POND Mobile Blog

Got a spam call and can’t figure out why (and why you)? Don’t be offended; it’s not personal. Last year Americans received 58.5 billion^* robocalls. Not all robocalls are harmful; however, it’s becoming more challenging to weed out the legitimate ones from the scams. I recently had an experience with these modern annoyances.

As the world becomes increasingly connected, so does the risk of your personal information being stolen. Consequences can be devastating when a cybercriminal obtains enough information to empty your bank account or sell it on the underground market. The most likely type of data to be stolen is Personally identifiable information (PII). Data breaches aren’t the only way hackers get their hands on PII; paper documents contain enough information to get them started wreaking havoc on your life. While the information that appears on billing statements is out of your control, it’s essential to know what can happen if it gets into the wrong hands.

Our love affair with our mobile phones is keeping pace with the advances in technology. The convenience to do just about anything with a couple of taps on the screen has become second nature. We store sensitive personal information like bank account and credit card numbers behind unique passwords. However, cybercriminals don’t need passwords or physical access to your phone. The only thing required to take over an account is the mobile phone number. Everyone using a mobile phone is vulnerable to a SIM swap attack, which can destroy you financially in a matter of minutes.

Technology has simplified our lives, but it has also made it easier for cybercriminals to steal your information, destroying you with just a couple of keystrokes. Almost 2.3 million people reported being victims of identity theft and fraud, according to a study by the Federal Trade Commission. Fraud losses amounted to $1.9 billion in 2019 alone. Data breaches exposed sensitive information of 7.9 billion records. Protecting yourself is critical!

Cybersecurity awareness is something that’s been brought to the forefront of current discussions only recently and provoked by a worldwide scandal with the social media privacy issues - which was definitely way too late. But the safety of your information on social media is not what you should exclusively be worried about.

Have you ever thought to yourself - "how secure are my calls"?