Archives - Personally Identifiable Information


Do a Facebook sweep for personal information

Cybercriminals often scour social media profiles for private information that can be used to guess passwords or otherwise compromise your identity. Periodically check your Facebook privacy settings and look for posts that could provide unwanted information.

Value and protect personal information

Your devices make it easy to connect to the world around you, but they can also pack a lot of info about you and your friends and family, such as your contacts, photos, videos, location and health and financial data. Information about you, such as the games you like to play, what you search for […]

Watch what info you give away

Be alert to the kinds of information being collected to complete your transaction. If the merchant is requesting more data than you feel comfortable sharing, cancel the transaction. You only need to fill out required fields at checkout and you should not save your payment information in your profile. If the account autosaves it, after […]

Avoid potential hiring scams

Fake Job or Hiring Scams occur when criminal actors deceive victims into believing they have a job or a potential job. Criminals leverage their position as “employers” to persuade victims to provide them with personally identifiable information (PII) or to send them money. As you look for a new job, be extra vigilant so your […]

Never pay to play in online job search

Never send money to someone you meet online, especially by wire transfer, prepaid cards, or money transfer apps. If you receive any paper checks with instructions to purchase items or transfer money, contact the financial institution on the check to ensure the availability of funds. Never provide credit card information to an employer. Never provide […]

Online job hunting – pause before supplying sensitive info

Legitimate companies will ask for personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security number and bank account information for payroll purposes, AFTER hiring employees. Also, before entering PII online, make sure the website is secure by looking at the address bar. The address should begin with “https://”, not “http://”.