Online Security
Keep yourself safe from fraud
Computers and smart phones are gateways to a world of information, entertainment and services. Unfortunately, they can also open the door to criminals who want to gain access to your personal and financial information for fraudulent purposes. You can minimize your risk of falling victim to scam artists and protect your money and identity.
Use strong passwords and change them frequently
- A strong password should combine no fewer than 8 letters, numbers, and symbols.
- Never share your password with anyone.
- Create a unique user ID and password for online banking that you never use anywhere else (for example, webmail, social networking or any other online accounts).
- Don’t carry passwords around in your wallet—especially if they are listed along with usernames and websites.
- Never use a password you’ve seen used as an example or in a list of good or bad passwords – the bad guys like to start with these!
- Make your password easy to remember and hard to guess. For example, you can turn your dogs’ names – Spot and Rover -- into the password "Sp0t&R0v3r." Or you may want to convert the sentence "I love my dogs, Spot and Rover" to a password of "I<3mdS&R." It’s still meaningful and memorable but harder for someone else to guess. (And remember, don’t use either of these examples!)
