With Halloween around the corner, your BBB® would like to warn tristate area residents of a scary yet invisible threat: scammers and fraudsters looking to steal your personal information. Cybersecurity threats are everywhere: inside phone apps, online stores, malware emails, social media posts and the list continues. Celebrate National Cybersecurity Awareness Month by protecting your personal data:

1. Protect your data when you’re at work

Scammers and fraudsters love sending malware emails to companies in order to steal their information and ask for ransom later on. To avoid this situation, make sure to check with your direct manager each time there is a suspicious email in your inbox. If you don’t know the sender, don’t click on any links or attachments!

2. Manage your WiFi connections

You may want to stay away from public WiFi connections as you don’t know how well protected their servers are. Use your own WiFi at home and your cellular data when you are out and about.

3. Change your passwords

Are you using the same password for your social media accounts and/or email? If the answer is yes, you need to change that as soon as possible! Pick passwords that are complex, can’t be traced back to your everyday life and contain at least 3 digits.

4. Protect your phone

Make sure to have a multi-factor authentication on your phone: a passcode is sometimes not enough to protect your personal information. You can do the same thing for your credit/debit card purchases in order to avoid ID theft.

5. Check your credit/debit card balance more often

If you notice any unfamiliar expenses, contact your credit card company and file a complaint at ic3.gov! You can also report your experience to bbb.org/scamtracker!

For more information you can trust, visit bbb.org/Evansville!