Not Everyone on Your Friends List is Your Friend

An interesting fact, however, from Fidelity.com, states that using mobile devices like tablets and smartphones are much safer than using a laptop or public computer that has a Windows or Mac operating system because of the device’s isolation.

How to Protect Yourself

Last year, Canada established the Identity Theft Support Centre, an organization dedicated to providing support and advice for those affected by identity theft. This service, however, should be used as a last resort. Here are some tips for preventing identity theft:

Ensure that your Facebook privacy settings are on the most restrictive option—“Friends Only.”
Do not post vacation photos anywhere online until after you have returned.
Banks will never ask you for your online banking password or your account numbers via email. If you do receive an email from someone claiming to be associated with your bank, contact customer service and alert the representative.
Double-check any website that asks for your credit card information.
Never write down any password or put it in as a note in your phone.
Diversify your passwords, even by just a character or two. This way, if someone does get ahold of one, they can’t get into your email, Facebook, bank accounts, and anything else that could potentially do you harm.

Katie Smith is a rising third-year student at Boston University. She also writes for the Campus section of BU’s lifestyle magazine The Buzz and is interning at Seal Press in Berkeley, California.

Photo courtesy to NID Housing Couseling Agency & animalnewyork.com