4 Ways to Protect Yourself from Scams
Unfortunately, scammers are out in full force right now trying to find various ways to get your personal information or your money. With all these new technologies, it is hard to always be on guard and spot a potential scam.
We care about our patients dental health but also your overall health and well-being, so here are four
easy ways to protect yourself from scams.
1 – Don’t share information
The most important way to protect yourself is just to make a habit of never sharing personal information. You may wonder, what exactly is personal information? It is any information that can help someone identify you. For example: address, birth date, and social security number.
On top of that, don’t share passwords or logins either – you never know what other information can be gleaned from your Netflix account.
2 – Take your time
One of the smartest things you can do to prevent getting scammed is slow down and take your time before responding to and clicking on anything. If someone calls you, don’t let their rushed tone convince you to do anything.
A popular scam right now is someone calling on behalf of your loved one who has been in a wreck and needs money. Don’t respond right away! Call your loved one directly yourself to confirm – take your time to do some research before handing anything over.
3 – Question everything
If anyone calls you or texts you requesting personal information or to confirm anything, find the number online for that institution and call them to double-check the request. A lot of scammers request information via text message.
There is no problem with questioning all the requests you are getting. Your loved ones or the bank or the credit card company are not going to mind getting a call to see if something is going on.
4 – Send money safely
Only use ways that you know and trust to send money to people you know and trust. Paypal and Venmo are great options as long as you know the person you are sending money to. Venmo even has a feature that requests the last 4 digits of someone’s phone number if they are not your friend in Venmo.
Right now, Zelle is being used heavily for scams. Buyers will request money first before they send money. Don’t ever send someone money first before they pay you – that is a scam!
Yes, scams are ramping up everywhere (Facebook, phone calls, texts), but that isn’t a reason to worry. These four tips will help you avoid scams just by safeguarding your information and taking more time before responding.
Now that your personal information is safe, make sure that your mouth is healthy too by scheduling your next appointment!
