Tips to Protect Your Identity This Summer

April 5, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Travelers with Map 600x340LifeLock is a financial sponsor of National PTA, and has been invited to submit a blog post as part of their engagement with PTA. National PTA does not endorse any commercial entity, product, or service, and no endorsement is implied by this content.

We were flying to the Caribbean—no simple task from the West Coast. First we took the red eye to Miami. Then we had a five-hour layover, only to find out our connecting flight had been canceled when tropical storms moved in. While scrambling to find a new flight, I left my billfold in an airport waiting area. And when we decamped to a Miami hotel for the night, I left my phone in the taxi.

I was lucky. When I realized my billfold was missing, I ran back and found it right where I left it. And I was able to use the find-my-phone feature to alert the cabbie to its whereabouts in his backseat. He drove the phone back to me. Had I lost either—or both—identity theft could have soon followed.

I don’t think I’m alone in not thinking clearly when I’m out of my element, particularly after a red eye and when everything seems to be going wrong. But even if you’re a levelheaded, clear-eyed, always-on road warrior, things can happen that are out of your control.

With spring here and the end of the school year in sight, many of us are starting to make travel plans. We’ve rounded up some useful tips to help protect yourself—and your identity—as you hit the road.

Smart travel starts before you leave. At home, make sure to keep your most important documents in a safe place. Use a fireproof safe to protect your personal information and valuables, including your Social Security cards, birth certificates and marriage license.

Protect your smartphone and other devices with a passcode. Should your device get stolen or lost, a passcode will help protect you from theft, unwanted usage charges and misuse of your personal data.

Place a hold on your mail and newspapers while you’re gone. A stack of newspapers at your front door is a give-away that no one is home. And bank statements and credit card offers piling up in your mailbox can quickly become a treasure-trove of information to crooks. The U.S. Postal Service will hold your mail while you’re away and deliver it all at once or hold it for you to pick up when you return. Simply fill out this easy online form.

Be careful when using ATMs. Identity thieves have been known to modify ATMs by adding card skimmer devices to them. Sometimes you can spot these altered card readers by inspection. If parts look loose or not quite right, find another machine or use an ATM inside the bank.

Don’t get lazy when it’s time to walk out of your hotel room. Lock up your valuables in the hotel safe. Stow your passport, financial cards and IDs securely.

As it turns out, a LOT can go wrong when you’re on the road. But the more you think about it and plan ahead, the better off you’ll be. Oh, and don’t leave your billfold in an airport waiting area or your phone in a cab! You might not be as lucky as I was, and even if you are, you don’t need the grief from your travel companions. Trust me on this.

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Cory Warren is the blog editor of LifeLock UnLocked.

 

Filed Under: General, Health and Safety Tagged With: , , , ,

Four Tips to Tougher Passwords

March 23, 2016 By Leave a Comment

LifeLock is a financial sponsor of National PTA, and has been invited to submit a blog post as part of their engagement with PTA. National PTA does not endorse any commercial entity, product, or service, and no endorsement is implied by this content.

If you’re making an effort to use stronger, more complex passwords on your online accounts, good for you! But be careful—a longer password isn’t always a stronger one.

Here’s what I mean. “123456” is an excellent example of a weak password. Changing it to “12345678” certainly makes it longer, but not necessarily any stronger. And changing “password” to “password123” doesn’t increase its strength by much either.

Longer is better, but weak is wshutterstock_242345959eak—no matter a password’s length—particularly if a password incorporates a simple pattern. To improve your passwords, you need to add complexity. Here are four tips to help you do so:

Randomize it
Consider using a randomized series of characters that incorporate a mix of letters (both uppercase and lowercase), numbers and symbols. While long words such as your hometown or company name could be easy for others to decipher, a random variety of characters will leave them guessing.

An easy way to remember a password that is random and difficult to decode is to create a sentence and then list characters that represent the sentence. For example, you can use a sentence like, “My favorite place is the beach,” and break it down into something like, “mFp1StB!” As you’ll read here, LifeLock educational advisor Jean Chatzky takes a similar approach for her passwords.

Variety is the spice of, um, passwords
It’s important to use different passwords for each account you have for obvious reasons. If someone guesses one password, it’ll be easier for that person to hack into your other accounts with the same password.

Update ‘em
When you update a password—for instance, following a data breach—it’s easy to fall back on ones you’ve already used. Don’t do it. Work to keep each password fresh and unique—like you!—and, of course, strong and complex.

Consider a password management app
Password management applications act like a digital wallet, storing your personal passwords, login details and other information in one place. All you need to remember is one strong password that allows you to log in to the password management app itself. There are many on the market, so search and see which one may work best for you. Learn more in this LifeLock UnLocked blog post from the Identity Theft Resource Center.

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Cory Warren is the blog editor of LifeLock UnLocked.

 

 

 

 

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No Refund Coming? Tax Fraud is Still a Threat

March 9, 2016 By Leave a Comment

LifeLock is a financial sponsor of National PTA, and has been invited to submit a blog post as part of their engagement with PTA. National PTA does not endorse any commercial entity, product, or service, and no endorsement is implied by this content.

Even if you expect to write a check to the Internal Revenue Service this year—rather than receive a refund—you should still file your taxes as soon as possible. Why? You’re still at risk of becoming a victim of income tax fraud.

Fraudsters don’t care about your actual tax or income figures. All the crooks need is your personal identification information—your name and Social Security number. Everything else— address, job information—they’ll make up, so that they’ll get a return, of course.

If you’ve been the victim of identity theft or a data breach, the Identity Theft Resource Center says that becoming a victim of tax identity theft is a very real possibility. In other words, your personal information is “out there,” and a tax thief may have it and put it to use. The crooks get to work as soon as the filing season opens. (This year, that was Jan. 19, 2016, for electronic tax returns.)

The General Accounting Office says the IRS paid out $5.8 billion for the 2013 tax year. So many tax returns being processed means that if you’re the victim of tax identity theft, it could take months to resolve your claim. As painful as it is to gather your documents and file your taxes, it’s no doubt much easier and less stressful than discovering you’re a victim of identity tax fraud.

Here are three different ways you can report a tax fraud issue:

  1. If you suspect someone stole your identity and used your Social Security number, then complete Form 14039 and mail a printed copy to the IRS.
  2. If you suspect fraudulent activity or abusive tax scheme by a tax return preparer, then complete Form 14157 and mail a printed copy to the IRS.
  3. If you suspect or know of an individual or business that isn’t complying with tax laws, then use Form 3449-A and mail to the IRS, Fresno, CA 93888.

Take advantage of LifeLock’s protection plans. As a proud supporter of National PTA, LifeLock is offering all PTA members and their families a very special offer. Learn more about the offer.

You can also visit the Identity Theft Resource Center and Internal Revenue Service websites for additional resources.

Cory Warren is the blog editor of LifeLock UnLocked.

Filed Under: General, Money Matters Tagged With: ,

Income Tax Fraud: File Early to Reduce Your Risk

February 29, 2016 By Leave a Comment

LifeLock is a financial sponsor of National PTA, and has been invited to submit a blog post as part of their engagement with PTA. National PTA does not endorse any commercial entity, product, or service, and no endorsement is implied by this content.

Income tax fraud is on the rise. According to CNBC, the total amount stolen from taxpayers may hit $21 billion in 2016, up from “just” $6.5 billion in 2013.

Federal and state agencies have invested in new technology to thwart fraudsters, but security reporter Brian Krebs reports identity thieves are already testing those defenses.

Why is the problem so bad? LifeLock’s expert Nada Baiz says a big reason is because filing a fraudulent tax return is relatively easy. All you need is a name, date of birth and Social Security number. That’s it! All of the other details— address, employment, salary and refund information —can be made up by the criminal.

Baiz says with all the data breaches we’ve seen lately, criminals can easily find the necessary sensitive information—possibly yours—to file a fraudulent return. Here are a couple of tips that’ll help you get through tax season unscathed:

• The best preventive measure against income tax fraud is to beat the criminal to the punch. File your income taxes ASAP. That way, the fraudster will be the one receiving the message that the IRS already accepted a tax return with your Social Security number.

• Do your homework and research your CPA or your tax prep software. You want to be sure you are filing taxes with a trusted professional tax preparer— one who is properly licensed and has a positive clientele history. The same is true for the software that you are using. Make sure it follows safety protocols.

Take advantage of LifeLock’s protection plans. As a proud supporter of National PTA, LifeLock is offering all PTA members and their families a very special offer. Learn more about the offer.

You can also visit the Identity Theft Resource Center and Internal Revenue Service websites for additional resources.

Cory Warren is the blog editor of LifeLock UnLocked.

Filed Under: General, Money Matters

Is She Doing Homework Online—or Watching Music Videos?

October 7, 2015 By Leave a Comment

LifeLock is a financial sponsor of National PTA, and has been invited to submit a blog post as part of their engagement with PTA. National PTA does not endorse any commercial entity, product, or service, and no endorsement is implied by this content.

Your kid says she’s doing homework online, but what’s really going on? Good question, huh?

As one mom told us, “My daughter’s school has an one-on-one iPad program, and every kid in the school (about 1,000) has a school-supplied iPad. I have to say it has been a struggle to try to teach her how to use the iPad responsibly, because they can always claim they are doing homework, while we know they are probably watching music videos.”

Given what I’ve experienced with my 14-year-old son, I know this parent isn’t alone.

That’s why we worked with National PTA to develop The Smart Talk. It’s a free and easy online tool to help you produce ground rules for how your child uses technology. Yes, you, as the parent, still have to be the enforcer. But by sitting down with you to answer a series of questions, your child has some skin in the game.

The end result, after about 15 minutes together, a set of rules you can post on the fridge so that everyone is on the same page.

The mom quoted above had The Smart Talk with her daughter and was glad she did.

“My daughter was reluctant to do it at first, but once we started, it was actually good. I’d like to see this adopted more widely.”

If you need an excuse to raise the issue with your son or daughter, we have one. October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, a great reason for you—and your kid—to take action to stay safe online.

And if it helps to start with a laugh, check out this video—kids talking about technology.

Cory Warren is the blog editor at LifeLock UnLocked.

Filed Under: General, Health and Safety