Scammers are everywhere, and they come at us from all angles. It’s hard to believe that people devote their lives to finding ways to rob someone of their money. But they do, and you need to protect yourself from them.
A few years ago, I received a call from a “Federal” agency. The “officer” asked to verify my information before we proceeded with the phone call. He gave me the wrong social security number and birthdate and then asked me to prove it. I swiftly declined and told him he had the wrong person.
If I had given him the correct information, he would have been able to steal my identity and rack up thousands of dollars in debt in my name. So that’s how vigilant you have to be about your information. But that’s not the only way scammers get you. They have techniques of all kinds, and you have to be on top of everything, every minute of the day.
Ways To Protect Yourself From Scammers
In the incident above, I protected myself by refusing to answer. But another way is to hang up from a caller after stating that you’ll call them back. If it’s a Federal or State agency, the chances are slim that they called you to begin with. If it’s a large company, you can always look up a customer service number and call them back about an issue.
Chances are, there won’t be one. And if you call the number back that registered on your phone, you might find that it no longer exists. It’s confusing that a call that took place a few seconds ago from a number registered on your phone no longer exists, but they have their ways. So don’t worry about trying to understand it. Just learn how to protect yourself from it.
Two-step verification is a brilliant move. Most of us have accounts online and do transactions daily. Online merchants got smart years ago and figured out that some people keep using the same password for everything they do. That’s not a smart move.
Two-step verification was put in place to reduce hacking. Hacking has gotten very sophisticated, and these coders are learning new tricks every day. But with two-step verification, you receive a text or an email with a one-time digital code that you then use to confirm you are the account owner. With that extra step, you save yourself from a lifetime of headaches. Take the option if you have the opportunity.
What About Bitcoin?
The only way scammers can get your Bitcoin is to give it to them. That means they need your private key to access your wallet. Don’t ever give that to anyone at any time for any given reason.
It is ok to share your public address because you can send Bitcoin to someone using their public address. But don’t ever let your private key become public knowledge. That’s the only way Bitcoin gets removed from a wallet.
It’s imperative that you save that information. Make sure to store it in a private location to keep yourself and your cryptocurrency portfolio safe. This is a public service announcement from Byte Federal. Enjoy the rest of your day!
