Staying Safe Online

There are many stories in the news, in newspapers and on Social Media about Romance Fraud or Catfishing, fake websites and shopping fraud, fraud targeted at older people, pension fraud and fake medicine.

On a personal level, you should make sure the equipment, passwords, and networks you are using are secure. You should also watch out for fraudsters who often try to impersonate institutions you trust, to try to trick you into handing over details that will allow them to impersonate you, charge you for a fake or shoddy service or take money from your account.

The companies you use for services, also need to take reasonable steps to make sure they are protecting your data. Protecting your data and the networks people in the greater community also happens nationally and internationally.

Also, you can do your bit to make sure that you do not circulate fake news, lies or other material intended to agitate or scare people by not forwarding digital chain mail. You can easily verify urbans legends on sites such as Snopes or double check on a reputable news sites such as the BBC.

We have also published other blog posts on similar topics. Click here to see them.

What you can do

Do not download files from people you do not know
Do not reuse your user name and password across ever site you use- that way if someone gets hold of one password they will not be able to access every other site you use. Chose a strong password.
Do not use unsecure public Wi-Fi to access your email or to enter your banking details.
Do not give sites such as Facebook, Google, or others your real date of birth and do not leave this information on by default.
Do use a disposable email address for sites you will only need to use once
Do not take quizzes that ask for personal information, such as the town you were born in, favourite colours etc.
Do regularly review your privacy settings as companies often change these
Do stay up to date on the different types of fraud , how to spot them and what you can do to protect yourself.
Do double check the email address the email is coming from
Do regularly get a copy of your credit file and check it for entries you don’t recognise. Equifax, Experian, and Noddle can all provide your credit file