Security is the top priority of our safety, our data and private information are essential to us as such we must protect them at all cost, we live in a modern era where security is no longer regarded with full effects, fraudster, and scammer has taken over the internet and the world at large, as we grow in a digital world, technology expands, mobilization takes place and experience is increased. There is a saying “whatever has an advantage also has a disadvantage” as technology trends to grow humans tend to grow smart. The Internet is one of the great tools used in our present era. If a question is to be asked, who are the users of the internet, what will be your response? Well, Humans are the originators and users of the internet. That is to say, whatever is developed by humans can also be manipulated by humans, internet and other online activities
Internet is a wide source of valuable benefit to humans, most virtual operations and activities carried out today is as a result of the use of the internet, the internet was made to solve and reduce human problems but today the internet has turned out to be something else, the internet is now a tool used to lure people into scam and fraud activities. Fraudsters and scammers have taken over the space of the internet and other online activities with their sophisticated technique of criminal operation, the internet is no longer safe to leak your confidential information.
The Internet is not only used to rip people off online, other mobile online activities can also be used to dupe people, anyone can be lured into a scam but experience and proactive measures are required to stay safe online. In this article, you get to understand how fraud activities are permed online and how to stay secure from scammers and fraudsters.
SEVEN EFFECTIVE TIPS TO STAY SAFE ONLINE
below are seven effective things to do to avoid getting scammed online, as internet level of security grow new techniques are developed to break and breach into our private data
DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR PRIVATE INFORMATION ONLINE
Our Private information is essential to us, it is important to keep it secure and safe from fraudsters and scammers. Exposing your personal affairs online is precarious and easy to get invaded by hackers, your private data online are meant to be secure and kept away from cunning fraudsters and intruders. Your private details like Name, date of birth, and address should not be disclosed to strangers or random websites online, disclosing your confidential details can result in threats, blackmail, and all forms of fraudulent activity. If your information gets to a scammer or fraudster they can use your information to frame you up with their criminal activity. be cautious on how you give out your information online.
USE A STRONG AND SECURE PASSWORD ONLINE
A Password contains digits that protect our data online. Password is a security measure that protects our data’s online, most virtual activities we perform online require password verification to access it, using a secure and strong password on data’s and online activities will be difficult for scammers to intrude into your personal affair, using a short password to encrypt your data is not secure it can easily get susceptible to hackers. When creating a secure password for your online activities and affairs, make your password long and easy to remember by trying to generate a unique password by mixing up random digits like numbers, uppercase alphabets, lowercase alphabets, and a special symbol. Avoid using regular passwords for all your online operations, try to change password if notice any form of attack
INSTALL A FIRM SECURITY SOFTWARE / PROGRAM
They are vibrant software developed to secure and encrypt our data and private information, also there are different security software developed across mobile platforms like Pc, Mobile phone, and iPad. Get a reliable anti-spyware, antivirus, and virtual private network to keep your data secure when using the internet. Another strong security system is the firewall, firewall is also a good security software that protects our data. A firewall is most used in computer systems they scan and block any visible threat or malware. It is highly recommendable to run security software on your device to keep guards on your private information.
BACKUP YOUR PRIVATE DATA AND FILE REGULARLY
A backup is a recovery method, backup keeps hold of data and valuable resources and can be accessed at any time. Backup is an important aspect of security where you have no worries about losing your data. As we use the internet on a daily basis it is important to make some backups of your data and information to avoid losing them. There are different methods of making recovery, it all depends on what kind of data you make a backup. With a backup system, if you lose your data online to either a scammer or fraudster you will be able to retrieve them if you make a proper backup. Backups saves a lot, especially when you lose your data online.
BE WARY OF UNUSUAL PAYMENTS ONLINE
Online payment is one of the sensitive measures one should be cautious about. Online payment is common across most business platforms on the internet, transactions are made easy and wireless, goods and products are purchased online. But dealing with payments online isn’t easy if you are not smart enough, you will be duped online. Before making payment online, enable to read the payment policy, observe the website payment standards before taking a bold step of paying for stuff online. After using your browser to make transactions and payments, always remember to clear browser cookies and caches.
DEAL WITH SECURE AND REPUTABLE WEBSITES
There are billions of websites on the internet but not all are secured, dealing with a secure website is important to the safety of our data. When using the internet to browse, always check and observe the site's SSL, if the website you are browsing on doesn't have a valid SSL then the website is not secured. SSL is a secure socket layer certificate that encrypts the connection between a user and the website. To detect valid SSL sites, there is a padlock logo icon behind the URL of every website.
IGNORE POP UP ADS AND SPAM MESSAGES
Pop-up ads are annoying and deleterious to our mobile devices, they are forced into our mobile phones to get our attention. Pop-up ads are mostly not valuable content, they are used as a means to delude victims. Pop-up ads are forced onto our internet browser, and they are very distractive. Pop-up ads mostly contain virus and phishing links that are vulnerable to affecting and erasing our data. Avoid pop-up ads and do not click on it, make sure you enable an ad blocker on your internet browser to avoid unusual pop-up ads. And spam messages are most sent to our mail inbox and SMS inbox, they are also a means of advertising and phishing attacks. However, ignore and delete spam messages without a valid source.
These seven essential tips mentioned above will guide and keep you safe from online scams and cybercriminals, be careful on how you participate in online activities and stay away from random websites, adverts and other strange platforms.