A woman sits and smiles as she looks down at her laptop screen.

Protect Yourself Against Cybercriminals

3 min read
Last Updated: July 26, 2024

Table of contents

Key Takeaways

  1. Thieves can access your data through email or text phishing, quizzes on social media, or clickable pop-up ads.

  2. If the sender of an email or text looks suspicious, don’t click the link or download any attachments.

  3. Discover offers Identity Theft Protection that may help protect your personal information online.

Cyberattacks can come from anywhere. Common sources of cyber threats come from text messages, fake social media accounts, and fraudulent emails. A cybercriminal may be looking for ways to gain access to a sensitive online account, such as your credit card. But you can prepare yourself by understanding how to protect against cyberattacks, and using tools like Discover® Identity Theft Protection.

What is phishing?

Cybercriminals use phishing attacks to convince people to reveal sensitive information. Thieves might also install malware on their victim’s computers. With advanced phishing techniques, identity theft is on the rise. There are several easy steps you can take to protect your personal information.

Protect yourself from email scams

Ever open an email from a familiar company that looks suspicious? Do you see typos or the email domain doesn’t match the sender? Details like this are good reasons to think twice about clicking any links in the email.

An email may look to be from a reputable business, but identity thieves pretend to be banks, stores, and businesses. Responding to fake emails like these, or downloading their attachments, could put you at risk for identity theft. When in doubt, delete.

Identity theft scams on social media

You may have taken online quizzes about what animal you would want to be or what 80s band best represents your personality. Many of these seemingly harmless quizzes on social media are used by hackers. By answering quiz questions like, “What’s the first concert you attended?” and “What was your first pet’s name?” you could be giving cybercriminals clues to your passwords and security question answers.

So, no matter how much you want to know if you’re a unicorn or a dragon, don’t click and don’t share.

Protect against pop-up cyberattacks

Pop-up windows: When browsing the internet, have you ever seen a pop-up window like this: “Warning! Your Computer is Infected! Click Here to Download Anti-Malware!”

In a moment of panic, you might want to click and download the anti-malware thinking it’ll help. But often a phishing scam like this is a Trojan horse that could give cybercriminals access to your hard drive. Or worse, they could get your banking information, according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Smishing: SMS phishing, known as smishing, is an equally dangerous cyber crime. A scammer might send a text like “Call Now to Reactivate Your Credit Card,” or “Text Back to Receive Your Free Gaming System.” The real intent is to gather bank, credit card, and debit card information.

Unknown callers: So be wary of unknown callers and texters. If you’re unsure, a quick internet search of the phone number may reveal some information about whoever is contacting you.

Public Wi-Fi: Because they’re built for convenience, public Wi-Fi networks rarely have encryption. As the FTC explains, “Encryption scrambles the information you send over the internet into a code so it’s not accessible to others.” Without encryption on public Wi-Fi, it’s easier for others to intercept and use your information

Did you know?

Discover® Cardmembers can get Identity Theft Protection for just $15/month. We alert you about potential threats to your credit or if your personal info is found on the Dark Web--and provide up to $1 million Identity Theft Insurance for any covered losses.1

The bottom line

The best way to stop cybercriminals and phishing attacks is to stay vigilant and think twice before sharing information on the internet or over the phone. Cybercriminals can catch even the most careful consumers off guard. To stay safe online, an identity theft protection product can help provide you with tools to help you protect yourself.

Next steps

You may also be interested in

Share article

Was this article helpful?

Glad you found this useful. Could you let us know what you found helpful?
Sorry this article didn't help you. Can you give us feedback why?

Was this article helpful?

Thank you for your feedback