Password Protection is Always Important

When you think of sensitive and valuable personal information, social security number, account numbers, and credit card numbers are probably what come to mind.  You take password protection seriously for your online banking and credit card accounts, but did you know that you should be protecting passwords for your other seemingly less valuable accounts like social media, or gaming accounts?  Scammers are targeting these accounts more often and you need to be protecting passwords all across the web.

Social Media

You know not to post your social security number or driver’s license number on your social media page, but you still need to know how to protect passwords for it because even information that seems innocent can be valuable to scammers.  Many sites don’t allow you to make up your own password recovery questions, and the ones that are available can often be found out by accessing your social media.  Mother’s maiden name can be guessed by looking at who you have listed as uncles or grandparents, favorite vacation spot can be discovered at your photo album labeled “best vacation ever,” often schools you have attended and places where you have lived are listed – the list goes on. 

If a criminal were to access your social media, they may pretend to be you to trick friends and family into revealing more information about you or themselves.

Even with a secure password, set your privacy setting to the highest level possible.  It won’t matter how secure your password is if you whole profile is public. 

Gaming Accounts

These can also be targeted by scammers and protecting passwords is important.  A simple password could result in your payment information being found out, your account being hijacked, or virtual assets being sold.  Many games use credits or other assets that can be sold in game, or for real money.  Never trust an email or in game communication claiming to be from game moderators or other official requesting your password.  A legitimate company won’t ask you for your password.  When you want to communicate with them, do it from the game’s official site.