Tips to Avoid Scams

You are neither dumb nor naive if you fall victim to a scam. I, myself one time did. I was distracted at the time. I should have seen the signs. You're not alone.

Here are some tips to help you stay safe:

• When you get a phone call. No matter who you think it's from or what voice is on the other end, if they ask for anything like personal information or money, just hang up and call whoever they claimed to be directly. Bank or person.
• When you get a text or email with any link in it. Don't click on it unless you asked for that link specifically. If you get a notice from your bank or a company you know, just don't click anything. Instead, go directly to the site or call them with information you have and can trust.
• Don't use the same password for multiple accounts online. Track your passwords and use different ones for different accounts. Let's say you have "Pencil123" as your password for your bank account. And it's easy to remember. So, you also use it for your email, your dog walker, your grocery delivery service, etc. Sure, it's a crap password already, but after that if any of those benign accounts get hacked, then your bank account will be compromised too. Simply don't re-use passwords.

Here's a video from CBS News about how AI voice scams work: YouTube Video

Ultimately, if you receive any communication, assume it's from a scammer until proven otherwise.

How to Choose a Great Password That's Easy to Remember?

This is easier than most people think...

First, here's a quick chat with ChatGPT which illustrates in more detail what I'm saying below.

Now, let's look at an example:

Password 1: "234gS#@Q"

Password 2: "The other day I went to the store#1"

At first glance, the first password looks more secure. It's not. The second is a lot more secure and easier to remember if you're ever in a bind.

Generally you have one of two options:

1. Use a password manager like 1Password. This lets you generate random passwords, and you don't have to remember them at all.
2. Pick your own password and use any sentence you can think of, just don't ever include anything personal like your birthday or your kid's birthday, etc. And yeah, sometimes you have to include a number or a special character.

Bookmark this post. There's more to come.