Cybersecurity and Protecting Yourself from Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves

#77: Cybersecurity expert, Adam Levin, joins Chris to discuss all things cybersecurity, privacy, identity theft, and fraud. They cover how to avoid becoming a victim of online scams, ways to effectively monitor your credit, managing the damages of identity incidents and methods to protect your personal information online.

Adam Levin (@Adam_K_Levin) is a consumer affairs advocate and cofounder of Credit.com and CyberScout. His mission is to educate consumers, businesses, law enforcement officials and lawmakers about consumer privacy, identity management, and protection. Adam’s weekly cybersecurity podcast is What The Hack and his critically acclaimed book is Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves.

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Selected Links From The Episode

Connect with Adam Levin: Website | Twitter

Adam Levin’s Resources::

Book: Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves
Podcast: What The Hack With Adam Levin
- Episodes Mentioned:
  - Episode 20: Axton Goes Looking For Her Identity Thief
  - Episode 2: Christen’s Enemy with Benefits
  - Episode 11: Mary Snags a Catfish

Resources Mentioned:

Full Show Notes

The importance of protecting yourself online with secure passwords and keeping your phone numbers private [1:28]

Protecting yourself from SIM swapping: the fundamental basics [3:27]

Lie like a superhero when setting up security questions [6:23]

Protecting your credit identity [7:29]

The three M’s: minimize, monitor, manage [9:19]

Six ways to effectively monitor your credit activity [9:50]

Should you pay for credit monitoring and reporting services? [14:04]

Managing the damage of identity incidents [14:58]

Deciding if you need help from an expert [15:34]

Credit monitoring service resources [17:26]

Stolen SSN: what is your liability? [20:12]

Different levels of identity theft and the evolution of the blame game [23:11]

Criminal identity theft: are there services available to avoid becoming a victim? [26:28]

How to avoid falling for online scams [28:20]

More advice about online security, protecting your financial identity, and avoiding scams [31:25]

Minimizing your risk: how to function as safely as possible in a “surveillance economy” [41:19]

Chris shares methods he uses to protect his personal information and financial identity online [49:21]

Hardware security keys vs. Google Authenticator or other apps [50:52]

Adam and Chris discuss the importance of safely storing written passwords and share more ways to remove personal information from the internet [52:08]

Using Google Voice as a secondary phone number and protecting yourself from being scammed [53:39]

Are VPNs necessary? [55:44]

Protecting yourself by limiting or disabling location services [57:32]

Regularly auditing authorizations from other accounts [59:24]

Adam’s message to those who are anxious about security breaches [1:02:21]

Where to find Adam Levin online [1:08:46]

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