Tag: tactics

There are so many online scams and tricks out there I can’t cover them all on my website and national radio show. I make it my duty to inform you of the tactics bad actors use to fool you. 

A great podcast was the episode when I dove into the mind of a hacker. Tap or click to listen to an episode of my podcast, Kim Komando Today, with an IBM social engineer. She spills the secrets hackers use to scare and confuse people.

I know you have seen a common trick: fake calls and emails pretending to come from government agencies. No one wants to deal with the IRS or a problem with Social Security. Tap or click for a new government scam making the rounds.

Here are five more ways you’re at risk — with easy solutions to be a little safer online. This tip is brought to you by our sponsor, TotalAV, Kim’s pick for protecting all your devices from malware, dangerous sites and other threats.

1. You post for the whole world to see

I read a study from Pew Research that blew me away. Of those polled, 53% of Twitter users said that their profiles were set to public. Pew examined the profiles of everyone who submitted their account handle, and a whopping 89% were public.

Yikes. It looks like we could all use a reminder to check if our profiles are private. 

An easy way to check what others see is to open up a new browser window in private or incognito mode. Navigate to your profile, such as https://twitter.com/kimkomando. If your tweets are visible, your profile is public.

To lock down your Twitter account from a computer:

• Log in. On the left-hand side, click More > Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety
• Go to Audience and tagging > Check the box next to Protect your Tweets

Now only those who follow you can see your posts. It’s your job to clean up that list and block anyone you don’t want following you.

What about on Facebook? Tap or click for an easy way to keep out creeps and snoops.

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