Staying safe online

The internet has become a goldmine for scammers, letting them find and contact potential victims across the globe while staying anonymous. As technology advances, so too do scams increase in their sophistication, making it tricky to stay ahead of the scammers and keep our money and personal information out of their hands. To try and make sure that members of our community are staying safe while online, here's a few things to keep in mind when you're using the Internet.

Use strong passwords on all your online accounts and change them frequently. According to CyberAware, a good way to create a strong and memorable password is to use three random words. Numbers and symbols can still be used if needed, for example 3redhousemonkeys27!

Make sure your computer has internet security software installed and up-to-date. Which? has recommendations on the sort of software you should use.

There's no guarantee a public Wi-Fi hotspot will be secure, so don't use it for doing anything confidential online, such as banking.

Avoid clicking pop-up windows, links or attachments in e-mails, forum posts, texts or social media posts if the source isn't reputable, or seems out of place.

Scammers will often request remote access to your computer to fix a problem, or install an upgrade. Often these will actually install viruses, giving the scammer access to your password and personal information.

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Check with someone you trust, or a reputable organisation.

Need to report a scam? Citizens Advice have lots of useful information about how to report a scam or phishing attempt.