Be Wary of Old Documents and Old “Friends”
The harder you are to find, the safer you are
Deleting something and starting fresh is something generally discouraged by social media and tech giants. It’s hard enough to throw away physical junk, but it’s even harder to throw away years of digital data that just sits around. Make no mistake, digital clutter is still clutter. Hoarding is never a good thing physically or in cyberspace. Clean up what you don’t need and bring back some free space into your life.
There’s a lot of important information stored in old digital files that could be used against you by criminals. Chances are, you don’t need these old documents anymore unless if they’re really important. Your name, birthday, mother’s maiden name, social security number, address, and so on could be tucked away into a tax return or mortgage PDF – take the time to password secure/encrypt these files if you absolutely need them on your computer. It’ll save you tons of trouble in the future while keeping you protected.
These digital documents are like gold slips to criminal hackers because they’re more authentic than just scraping together a bunch of personal information and tossing it into a text file. It’s easier to market and sell someone’s tax return if it’s a legitimate PDF that the IRS received. Sure, these things can be faked, but as long as the name, address, and social security number match, then it’s as good as real to an identity fraudster.
If you ever find your personal information online, then you should immediately contact Wiperts to help you erase your presence online. Your personal information is important and when it is stolen, a lot of everyday procedures become a magnitude harder to execute. There’s a lot of money to be finessed from lines of credit, which is why identity fraud has grown exponentially along with information technology. Why commit strong arm robbery when digital crime is more lucrative, carries a lighter sentence, and can be done anywhere with a decent internet connection?
That account needs to go
Your MySpace account probably still exists if you can access it. There are a lot of old accounts that you made, and chances are, they’re still hanging around. Why would these companies even keep years-old data around like that? Well, with the advent of machine learning and big data analysis, all that personal information can be mined for profits. The more information that can be dug up on you, the better a company or criminal can profile you.
Maybe you were really good friends with someone in the past but fell out of touch. One day out of the blue, you receive a text message. It’s your “old friend” that wants to get in touch, and they miraculously found your phone number. They know all about your old life and want to see how you’re doing. You even receive pictures of you two together. Isn’t that nostalgic? They live in a different state now, but would love to play some video games with you or something.
After they befriend you, the scam begins. This is no friend, this is a social engineer that has weaseled their way into your life and will one day try to get something out of you. Maybe they don’t have any money but would really like to play the newest Call of Duty game with you. Out of guilt, you buy them the game. This is a small scam, but hey, $60 is still $60. They might even be in it for the long con of 5, 10, or 15 years.
Old photobooks get lost and memories are meant to fade away. It’s okay to be nostalgic and reminisce, but we live in the present, moving on into the future. Don’t let the fear of losing old things keep you from getting the things you want in the future. If you suspect you have old accounts online that might compromise you, tell your Wiperts specialist as much as you can. Wiperts is dedicated to keeping your personal information off the internet as much as possible. Odds are, your old accounts are somewhat linked to your new accounts, so finding your ancient internet history isn’t impossible. Let Wiperts.com help you today.
