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We’re living in the data age. The things we do on our phones and computers, on our internet-enabled smart devices, and on websites leave a trail of our activities and our personal information. That personal information has value — not just to us, but to scammers and hackers who want to steal our identities. Here are five things you can do to keep scammers and hackers at bay.

  1. Secure your accounts so they’re hard to crack. Use a strong password. And enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on sensitive accounts like your email or financial accounts. 2FA adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of verification.
  2. Keep your security software, operating system and internet browsers and apps up to date to defend against the latest threats.
  3. Your wireless network is the gateway to all the Wi-Fi enabled devices in your home. To protect your connected devices, replace the default Wi-Fi network password and router admin password with a strong password. And encrypt your network to prevent unauthorized access.
  4. Set your computer and phone to lock when you’re not using them. That’ll prevent unauthorized access to your computer if you step away or to your phone if you lose it.
  5. Create a backup copy of your information. That way you can recover it if your device gets infected, hacked, stolen, or lost. Back up your data to the cloud or an external drive.

Report scammers and hackers at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. If someone stole your personal information, report it, and get recovery steps, at IdentityTheft.gov.

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It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.

The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

MELVIN T KOLB
August 23, 2024

thank you!

Dr Humaira Ali
August 23, 2024

Thanks .
The safety tips are easy to read and understand .
God bless all the members 0f FTC , who are efficiently serving the American citizenry .

AL HARTMAN
August 23, 2024

Thank you for your posts!

Nannette G Banker
August 23, 2024

I want to thank you for this article. I have had multiple hacks that were not able to get what they needed because of MFA. Great content and good to keep for reference.Everyone should have this info. God Bless and Thanks again.

Mary
August 23, 2024

Thank you for the information. Scammers are thick. I was scammed during covid.
Don't trust them

James
August 23, 2024

Very helpful tips. Thank you.

Marcia Litton
August 23, 2024

I can't find WiFi network default password in my device settings to change as recomended in the notice I received. Does someone at consumer FTC.gov have any suggestions.

FTC Staff
August 23, 2024

In reply to by Marcia Litton

To learn how to change default settings, read the FTC article about How to Secure Your Home Wi-Fi Network. It's at this link: consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-secure-your-home-wi-fi-network

ALVIN E MELENDEZ
August 23, 2024

You should send this article to every single phone - like an amber alert. This is extremely important in the days we live today.

Amina
August 23, 2024

Thank you

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