Is Your Social Media Use Baiting Thieves?

Believe it or not the U.S. consumer’s growing use of smartphones for all sorts of personal-finance tasks helped contribute to a 13% hike in identity theft in 2011 and continued to grow through 2015.

MarketWatch reporter, Jennifer Waters shares some tips to stay safe on Lunch Break and you don’t want to miss out on these tips because it could save you your finances. So, what is it about our smartphones that we’re doing wrong that is leading to this massive personal finance security issue?

• We forget that were not using a toy phone and that we are using a computer. Sometimes it’s hard and we still lack the common sense on keeping in mind that through a computer and what you type and post almost anyone has access to your info if they want it. No matter what password you put in or how safe it says it is someone out there knows how to hack it and if they choose you and you have something they want then there could be no stopping them. So, you always have to be on the lookout and know what you’re risking when you post personal information online.

• Make sure your updating your phone. Sometimes in our busy lives we tend to forget about that update that takes an hour to download however, it’s for your safety. These updates are put in place in order to make it harder for people to access your personal information! So, take the time and download that update otherwise you are exposing yourself to a greater risk.

When thinking about personal finances and doing them on your smartphone its not that it’s a bad idea you just have to be aware. You have to know the risks and the precautions that you need to be taking in order to keep yourself protected.

It may just be taking that extra step to download that update that can keep you from getting your identity stolen because thieves love social media! For more check out the video above.