Fraud Prevention Guide

There are two things everyone could do with acknowledging when it comes to fraud:

• It is everywhere
• It always will be

Preventing fraud

While ever there’s value in the illegitimate access of other people’s personal information, criminals will find a way of making it happen. Which in turn means that the best anyone can do is take every realistic measure to protect themselves.

So with this in mind, what follows is a brief summary of just a few of the most important things you should be doing right now, to minimise your likelihood of falling victim to fraud:

Passwords

Not only should passwords be impossible to guess, but you should also change them on a regular basis. Never use the same password for more than one account and avoid using dates of birth, pet names and so on at all costs.

Credit Report

If you haven’t taken a look at your credit report in a while, make now the time to get it done. This is often the only way of pinpointing unauthorised activity using your personal information, which could be having a negative impact on your credit score.

Suspicious Activity

Always keep your eyes open for any signs of any suspicious activity whatsoever. If you have even the slightest concern that you may have been targeted, bring it to the attention of actionfraud.police.uk immediately.

Card Details

Never store card information online, regardless of how frequently you use any given store. Think about what might happen if a criminal gained access to your mobile device or computer.

Phishing Emails

No banks, lender or responsible business will ever ask you to confirm your login details, passwords or PINs by way of email. Should this happen, it’s 99.99% certain it’s a fraudulent message.

Phishing Phone Calls

The same also goes for telephone calls – never give your personal information to anyone who calls you for any reason. If it’s a genuine caller, you’ll be able to call them back to verify the source, then provide the information they require…though never your PIN.

Public Wi-Fi

Try to avoid public Wi-Fi at all costs – especially when accessing any of your online accounts or entering your private data. Absolutely anyone on the network at the time could be watching and recording everything you do.

Keep It Hidden

Always be aware of the fact that anyone could be looking over your shoulder at any time. As it often takes just two words to gain access to your bank accounts, email and so on, you need to keep them hidden when entering them in public.

Online Info

Be careful as to how much personal information you share on sites like Facebook and other social media services. If you hand out your name, date of birth and address, this is usually all that’s needed to apply for credit cards and other forms of finance fraudulently in your name.

Security

Always use the very best antivirus and general security suites for your connected devices – including your computer and mobile devices alike. And ensure you keep all of your apps and operating systems up to date with the latest versions and software updates.

Trusted Sites

Last but not least, never make the mistake of providing any of your information to any website or web seller that isn’t 100% trusted. If unsure, Google search their name prior to going ahead, to see what others have to say about them.