Cyber Crime! Protect Your Personal Information!

As the problem of cyber fraud is becoming more prevalent, cybersecurity is a constant concern for all of us. Keeping personal financial information confidential is a big focus these days, not only at CCMI, but for you too.  With the rapidly evolving risk of cyberattacks, the following is an outline which lays out a few basic steps you can take to help protect yourself and your personal information.

Safeguard email accounts

• Be very cautious when viewing unsolicited email.
• Do not click on links or pop-up ads in unsolicited emails.
• Know that many scams involve hacking emails and impersonating the account owners to gain access to sensitive information and /or money.

Be strategic with usernames and passwords

• Make passwords strong with at least 8-12 characters, include upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
• Change your passwords often or use a password vault.
• Never use confidential data or information that is easily found about you online in your user names or passwords.
• Consider using password managers such as Dashlane, LastPass, or another password manager that you are comfortable with.

Limit what you share online

• Be very selective about what you share on social media and with whom you share it.
• Set privacy and security settings on web services and devices to your comfort level for sharing.

Surf safely

• Use only trusted networks, APPs, and computers.
• Know that secure websites start with https, and NOT http.
• Never click on links or attachments from unknown sources.

Protecting your money

• Review all your financial statements when available and immediately report anything suspicious.
• Never send your personal identifiable or account information via unsecure channels like email, chat, or text.
• Be aware of our firm guidelines for client verification and funds disbursement requests.

---