As a college student starts to settle into their young adult life, there are many mistakes to learn from. You buy "stuff," or as your parents call it, "unnecessary junk," use credit cards and splurge on items. Therefore your summer job did not really last you all of the school year. In fact, it lasted less than you thought. With little money in your account, many students believe “no hacker wants to compromise my account, there is nothing to steal.” But in reality, you are just who they prey on.
Hackers are constantly surfing the web for college students to bite the bait. College students are more susceptible to having their identity stolen because they are always on the Internet, online shopping and not securing their personal information when people are around. Although this might sound as if students are careless, in our defense we never knew we were at risk.
Many students appeal to online shopping which may lead to visiting fictitious or unsecured company websites. People are usually drawn to websites that are not genuine. Promotions on these non-credible websites try to get students to give out their personal information, that is a means for identity theft.
Hackers spend a lot of their time phishing, but not the type you and I think of. Phishing scams are prevalent to college and university students. Sophisticated criminals are targeting affluent university students because they want to get into their bank accounts.
How to steer clear of hackers:
- Do not share personal info
- Review bank and credit statements for unusual activity on a day-to-day basis.
- Use secure and credible websites when shopping online
The next time you get an email saying you won one million dollars, think twice because odds are you didn’t.