How to avoid cell phone identity theft

Today, smartphones have become a way of life. They are used for much more than just a talking to others. Users shop, do their banking, pay bills, and surf their social media sites on their phone on a daily basis. Something that most users fall prey to is the feeling of security that have when using their phone. Unfortunately, a stolen phone can ruin your credit in a very short period of time. If you are diligent about taking steps to prevent identity theft, understanding how a phone can be a factor in identity theft is important.

Stored Passwords

Many passwords are automatically stored on a phone and users don’t give it a second thought. If your phone gets stolen, it only takes a matter of seconds for a thief to get into your accounts with your stored passwords. Even if you have a passcode on your phone to gain entry to it, most hackers can break the code very quickly. Once a thief has access to your bank accounts or credit cards, your lost cell phone can pave the way to a stolen identity and ruined credit.

Forget Default Settings

The default settings that many phones come with are not those that offer the highest level of security. This gives thieves easy access to your information. Try to learn as much about your phone as possible to determine the most secure settings to use. If you are unsure, call the customer service line to determine which settings will be the most useful for you. You should strive to have your data encrypted, your information to be erased, and passwords to be used on every app or feature that you use on your phone. If you were to leave your phone behind, even if you get it back, you have no idea who tried to access your information and how successful they were. If you do leave your phone behind or lose it altogether, it is a good idea to perform a credit check to ensure that no unauthorized charges occurred.

Social Media is Dangerous

You might think that you are innocently sharing your status, likes, and dislikes on social media sites, but in reality, you are giving many third parties access to your information. In most cases, the information is secure, but not all. There are hackers out there, just waiting for your information to be handed to them through your social media sites that are accessed on your cell phone. This is especially dangerous when you do not log out of your social media sites on your phones, allowing them to remain open and easy for hackers to access. If you use social media frequently, monitoring your credit report on a regular basis is important in order to ensure that your information has not wound up in the wrong hands, even if your phone has never been stolen.

Locating your Phone

Today’s technology enables you to track where your phone is at all times, as long as you enable that feature. When you back up your phone, using its cloud features, you might have the possibility to locate your phone if it is stolen and even be able to delete your information remotely, which decreases the amount of information that a hacker might receive from your phone. Because this feature is not automatically enabled, you must find out from your phone’s manufacturer how to enable it in order to be fully protected.

If you have a lost cell phone, you put your identity at risk of being stolen not to mention the fact that a lost or stolen phone can ruin your credit. Even if your entire identity is not stolen, hackers could possibly obtain your bank account or credit card information, causing significant damage to your credit. If you lose your phone or suspect that it has been hacked, it is important to perform a credit check to determine if any harm was done to your credit to enable you to take the appropriate steps to rectify the situation. A stolen identity or hacked accounts are nothing to take lightly and, with the advent of today’s technology, it is a very real possibility for many people who own smartphones.

Kedy is an active finance blogger who is fond of sharing interesting finance management tips to encourage people to manage their personal finances. More specifically, she advocates that people should check credit reports and scores regularly.