Working in the financial industry taught me to be very careful about personal information, for other people and my own. I have a paper shredder that I use constantly. Anything that comes to my house with my name and address gets shredded. I will tear off that information from magazines, boxes, envelopes, etc. I also keep track of my expenses very well, keeping all of my receipts and comparing them to my statements. My checking and savings accounts get balanced several times a month. I get email alerts and text messages from my bank when a large purchase posts to my account, or it drops below a certain balance. I really try to stay on top of everything.
I feel like you can never be too careful. I once had my social security number stolen. It ruined my credit. I spent over two years trying to clear it up. I now have identity theft protection to help me in case something like that happens again.
I try to check my email everyday too. I have spam set up so I don't get those phising emails. I never open an email from one I don't recognize. You never know if it will have a virus, so I don't even take that chance.
This year I have done more online shopping than ever before. I love the convenience of it! But today I found out how scary it can be. I got online to check my email and I couldn't even sign on. My password wasn't being accepted. I typed it again KNOWING I spelled it right and it was the right one. Still, it didn't take it. I took the steps to access my account information, inputting my security answers that I set up, and reset my password. I was finally able to get into my email account. But when I did, I was shocked to see 2 emails from walmart.com (who I've ordered from before) for merchandise over $300. Apparently these orders were done at 2 am this morning. Ummm...I was sleeping at that time! I didn't place those orders! I also saw an email saying my email password was changed at the same time. OH MY GOODNESS! How did that happen! Who could have accessed my account...and how? How did they get my password and the security answers? And what other information did they get?
I logged onto walmart.com, which I have an account set up from my previous order. My credit card info had been saved, so all they had to do was hack into my account, find some expensive electronic merchandise, and hit "purchase". They payment was right there for them. I saw walmart actually cancelled the 2 orders from this morning because they couldn't verify the payment information though. Thank you! I believe my bank realized it seemed like an odd transaction because the merchandise was to be shipped to Texas, which does not match with my personal information. My bank didn't allow the transaction to go through. I deleted my credit card info immediately.
I also logged onto other websites that I use, changed my passwords and deleted any credit card info that could be saved on there. I checked all my accounts to make sure there were not any unusual transactions. And I also went through my emails and deleted most of them that may have personal information. I also contacted the security center for my email and requested they note my account had been compromised, and they need to provide me with further security on it.
Identity theft and security breaches are so scary. My heart was racing for a little while today, but all I can do is pay more attention to how my secure information is out in the cyber world. I suppose I will be monitoring my accounts even more than I do now. I'm just glad it is not worse than what it could have been. It's still not right, but what can the innocent people of this world do? It is us who suffer from the criminals out there...damn it!
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