You don’t have to be online to be a victim of idenity theft, but that helps. As we all use the Internet more, so do Internet theives. The following tips are a few of the ways that San Diego North County home owneres can help avoid getting scammed.
- Only give your credit card info to secure sites. These sites should display an “https://” in the address bar. For example, this blog is http://www.garyharmon.com (not secure) but my online Bank of America account is https://bankofamerica.com (secure).
- Avoid clicking on unfamiliar links in any email. I know friends and family send you funny things, but these can be the source of trouble.
- Avoid providing personal information to someone else in emails. Remember, sites that are secure start with “https://.”
- Make your Internet passwords complex. Use upper and lower case letters as well as numbers. And please don’t use the same password for everything.
- Keep your computer operating system updated. For example, Microsoft is always updating its systems with more secure things.
- Use a good security program on you computer such as McAfee or Symantec (that’s Norton).
- Remember, most of your secure websites will never ask for personal information, such as your password, PIN, or credit card numbers in an email.
If you follow all the above online identity theft rules, you will help keep your online data and your computer safe. For ways to avoid other types of identity theft see: “Identity Theft – You Made It, Now Keep It!” and “Minimize Identity Theft.”
To get great help in buying or selling San Diego North County real estate, contact Gary Harmon, your North County Realtor.
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