Lisa is a Partner and Certified Financial Planner™ of Milestone Wealth Advisors . Milestone Wealth Advisors is a comprehensive wealth management firm that provides honest , independent advice that always serves the best interest of each client . Lisa ’ s goal is to ensure that clients feel in control of their finances and can confidently make decisions regarding their retirement , investments , risk management and estate planning .

by Lisa M . LaMarche , CFP ® CPA

Don ’ t let that be your jingle this holiday season . In today ’ s world of fast-paced information sharing , identity theft is common and often leaves us with a sense of cyberinsecurity . Thieves will email , call , and send you texts to obtain information . Protecting yourself is even more important than the locks on your door , as one cyber intrusion into your personal records could ruin your financial position in short order .

Here we outline a few of the ways these attacks occur and steps you can take to protect yourself . When online shopping for your friends and family , take these extra measures to secure your private information .

EMAIL

Most of us are very comfortable with email and are receiving and responding to a lot of emails every day . While email hosts like Gmail have increased security , all too often people receive emails that are phony . This tactic is called phishing . Phishing is the act of sending an email that is intentionally designed to obtain information . Often times , it appears to be coming from a legitimate and trusted source . It could be an email that looks like it came from your company , friend , or family and is asking for critical information .

• Pay close attention to email addresses – Letters or numbers can be added to trick .

• Be careful with links

• Never send financial information via email unless you are using a secure system .

CALLS & TEXTS

During tax season , fake phone calls can be just as much of a threat as email attacks . Many people have a fear of the IRS , even if they haven ’ t done anything wrong . Thieves use this fear to trick people into giving them their personal information right over the phone . Texts messages can also be a vulnerable channel for stolen information . With smartphones being the standard today , we keep a lot of personal information on our phones from financial info to password banks .

• If you receive a call from the IRS or State Department , do not give them any information . Call to verify .

• If you ever receive a text from an unknown number with a link to click on , do not click on the link .

THE INTERNET

We have become very used to entering information like our name , email , address , and even debit card information to access particular content online . Website and pop-up look-alikes are created to do the same thing as the phishing emails described earlier .

• Type the website ’ s name into a search engine and review the results .

• Look for the SSL padlock icon – this is key ! Many web browsers use a green padlock icon to the left of the website ’ s URL to let the user know if it is a secure website or not . If you ’ re on a page or form that doesn ’ t have this security symbol , you shouldn ’ t enter any personal information .