Why Removing Your Personal Information Online Can Avoid Scammers
Online scammers are becoming more numerous and better at what they do each day. There was a time when people were cautioned against providing their bank information or sending any money to an online solicitor. Currently, the methods of these internet predators are far more subtle, putting even savvy computer users at risk. Therefore, it’s important to understand why removing your personal information online can help you avoid internet scammers.
What Constitutes Personal Information Online?
Personally identifiable information, or PII, refers to any “information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity.” This can be stand-alone information that identifies someone or a combination of information that links to a certain individual, in both private and public domains.
Examples of PII include:
- Full, legal name
- Social security number
- Birthdate
- Address
- Phone number
- Driver’s license number
- Account numbers
- Email addresses
- Birthplace
- Passwords and/or personal identification numbers (PINs)
- Social media information
PII is valuable to scammers because access to this information allows them to impersonate another individual in order to take money from bank accounts, make credit card charges, open new accounts, receive medical treatment, and even commit other crimes. Victims of identity theft and online fraud can spend years repairing damage to their credit rating, legal reputation, and economic situation at great additional financial and emotional cost. As a result, anyone who enters personal information online is at risk of being a target for these internet scammers.
Cyber Scammers
Cyber scammers tend to use two primary methods when it comes stealing personal information online: hacking and phishing. Understanding each method can help protect your privacy and avoid falling victim to such cybercrime.
Hacking
Many people opt to use public WIFI when it’s available. Unfortunately, wireless hacking is prevalent through public WIFI or personal home networks that happen to be unsecured. When hackers connect to these networks, they can steal PII as well as potentially track an individual’s online presence.
This is dangerous because hackers can steal account information and passwords as a means of committing fraud and identity theft. This allows them to access websites, email accounts, and other online services while posing as someone else. For example, if you are the victim of wireless hacking, someone may be able to use your PII to impersonate you as an online shopper with your own account information.
Phishing
Scammers often use phishing as a means of phoning victims or getting them to open emails with attachments or links for the purpose of obtaining PII. Unfortunately, these phone calls and emails often appear to be official and legitimate, which is why phishing has been an effective method for compromising online privacy and stealing personal information.
Some examples of phishing scams include stealing phone numbers from online data and then using them to pose as the IRS, banking service, or other government agency as a means of coercion to collect further personal data. The same principal applies to email addresses.
Other phishing may take the form of business promotions or contest winnings by which someone is asked to provide personal information in order to win a prize. These internet scams can appear realistic and legitimate but have significant consequences for those who take the bait.
Unfortunately, there are numerous additional methods by which cybercriminals can steal online personal information. No internet user is immune from risk of fraud or identity theft. Therefore, it’s essential to understand ways to minimize such risk as much as possible through removing personal information online.
Removing Your Personal Information Online
Though it may seem like an impossible task, there are ways to remove your personal information online in order to avoid being a victim of an internet scammer. This does take some diligence and effort, but any reduction of online presence can help reduce the chances that your PII ends up in the wrong hands.
The best way to begin removing your personal information online is to either deactivate or delete social media accounts. This will not erase previous social media content, but it will prevent any further information from being accessed through these venues.
In addition, it’s wise to delete any mobile apps and online accounts that are not necessary. These applications are designed to collect personal data, from your name to shopping habits to geographical locations, and this data is at risk for hacking and theft. Cleaning up your computer is another means of removing access to personal information. This includes clearing your browser history often, deleting cookies, and updating security software with online privacy features.
Protecting Personal Information
Of course, it’s nearly impossible to avoid providing personal information online as well as deleting what is already there. However, there are security measures that can be taken to protect personal privacy and reduce the risk of falling victim to a scammer.
For example, only use public WIFI networks as a last resort and do not conduct any financial business during public WIFI use. At home, ensure your personal WIFI network is secure and never give out your internet password.
To avoid scams through phishing, never respond to emails requesting you to open an attachment or click on a link as a means of confirming personal information. Do not give out any personally identifying information over the phone as well. Government and financial agencies stipulate that they do not use email or phone as a means of requesting or confirming personal or financial information.
Though it may be unlikely to remove all personal information from the internet, there are methods of limiting online access to your PII and avoiding cyber scammers. The best method is prevention. Though much of life is currently lived online, you have the right to withhold any personal information that you do not wish to provide on the internet. A limited online presence reduces the risk of PII being available for cybercriminals.
The second-best method for avoiding scammers is awareness. Understanding their tactics and methods of fraud, such as hacking and phishing, will help you recognize scams when you see them and avoid confirming any PII or providing further information.
Overall, it takes commitment on the part of internet users to protect their personal information and privacy so that scams can be avoided.
