WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – As more commerce has moved online over the past several years, the risk of losing sensitive data or being scammed out of money has become a major concern for internet users across the country.
Jessica Holt, with U.S. Cellular, and Cpl. Matt Ake, with the Wilmington Police Department, discussed digital safety tips, and what you can do to prevent yourself from becoming a victim.
“60% of online activity is actually done through your mobile device,” Holt said. “So you want to make sure that you have a lock or a passcode on your phone. Even if you think ‘Hey, I don’t have a lot of personal information in my phone,’ put a lock on your phone, because there is something that can be stolen.”
Having a lock on your phone and device is a great way to prevent others from physically gathering your data, and making sure you use secure methods of accessing the internet provides security from those looking to take information online.
“Be careful with which Wi-Fi networks you join, you don’t know who’s controlling them, who’s monitoring it. Anyone could be on that,” says Cpl. Ake.
Additionally, making sure to use verified and trustworthy applications is a surefire way to ensure that your data is being handled properly.
“Read reviews, make sure you’re downloading them from authorized platforms such as the Apple Store or Google Play. If you’ve been contacted by someone and they say ‘In order to help you you need to download this app,’ don’t. That’s a red flag right there,” Cpl. Ake adds.
“Most people don’t know they’ve been scammed until it’s too late, and we see all sorts of varieties of scams here. We’ve had people who’ve been called by someone saying ‘You’ve done this jury duty, you need to pay so you don’t go to jail.’ People respond to false online postings for items for sale. Check forgeries [are] huge down here, I mean, we’ve had hundreds of thousands of dollars of fraud reported already alone this year. The biggest red flag people can look out for is when you start getting pressured into paying through gift cards or Bitcoin it’s all but guaranteed to be a scam. And most people don’t know that until it’s too late.”
And if you find yourself the victim of a scam or identify theft, acting fast is key to minimizing any damage.
“Once you’ve identified the problem, first step you should do if you’ve suffered a financial loss, go ahead and contact your bank,” Cpl. Ake explains. “Depending on the circumstances, they can probably help you get some or all of your money back. If you have those accounts that have been set up that you didn’t make, go ahead and run a credit check on yourself, put a credit freeze in place, that should help stop the damage. And if you’ve been the victim of a scam, go ahead and file a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov.”
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