Oliver: Simple steps can help prevent online scammers from making you their victim

Life is stressful enough these days. Yet, we must be vigilant to keep from getting scammed or having crooks make off with our hard-earned money or our personal information so that they can commit identity theft.

During the pandemic, I learned the hard way that crooks had gotten ahold of some of my personal information and were trying to scam the state of Illinois into sending them unemployment checks. Sadly, I wasn’t alone in this; the poor Department of Employment Security was overrun with people who had been ensnared in this same scheme.

Sometimes we just can’t prevent what the bad guys can do. However, we can take steps to prevent ourselves from being easy pickings.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and it’s a good time to go over ways to keep yourself safe when you’re online.

The Illinois Office of Comptroller offers these tips:

Think before you click: Don’t click on any links or attachments in texts or emails from senders you don’t recognize. Con artists often use email addresses that closely resemble ones from a retailer or other familiar business.

Don’t assume you won’t be a target for phishing: Everyone is a potential target for cons trying to get people to give out their personal information (phishing). It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, old or young, where you live or what you look like.

Take immediate action: If you suspect one of your accounts has been hacked or your identity has been stolen, change the account password right away, check your bank and credit card accounts for unusual activity. You can also freeze your credit with the three credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) so that no one can take out a loan or open a line of credit in your name.

Stick to your own devices: Never share your credentials or passwords. Never give remote access to your computer to an outside source.

Never give personal information: Do not provide personal information to a company unless you initiated the contact.

Use secure forms of payment: Credit cards are safer than debit cards. Federal law limits liability when using a credit card compared with a debit card. You have stronger fraud protection and a better chance of getting your money back if your credit card is lost or stolen, or if someone gets ahold of your credit card number. It’s also easier to trace credit card transactions online.

Don’t store credit card numbers online: Yes, it’s a pain to enter your number every time, but it lessens the chances of fraud.

Be aware of your surroundings at work: Lock your computer if you need to step away from your desk. Never leave confidential items on your desk at the end of the day and don’t leave your password written on a sticky note nearby.

Use a unique password: Come up with something unique and would be known by you and only you, not something that anybody could guess. Avoid passwords that someone could easily figure out, such as your street, pet or child’s name. Consider using a password manager app and multifactor authentication.

Be wary of package delivery messages: This may include random text messages and emails that alert you of delivery updates. Scammers will include a link in those messages that will most likely infect your device. Instead, visit the shipper’s website to verify any changes to your order.

Of course, a lot of this seems to be common sense. However, we just can’t be too careful these days.

I’ve had messages sent to me alleging to be from a neighbor who was having trouble with her Amazon account. The name of the neighbor was correct, but the pitch was clearly a scam.

Another time I received a tip about a grant from someone who purported to be a high school friend. I almost fell for that until I took the time to double-check with her. Nope, wasn’t her.

The crooks these days are always changing their tactics. It’s a good idea to try to stay up to date on the latest schemes.

Let’s be careful out there.

• Joan Oliver is the former Northwest Herald assistant news editor. She has been associated with the Northwest Herald since 1990. She can be reached at jolivercolumn@gmail.com.