Spooktacular Cyber Safety Tips to Keep Your Finances Fright-Free

(BPT) – What’s scarier than ghouls and goblins? Cybercriminals. According to the FBI, people lost $12.5 billion to cyber scams in the U.S. in 2023. Now, that is frightening!October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, making it the perfect time to take stock of your cyber protections. While the fear of scammers getting access to your personal and financial information can be daunting, fear not! Here are five tips to keep your finances safe.Update your devices to keep the tech-zombies away: Keep your devices’ operating systems up to date. Those updates contain more than just fancy features; they include critical security updates that protect you from vulnerabilities. Keeping your devices updated ensures that fraudsters won’t have a ghost of a chance to access your personal information.Steer clear of public Wi-Fi to dodge the cyber-goblins: Don’t shop or complete any financial transactions on public Wi-Fi. Instead, wait until you get home or to a more protected network connection. Public Wi-Fi is risky as there could be scammers lurking, waiting to steal your private data!Secure your sign-on to keep the digital demons at bay: Protect your online accounts with multi-factor authentication, known as MFA. Enabling MFA means you require a combination of two or more authenticators to verify your identity before you’re allowed to access the service. Why does this matter? Because even if one factor (like your username/password) is compromised, fraudsters won’t be able to meet the second authentication requirement (like a biometric or text code), ultimately stopping them from trick-or-treating their way into your accounts and walking away with your personal information, money or worse!Use your digital wallet to avoid spooky surprises: When making transactions, use your digital wallet for an extra layer of protection. It’s like having a high-tech Ghostbuster keeping your financial info secure.Zero Liability ensures you’re guarded from nightmares: Financial institutions that issue Mastercard cards won’t hold consumers responsible for “unauthorized transactions,” provided they are promptly reported, and the cardholder used reasonable care in protecting the card from loss or theft. As a Mastercard cardholder, Zero Liability applies to your purchases made in the store, over the telephone, online or via a mobile device and ATM transactions. With protections like that, paying with your card brings more peace of mind than paying with cash or check. So, keep your card close, and don’t let your security turn into a nightmare!