We’ve all been there, narrowly avoiding revealing our password to a complete stranger. A lot of people naively mistake an email from a traditional scam artist as a communication from their bank, the IRS or any number of social media scammers offering large number of free followers.
In a blink of an eye you can innocently divulge too much information that can create a data breach creating havoc on your personal life. Personal photos, passwords, banking information and even medical histories are vulnerable to security breaches.
What can you do to protect the privacy of you and your family? Well we know the sophistication of these scammers continue to get more sophisticated as our technology gets more user-friendly so the best advice is to stay abreast of the latest scams.
Have you heard of smishing? Probably not since it’s the newest bad boy on the block but it goes like this. You receive a text with a link that you innocently open and malware is instantly installed on your Smartphone that steals your personal info. If that’s not bad enough, you find out that they can track your whereabouts too.
With Arizona ranking toward the top in cyber attacks totaling a loss of $11.4 million in 2012 you need protection! Don’t panic, you don’t have to be a techy to understand how to secure your privacy and in most cases protecting yourself might be as simple as creating a difficult password to crack.
Need some answers to your cyber questions? The City of Paradise Valley is offering a free Cyber Crime Awareness Class on Wednesday, September 7.
