Posted on 10/07/2024 7:35:13 AM PDT by ducttape45
Hello all. Just wanted to pass on word so ya'all will have a head's up.
I was notified by son in FL that all his online credentials was hacked. He didn't go into specifics (I'm sure that will be forthcoming) but he had to migrate to a new email address and his financial logon credentials had to be changed as well. I was also informed by my ex-wife that her Google Play was hacked as well.
I hear this kind of stuff is on the rise, so I implore all my fellow Freepers to be on their guard. I never store any financial info on my phone or computer, and I never use Google Play either. I have only one bank app on my phone and I rarely use it. I also keep all sensitive info off my home network. I keep it all on external drives and I get it out only when I need it.
So please, I implore everyone, take extra precautions. It seems these days this kind of stuff is happening more and more and I would hate to hear of any of you having the same experience.
ShadowAce, I don’t know if this kind of thing would be something you can pass along to your IT Ping List, but if so, please do so. Thank you.
I know a techie type who says phones are safer than computers for banking, etc. Don’t know why he says that. I just initiated Lifelock coverage, maybe that will help.
I had Lifelock until I bought a new car. Never got a heads up from them.
He’s not a techie.
My recommendation; make all of your passwords ridiculously complex.
Use uppercase, lowercase, numbers and at least one non-letter character.
Make it long.
Because they are long and complex, you may want to save them. My personal belief is that if you store them in software, you’re inviting a breach of the kind described above but the above appears to result from a email intrusion, which I will cover below. If your passwords are so complex you are likely to forget them, write them down. Just write down the passwords, but be cryptic about what they are for. Do NOT write “password” anywhere on your list. You’ll want to store these in a safe place (not your purse or wallet) but by being cryptic about the purpose of the list and what each one is for, even if someone finds it, they probably wont know what they are looking at.
Finally, email.
This is your most important password of them all.
You need to use an email service that you can trust, and you need to only log into your email on computers and devices that you can trust. Not public or shared computers.
VPN is even better.
If someone breaches your email, they can go into all of your other accounts (banking, property, legal, utilities, etc) and use their “change password” protocols to have new passwords sent to your (breached) email.
ALL of his online credentials could be hacked only if they were all stored in the same place ... could you find out WHERE they were stored and let us know ... otherwise, generic, a “someone had everything hacked” isn’t very helpful ...
“He’s not a techie.”
Compared to me he is, but that’s not saying much!
Google.
They are infiltrating everything like a fever right now. They even have Verizon working for them to pipe all texts through them.
This is the BlacRock NWO tapping into everyone in every direction possible. Things are no longer “normal”. And if we do not greatly change our lifestyle we are just deer in the headlights. They are gathering all your sensitive credentials for banks, business, Government services, Medical Portals, EVERYTHING.
For the nay sayers... No it is not a theory, it is happening in real time right now. The NWO is in full gear to collect all sensitive data on everyone so they can control them. It is the ramp up to Chinese style control over everyone in the world. And no, Trump cannot stop this. It is going to happen with or without him.
“I never store any financial info on my phone or computer”
Me either.....I keep everything on an external hard drive that only gets plugged in when I need it
Lifelock themselves were hacked and customer’s data stolen.
“My recommendation; make all of your passwords ridiculously complex.
Use uppercase, lowercase, numbers and at least one non-letter character.
Make it long.”
It doesn’t matter anymore. Google is collecting full credentials no matter what they are.
If you have a Discover card use their credit monitoring for 15 dollars a month. They saved our butts more than once. It is well worth the 15 a month!
I’m not impressed with lifelock.....I was involved in a data breach while with the DoD and we were provided a 3rd party monitoring service for a year.
It ran concurrently with my lifelock and it was seeing things lifelock never did......that was the end of that.
It doesn’t matter anymore. Google is collecting full credentials no matter what they are.
~~~
Who uses google???
This is why I'm hard core about not using things like my phone to pay for stuff. I don't use Google Play and I never store my credit card credentials on either my phone or PC. I'm old school and don't trust the modern way of doing things. I also keep cash on hand just in case.
As for email, yes, I also have a Google email but I don't use it for financial transactions. It just too unsafe and I don't trust Google to keep my info safe. That said, I'm going to migrate to something like Protonmail soon.
One way to protect yourself is to NEVER type in a username and password. Copy and paste them from a password safe. I use KeyPass myself.
The most easiest, most insidious malware to be infected by is a keylogger. It records every keystroke you make and sends it periodically as a text file to home base. A password safe eliminates the danger.
Another thing to do is have your three credit reports locked. It’s the same thing LifeLock does but they do it for $30 a month and you can do it for free. Costs $5 to temporarily unfreeze one to allow a bank or lender to perform a credit check.
https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
http://www.transunion.com/securityfreeze
https://www.experian.com/freeze
I don’t even keep photos on my phone. It’s used for texts and phone calls, that’s it.
Use different email addresses. For example, I have one email address that I use for FR and other forums; etc. I have another email address for moderate money stuff (I.e. bills, utilities, online orders). And I have one that I use for a very few financial institutions (bank, Roth IRA, 401k). That way if my online forum is not email address is hacked, it can’t e used to get into my Roth IRA.
Also be very selective on which device and which internet connection you use for connecting to your finances. And use a vpn if at a hotel with large scale wifi (even if it’s “secure” with a password).
I have a freeze filed on all three credit monitoring agencies. I was warned by Discover over a month ago that data systems were breached and that my data could have been compromised. But I also just filed for bankruptcy (long story) so I have no credit cards to speak of now.
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