As we’re sure you will agree, the internet has had a massive impact on how we interact with money, from making shopping easier and more convenient to allowing us to check our bank balances from almost anywhere in the world. That being said, the risks have also increased simultaneously, especially with the rise in popularity of online shopping, digital banking and at-home investing, making it more important than ever that we each take time to understand the latest safety guidelines.
In this article, we’ll explore the different ways you can protect your money online, and share some tips and tricks that’ll make it easier for you to stay ahead of the curve and avoid being tricked by scammers.
Take Advantage of Website Security Prompts
While it might seem incredibly obvious, setting strong passwords is an absolute no-brainer when thinking about how to increase your safety online, as they’re often the weakest link for many users. Brute-force tools are used by hackers to try and guess passwords many times in quick succession, which is why it’s important to follow these tips:
1) Don’t use easy-to-guess passwords
Use a varied combination of upper and lower case letters, as well as numbers and symbols. This will make your password harder to guess, especially if you use more than the bare minimum number of required characters.
2) Create unique passwords for each login
Try to mix up your passwords, as using the same password for every login can make you extremely vulnerable and leave you wide open should your password be leaked online, especially if it’s a commonly used one.
3) Use a password manager
Using a password manager can make it a lot easier to remember your complex passwords. This should take away much of the stress associated with creating complex passwords that contain a healthy mix of different characters.
4) Use multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Using multi-factor authentication (MFA) makes it much easier to ensure that only you can access your accounts. Beyond just having a password, you can also add additional layers of security, such as mobile verification.
5) Ensure only you can gain access
Take advantage of your device’s biometric tools, such as facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, to add security that can’t be bypassed without having a physical presence.
Be More Aware of Phishing Scams
Phishing scams might seem like a blast from the past but they’re incredibly common and sophisticated today. While the language used by scammers might have changed over the years, the idea has stayed the same: tricking users into revealing sensitive information.
It’s important that users check the email address of anybody sending them a link via email or messenger, especially when using a desktop computer or laptop. Similarly, we also recommend that you don’t share any financial or confidential information, and instead make any requests over the phone, as this will ensure that nobody else can hijack the conversation.
However, this also comes with risks, because some scammers are now using AI tools to generate fake voices and can model them using real clips of people you may be familiar with. Please be mindful of this when posting videos of employees or clients on your website and social media pages.
Safeguard Your Devices and Internal Systems
We’re sure you use your personal and work devices to access financial information on an almost daily basis, which is why it’s important to protect them and ensure that there are no glaring security gaps.
Here are a few quick tips to keep them safe:
- Install an antivirus and pay for a premium subscription. You can’t rely on the free versions that are installed on most devices, as they’re very basic.
- Stay on top of operating system updates as they often come with security patches to address vulnerabilities that hackers often exploit.
- Avoid using public Wi-Fi networks whenever possible, especially if you want to access any financial information or banking applications.
If you manage a larger business, you should ensure that you have your systems regularly monitored by an IT professional, but in the meantime, the above tips are a great starting point that everyone can enforce.
Understand the Potential Risks of Cryptocurrency
With cryptocurrencies becoming increasingly common, especially with the rise of online crypto casinos, it’s important we take time to understand the potential risk and what can be done to increase safety.
With many online casino sites now using cryptocurrency as the preferred method of payment, it’s essential that you fully understand how funds should be safely stored and transferred. We’d recommend using reputable platforms and wallets with strong security measures, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), and strong password requirements. This is absolutely vital if you want to keep your money safe in online casinos, regardless of how secure you think your password might be.
While on the topic of cryptocurrencies, users should also be vigilant of who they send funds to, as once a transaction has been made, it’s impossible to reverse, even if you discover that you’ve been scammed. This is why users should be aware of scammers promising high returns for seemingly reasonable levels of investment, particularly when crypto coins are the requested form of payment.
Protect your Personal Information
As emphasized by Dwight Schrute in The Office, identity theft is no joke. While it can be harder to fake someone’s identity in the real world due to the increased popularity of photo identification, it’s still incredibly common online and is a real risk that’s overlooked by many users.
As a starting point, you should avoid sharing any personal information online, such as your date of birth and current (or former) home address. To take things further, you can use tools such as McAfee’s Identity Guardian to scour the web and request takedowns of any instances where your personal information has been published without your consent.
Moving Forward
As we soar through 2025, it’s important that we each do everything possible to ensure that our online safety is paramount. By taking advantage of various techniques, such as enforcing the latest security guidelines and being vigilant of the latest scams, we give ourselves the best chance of staying safe when browsing the web and going about our business, whether that be for work or pleasure.
