figure out by looking at your social media. And make sure it’s something you aren’t using for any other site, because if someone gets access to your password on a mobile game site (that you aren’t as concerned about being hacked) and it’s the SAME password as your bank account, you may be in trouble. See why it matters!? You can download a password manager like Dashlane to keep track of all your passwords so you don’t have to write them down on your computer or a piece of paper…. all you have to do is remember the master password to Dashlane and ta-da! You’re in.
Have two-step authentication on your accounts.I did not have two-step on any of my accounts before my hack. Why? Because it added a step that felt burdensome and unnecessary. Fact check….it actually isnecessary and I now have it on all my important accounts. I sleep a little sounder knowing that my accounts are harder to hack into!
Keep your personal data secure with Webroot WiFi Security.Whether you’re shopping online, managing financial accounts, or booking a plane ticket, Webroot WiFi Security protects your connection from hackers and others who would try to spy, track, or intercept your personal data. This is especially important for us digital nomads who are often connecting to public WiFi in co-working spaces or coffee shops. It’s super easy to set up and use —even I can figure it out 😜 —and will connect automatically when hopping on unsecured WiFi networks. Sincemy bank account was hacked, I have been using this constantly. Not only does the app include a VPN, but it also has advanced web-filtering to protect you from risky sites on Windows, Mac, and Android. So even when you’re home like many of us are now due to the lockdown, it’s still a hugely useful app to have running!
As an added bonus, Webroot is now offering a 90-day trial extension on their AntiVirus product to help protect people during COVID-19!! So now is the perfect time to give it a whirl!! Download HERE.
Be careful what you share on social media.We often share personal details about our lives on social media without realizing how it can come back to haunt us. You may think it’s innocuous to post a photo of your dog on Instagram with the caption “Isn’t Fido adorable?!” But it’s definitely risky if “Fido”is the password to your bank account! Be careful ifyour birthday is posted on Facebook thatyou’re not also using it asyour ATM pin. Always check yourself and what you are posting on social media to make sure there’s no info that a hacker could use to get into your privateaccounts.
Don’t allow browsers and websites to remember your login/payment information. Another important one is to just say NO to browsers and websites storing your login and payment information. Having your credit card stored in your computer not only makes it easier for you to make purchases online, but it alsomakes it easier for hackers to use your card without your permission. Definitely never store your debit card…. which gives them direct access to your bank account.
Don’t share your social security number.This one should be rather obvious, but NEVER SHARE YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. We all get asked for this pretty frequently while filling out officialforms, but a lot of time this is simply not necessary. If you want to leave it off, leave it off!There are times it’s unavoidable to share—such as when you are filling out paperwork at a new job— but just be waryof handing it over too easily. Having your SSN fall into the wrong hands can be a recipe for identity theft.
Before you throw away an old phone or computer, make sure to do a factory reset. Deleting is not enough.I repeat: Deleting is NOT enough. I know it’s not the most convenient thing to do, but if the device falls into the wrong hands there are ways to extract deleted files.Take the time to do a factory reset and restore the device to its original out-of-the-box settings:permanently erasing all your files, programs, and profiles.
Close unused accounts (hackers could get access to your personal data).If you’re like me, you’ve probably built up a lot of accounts over the years… many of which you no longer use, andany that you no longer even remember! However,if a hacker gets access to them and is able to find old bank statements or documents with personal data attached to them,you could be looking at a potential identity theft situation. I know it’s not fun, but you know what’s less fun? Having money stolen from your bank account! So spend a rainy day tracking down these accounts and shutting them down.
I hope these suggestions are useful to you — if you follow my tips, hopefully you’ll never have to go through what I went through!
xo
Lauren