Your first line of defense against cyber criminals is to be vigilant! Here are a few suggestions for keeping your accounts safe:
1. Trust no one. Be careful of following links without context, even if it happens to come from your dearest friends. Send them an email asking about the link if you need to, or call them up and ask them about it. Sometimes it will be your friend sending a link without thinking about it, but sometimes their account has been compromised and used to send out more links to compromise the accounts that belong to their friends. Phishing scams are getting smarter and trickier to spot. Read up on the latest threats.
2. Close any accounts you aren't using. If you aren't keeping tabs on old accounts, they can be hacked and sometimes used to get into your current accounts.
3. Use a different password for every account. Idly, these passwords are ultra-secure. I know that its hard to remember multiple passwords, so this leads to tip number 4.
4. Use a password manager. A password manager will manage all of your various login credentials, and can create super secure passwords for you.
5. Change your passwords frequently. If you're using a password manager, this shouldn't be a problem. You are using a password manager, right?
6. Add two-factor verification. This means that to enter your account on a new device, you need to provide both your password and to enter a code that has been sent to your phone. This way, even if a thief steals your password, they still need access to your physical device.
7. Install an antivirus program. There are a lot of free and paid-for programs. We use Malwarebytes here at the office. They have a free version for individuals. Be careful of sketchy free programs, though.
8. Watch what you share online. Don't share personal details that could potentially answer your secret questions for account recovery
For further information, go to https://www.usa.gov/common-scams-frauds to read about common scams and how to avoid them. Stay safe out there!