Archives - Personal Information


Real police officers don’t communicate by phone, text or chat

A common tactic for bad actors to scam people into giving up valuable personal information is to pose as a police officer when contacting a potential victim. However, just because someone says they’re a law enforcement officer doesn’t mean they are. This goes for all forms of remote communication, including phone calls: If someone claiming […]

Don’t believe statistics from unreliable sources

This goes for pretty much all information online, but bogus statistics are rampant all over the internet. If you’re writing a paper, article or anything else that cites statistics, try to get them directly from a reputable research study — if a site doesn’t say where it got its numbers, they may not be reliable.

Factory reset your phone before getting rid of it

Whether you’re trading it in, donating it or handing it off for any reason, you’ll want to wipe all the data from your phone before doing so. While the process for this varies by phone, you can easily find out how by searching your settings for something that says “Factory reset” or “Return to factory […]

If you’re entering sensitive information, cover the screen with your hand

You can never be totally sure if someone’s looking at your screen, so it’s a good idea to make this a habit. Another solution is using a privacy screen for your laptop if you often use your laptop in a crowded place, such as airplanes and airports. Privacy screens make it difficult for people to […]

Notify the authorities if you believe someone is using your personal information to commit fraud

While it’s important to do your part to practice safe surfing and stay on top of your credit activity, if a cybercriminal is successful in committing fraud in your name — such as by using your information to collect unemployment payments — there’s a chance you could end up liable. To help protect you from […]

Set up credit alerts

Someone who has some of your personal information can usually find more of it, and they might use it to open credit card accounts in your name. Protect yourself by setting up alerts on Experian, Equifax or TransUnion. It’s okay to set up alerts on just one of these, as the others will be automatically […]