Smart Tips for your Smart Phone

By Alika Salazar

Approximately 15 million United States residents have their identities used fraudulently each year with financial losses totaling upwards of $50 billion.*  Approximately 7% of all adults have their identities misused with each instance resulting in approximately $3,500 in losses. Close to 100 million additional Americans have their personal identifying information placed at risk of identity theft each year when records maintained in government and corporate databases are lost or stolen. These alarming statistics demonstrate identity theft may be the most frequent, costly and pervasive crime in the United States. 

What can we do as smart phone owners do to protect ourselves from identity theft? Put a pass-code on your phone. If your phone winds up missing or stolen, no one can get your pertinent information. The most a thief could get away with is doing a factory reset wipe on your phone. They would not have access to your pictures, your contacts, your address, your Facebook or anything like that.

How much does it cost to protect yourself with a pass-code for your smart phone? Nothing! It’s usually pretty simple to set up.

Here are the four steps to set up a pass-code for those of you with an iphone.

Step 1. Go to settings.

Step 2. Scroll down to pass-code and turn the pass-code on.

Step 3. Choose either a simple pass-code, which is a four digit pass-code or a numeric pass-code if you turn the simple pass-code off.

Step 4. Write your pass-code down and keep it in a safe place.

Here are the four steps to set up a pass-code for those of you with a droid.

Step 1. Go to settings.

Step 2. Go to security.

Step 3. Go to screen lock. You can either make it face unlock, a pattern, a pin, your face and voice or you can just choose a pass-code.

Step 4. Write your pass-code down and keep it in a safe place.

If you own another type of smart phone and you’re not sure how to set up a pass-code, feel free to call me at (916) 936-9316 and I’ll be happy to help you step by step.

*Based on a range of information gathered from public and private resources.