Ten Ways To Stay Safe This Christmas

Gift Grabbers

If you have treated your wife to that 52 inch wide-screen television she never really wanted, make sure you break down the boxes afterwards, as thieves are more likely to target homes with home theatre or PC boxes in the trash. Avoid putting bills, receipts and financial statements in the bin, as increasingly ID fraudsters empty rubbish bins to piece together old bank statements, utility bills and receipts. It is also possible to intercept your post, before it even reaches your front door, especially if you live in apartment blocks or use mail boxes. When you go on holiday, post often quickly builds up, and if not secured, can be easily stolen. Similarly, don’t forget that using Facebook and other social networks to post photos of expensive presents, or even the dates when you are away from home over the holidays, can act as an invitation for would-be thieves.

Protect your New Laptop

If you received a new PC or laptop make sure you enable the firewall before connecting to the Internet and use anti-malware software. It can take just 9 seconds for your new PC/laptop to receive its first ‘ping’ attack and less than a minute to receive its first virus.

‘Free’ Wi-Fi and Wireless Network Hacks

If you have got a shiny new router for Christmas, ensure your wireless network is secure. The range of the Wi-Fi network will often radiate beyond the confines of your house or property, meaning that it would be vulnerable to ‘wardriving’ (i.e. the act of searching for Wi-Fi wireless networks by a person in a moving vehicle, using a portable computer so they can use your unsecured network for free). These Wi-Fi hijackers could then sit outside your house and use your wireless network to anonymously download all sorts of illegal material. In the UK, it is worth remembering that using an unsecured wireless network belonging to someone else without their permission is illegal and punishable by law.

Account Check Cons

Be wary of phoney ‘representatives’ of banks, or any regular suppliers, contacting you by phone or email to ask for account details in order to update their records. Callers will often claim that they need certain data in order to check the security of your account whilst actually obtaining very valuable information to carry out fraud. If you think the call is genuine, ask to call them back directly and check the number is real by visiting their website before you call back. Recently in the UK, fraudsters have been calling members of the public to ‘verify stored personal data because of the Data Protection Act’. If in any doubt, ask them to tell you what data they hold on you before you verify any details.