Real Story from Liz — Sh*t happened after she lost her phone

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Losing your phone doesn’t simply mean you can’t call or text.  Here’s the story from our reader, Liz, who lost her phone last year and it turned out to be…

I received a notification saying I had *just* accepted a friend request from some guy I didn’t know, but I definitely hadn’t accepted the request. Then I saw that I had somehow started having an inbox conversation with this guy (some random dude from Moldova), and I had said ‘Hi’ to him, when I definitely hadn’t!! I was freaking out! Turns out the guy bought the iphone I lost last year, and had found my FB still logged in on my phone (somehow)… and had added and messaged himself from MY account ! He then went on to ask me for my icloud password, presumably to get access to my private data. I was so worried because my icloud was of course linked to my bankcard and bank account! i changed all my passwords and disconnected the phone from my account :S
Very crazy!

Hi Liz,

Thanks Liz for sharing her story with us.  It is really SCARY that the scammer was actually using your account after a year.  I hope that everything has fixed right now.  Indeed, there’re several things you should do right after you lost your phone.

 Change your passwords immediately

The scammer may read through your social media accounts to steal your personal information or use it for some other purposes. What’s worse, they may use your P2P payment apps like Venmo and Apple Pay to purchase thing.

Contact your banks and check your financial statement 

If you saved your credit card details, account number, and password on your phone; when your phone is getting into the wrong hands, the scammer may use it to shop online.  So remember to report to your bank and put an alert on your accounts.

Wipe the data from your phone

At last, if you still cannot find your phone, you can wipe all the data from your phone.  If you are using an Android phone, you can do so by using Where’s My Droid app.  For those who are using iPhone, you can wipe your data by signing in your iCloud account or using the Find me iPhone app.  However, once you wipe all the data, you will not be able to undo it.

Your identity is everything.  Protect it or risk it?

-KYCL-

Debit or Credit?

In today’s age of electronic commerce, when I leave my place, I will only bring my cell phone, key, debit / credit card and opal card with me.  How about money?  Nahhh…   Debit cards/ credit cards are much more convenient as I don’t have to worry whether I have enough to pay or to get loads of heavy small change.  However, it reminds me of one of our readers’ cases – Miss L’s credit card fraud.  Here comes the question, what’s the difference between debit card and credit card? And is a debit card or credit card safer?

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Bank_cards.jpg

What’s difference between debit card and credit card?

Debit card and credit card may look visually similar to you, but there are significant differences between them.

Generally credit card is not linked to your current account.  Therefore, when you buy things today, you will pay for them later.  At the end of each month, you will receive your outstanding balance.  You can choose either paying the bill in full at a certain day and incur no interest or paying the minimum payment and spread the rest of the repayments out over time and being charged for interest.  Credit card is commonly used as users can also join the rewards programs, interest-free days, and the ability to use the banks’ money.

A debit card is whereas linked to your current account.  When you purchase thing, money you spend will be automatically taken from your current account.  Debit cards are attractive to those who like to stick to budget on their own money.

Is debit card or credit card safer?

Indeed, card users are not liable for unauthorized purchase for both credit and debit cards and all major credit and debit card issuers offer $0 liability guarantees for an unauthorized charge.  However, as credit card users don’t have to pay the bill immediately right after they receive the statement (at least 21 days from the time a statement is available to pay the amount due), customers will have much more time to notice unauthorized charges, notify your issuer of the problem and have them removed from your bill.  For debit cards, when the identity thieves use your card to purchase things, it will pay immediately from your account and may clear out your bank account before you notice.  Therefore, it will take much longer time for you to recover all of your money after you contact your bank.

How to protect yourself?

Here’re a few things you can do no matter you are using debit/credit cards:

• Change your passwords and use a secure password for your bank account
• Check your credit reports regularly
• Shred financial documents as identity thieves may look through your garbage bins
• Verify web security. Only provide personal financial information on “https” websites
• Keep your Tax File Number (TFN) private. You should only give your TFN to reputable companies after you have contacted them
• Clear your mailbox regularly as mail overflowing is an opportunity for identity theft.

-KYCL-

True story from Miss C — Email Account Hacked

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/You_Have_Been_Hacked%21.jpg

Dear page owner of ARE YOU THE ONLY ONE,

My husband had a similar experience, it’s not his facebook account, by his Hotmail account. One day his friends told him they had received emails from my husband who was stolen money in London and had nothing behind and asked his friends to help him financially, indeed my husband was in hong kong, then he discovered that his account was hacked and stolen, he had to tell all his friends not to be cheated and then he informed Hotmail about the incident, eventually he closed the email account! later he reflected on the whole incident and learned to safeguard his password and personal information! never expose your information to anyone!

Best Regards,

Miss C

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Hi Miss C,

Thanks for your email.  I am grateful that you are willing to share your case with our readers and us.

It is sad to hear that your husband’s Hotmail account was hacked or taken over by someone else. I understand that having your email account hacked is a nightmare especially when the identity thief maliciously spread rumors and took advantage of the trust of your husband’s friends.  I am glad that at last none of his friends fell victims.  However, it is sad that he can no longer use the same email address again.  Here’re some tips in preventing email account hacked

• You should change your password regularly. The more characters there are in your password the longer it will take for a hacker to break it.  Use a mixture of numbers, lowercase and uppercase letters as it increases the complexity of your password and increases its strength. Avoid using your name and birthday as password.
• Do not open unfamiliar emails. If you open one you think is from someone you know but realize it’s not, delete immediately. Do not click any links in the message or send the sender personal or banking information. Once you open that link, your computer could become infected by a phishing scam and your information stolen.
• Do not log into your accounts from an untrusted computer, like at a cafe, library and your friends’ and family’s place. Even if you trust your friends and family, their computer could be infected from spyware.
• Install anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall on your computer and keep them updated.

Cheers,

KYCL

True story from Miss L — Credit card fraud

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosengrant/3537904106/in/photolist-6oCFCE-7htx73-64F67n-9zN2hY-6hnHtT-jLeLJR-cgcemW-roCJtM-74Sr9Q-hN1djZ-8yGcEp-5VS5yZ-6pX14g-iFiov3-92KZ1U-86GNAX-aYzNm-nj7R8C-8hy2mk-au9dQE-aAZmsS-fQEN8h-drEaac-Xx6P-51AU8i-bJsTcF-rM8R9-dyfyN3-6Zdshg-7JrJ7n-4ApbVv-AhGk5-bGc9dX-4wReef-4wM6nK-87WgDF-7PyxhU-4wM6CK-4wM6wK-6KuHz5-5j7XPM

Dear page owner of ARE YOU THE ONLY ONE,

Last year, when I was checking my Commonwealth NetBank, I saw a list of pending transactions that wasn’t done by me. I quickly checked the locations and there were some places that I didn’t even know, so I knew my card was hacked. The total amount was $1516. I immediately called the bank and cancelled the card and went to the bank to get some money out. I was debating whether I should report to the police. But most of my friends said this is really common so I didn’t bother to report it. After a month or so, I still haven’t received my money back, then I decided to report to the police and they said they will check the CCTV and get back to me. 2 weeks later I finally got all my money back.

Best regards,

Miss L.

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Dear Miss L.

Thanks for your email.  I am grateful that you are willing to share your case with our readers and us.

It is sad to hear that your credit card was used by the identity theft.  Glad that at the end, you got all your money back.  I guess you learnt a lesson that when you found out that the credit card fraud, you should not only report to the bank but also the police.  To learn more about how to prevent yourself from financial identity theft & credit card fraud, read more on https://areyoutheonly1.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/how-to-protect-yourself-from-financial-identity-theft-credit-card-fraud/

Cheers,

KYCL