Here’s how Texans can protect their personal information from online scammers
Editor’s note: The above video is from 2020.
Phone scammers are impersonating Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office personnel and falsely accusing people of crimes, according to a Monday, Aug. 18 news release from the sheriff’s office.
The scammers claim that folks are missing jury duty, have unpaid fines or are under investigation for other crimes, according to the news release. Scammers are telling victims these offenses will go away if they pay up with gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency.
TCSO said it will not call anyone to demand payments over the phone and does not accept gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency as forms of payment.
If anyone receives a call like this, the office said to hang up and never send any payment over the phone, and report it to the Federal Trade Commission.
While this is a phone scam, it’s never too late to learn how to protect yourself from scammers on the phone or online. Here are a few more tips for those looking to protect their personal information from scammers and/or remove it from the internet completely.
How to protect personal information from scammers
People’s personal information is valuable to hackers and scammers, which is why they try so hard to get it, according to the FTC.
To that end, the FTC has put together a list of what folks can do to protect themselves online. Here’s what to know:
- Keep software up to date - Update software regularly on computers, tablets and phones. Critical patches and protections are often included in software updates.
- Secure your home Wi-Fi network - A router is the access point between devices and the internet. For example, if malware gets onto any device connected to the home network, it could spread to other devices on the same network.
- Use stronger passwords and two-factor authorization - Create a long password with letters, numbers and characters. Installing two-factor authorization can also help add another layer of protection. The most common form of two-factor authorization is having a code texted or emailed to the device.
- Protect against attempts to steal information - The FTC said it’s important to know when someone is trying to trick you into giving them your personal information, such as in phishing emails or text messages. Don’t click any links in unexpected emails or texts. Instead, verify with the company for authenticity.
- Know what to do if something goes wrong - Act quickly in the event of someone hacking your email or social media accounts, by following these guides for each account. If you think someone has stole personal information, visit the FTC’s identity theft website to report it.
How to remove information from the internet
For those looking to remove personal information from the internet, Norton’s LifeLock has a few tips:
- Delete social media accounts - The more accounts someone has, the more personal information is out there. Make a list of your current social media accounts and those you may have forgotten about such as MySpace and LiveJournal.
- Ask data brokers to delete information - Data brokers collect and sell people’s legally accessible information from public records. To remove data from these sites, search your name and “data broker” to find where your information is. Visit the website and follow the procedures to opt out.
- Ask Google to remove your search results - LifeLock says search engine results can expose personal information. By itself the results may be harmless, but together, it could be revealing. Fill out Google’s form to remove search results.
- Delete unnecessary apps from your phone - Most apps collect personal details such as your name, email and location, which could be hacked. To reduce this, remove apps you are no longer using.
- Tell apps and websites not to track you - Cookies are data files that track web browsing habits. If you do not want this tracked, go into the settings and select “block third-party cookies.”
- Delete unnecessary accounts - Just like old social media accounts or unused apps, it’s smart to delete unnecessary accounts like old emails, shopping profiles or accounts of that nature.
- Clean up emails - Emails hold insights into your online presence, including what accounts you’ve created. Organize your inbox and unsubscribe from unwanted emails.
