Living our lives online is now as normal as ever. From the moment we wake up we’re connecting, sharing and accessing services online that make our lives easier. While technology has brought us convenience, security and privacy are an increasing concern.

When your personal information is everywhere: on the apps on your phone, financial statements and bills in your inbox, emails on multiple devices and information you post on social platforms, it pays to be cautious of how we engage with the online landscape as it can open up many possibilities of putting our personal information at risk.

Here are a few measures you can take to better safeguard your information to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft and fraud:

• Protect your passwords & PINs

Set up unique passwords for your devices and financial accounts. Create a strong password by using a combination of numbers, symbols, capital and lowercase letters.

• Remember to install updates to your system & applications

Automatically update your operating system and browser to prevent hackers from finding vulnerabilities to access your device and data. Install anti-virus software to detect malicious programs or viruses.

• Don’t overshare on social

The more you share on social, the more at risk you are to having your identity stolen. Consider removing sensitive information from your profile, such as your birthday and location, restrict your social media account privacy settings from “public” to “friends only” and only accept friend requests from people you know.

• Turn on pop-up blocker on your browser

Cybercriminals can use pop-ups to install programs on your computer that ‘spy’ on you or record your key strokes to retrieve passwords to your financial and personal accounts.

• Think before you action

Don’t provide your personal and financial info on sites you don’t trust and never click on links or open emails and attachments when you’re unsure of its source.

• Protect your credit reputation as a priority

As many identity thieves and fraudsters use your personal information to open bank accounts and apply for credit products for financial gain, it pays to keep a close eye on your credit reports for suspicious activities.

At Credit Savvy, you can get access to your credit score and credit file information, for free. Our credit monitoring service also sends you alerts to help guard you against anything that shouldn’t be on your file.

Monitor your credit score today

We take your privacy very seriously, we use bank-level encryption to protect your data, so no one else can get at it.

Identity theft can be both financially and emotionally distressing for victims. Once your identity has been stolen it can be difficult to recover. If you do find yourself to be a victim, you can find more information in our article: How to place a ban on your credit report.

Want to learn more? The Credit Savvy team have written a range of articles to help you keep your information secure. Read up on the latest articles in our Learning Hub!