Simple tips to protect yourself online

It pays to protect yourself against online fraud, especially during the holiday season. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) offers some timely tips to help you avoid becoming a victim of online fraud.

"Canadians are sharing lots of information online when using social media, buying goods and services and engaging in activities like gaming and chatting", says FCAC Commissioner, Ursula Menke. “But as more personal data is disclosed, unfortunately more is also being stolen. It’s important that Canadians are aware of not only how this information can be stolen, but how they can protect themselves.”

Some of the more common ways that people expose themselves to fraud include:

• using public or unsecured wireless Internet.
• entering personal information on unsecure or fake websites.
• downloading viruses, spyware or malware, programs designed to damage or do unwanted things on your computer.
• creating an online profile that includes credit card or banking information.
• saving passwords on a computer in a file that has not been encrypted, or protected by a key or password. 

Fraudsters are trying to get any information they can find about you. Your personal details may not be harmful on their own, but once they are combined, a fraudster can build a profile, steal your identity and access your financial accounts.

How to reduce your risks

• Don’t post your home address, telephone number, children's names, names of schools or employers, or specific details about when you will be away from home on business trips or vacations.
• If you post your birthday, don’t include your year of birth.
• Use different passwords for different applications like social networking sites, email, online banking, etc. Change your passwords often.
• Make sure there is a lock symbol in the browser window and that the site's address begins with “https” (the “s” stands for secured). Don’t use public Wi-Fi hotspots to link to your social networking pages.
• Use the enhanced privacy settings on social networking sites and only allow approved people to access your profile.
• Do not accept friend requests from people you don’t know.

What to do if you become a victim

• Start a written log: write down when you noticed the fraud and the actions you took, including names of people you spoke to and dates of communications.
• File a report with your local police.
• Contact your financial institutions and any other companies (phone company, cable provider, etc.) where your accounts were tampered with, or are at risk of being tampered with.
• Advise Canada's two credit rating agencies, TransUnion and Equifax.
• Contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and learn more at the website Get Cyber Safe

Also Read:

We were almost victims of an online fraud

Is free anti-virus software good enough?

Robb Engen is half of the Boomer & Echo personal finance blogging team with his mother, a former financial advisor.  Reach him at robbengen@gmail.com