These days’ financial scams have become commonplace. Our online lifestyles have given determined criminals access to just about all of our information. And as much as we are promised watertight digital security from service providers, there seems to be a continuous stream of news stories detailing stolen personal information.

In fact just last week, a defence contractor had their computers comprised by a ‘hacker’ who got away with secret material regarding Australia’s defence capabilities. Now if someone can access in- formation from a computer associated with the Defence Force who not only coined the phrase ‘top secret’ but also have the ability to enforce it. So what hope is there for your local credit union pro- tecting your financial information.

So it is very important that we as individuals stay vigilant and don’t make it easy for criminal elements. There are many ways to keep your personal stuff personal and here are seven tips for starters.

  1. Be particularly careful of unsolicited offers in your email promising easy money. The rule with these, ‘if it sounds too good to be true it usually is” Just delete it and move on.
  2. Never give your personal, banking or credit card information to anyone who makes contact with you. And be assured that your Bank will never, ever contact you to ask for it. They should already have it!
  3. Make sure you always check your bank and credit card statements every month. If you see any- thing out of the ordinary, contact your bank immediately.
  4. Destroy every document with your personal information on it. If you don’t have a paper shredder, tear them up into small unreadable pieces.
  5. Any password you have should always be hard for someone to work out, and of course, don’t tell it to anyone else.
  6. Be aware of what you are posting online and, try to limit what you share.
  7. And finally, always ‘ere’ on the side of caution when giving out any personal information, it’s “always better to be safe than sorry”.

Thanks for reading, see you next time.

Take me to the homepage – No, bugger that, take me to Amazon, I want to go shopping,