If scammers have access to your phone number, they could potentially use it to hack into your online accounts — including your email, social media, and even your bank account.
The best way to combat this is by using strong, unique passwords for every online account that you have — along with additional security measures, such as a secure password manager and two-factor authentication (2FA).
Here’s how to safeguard your online accounts against phone scammers:
- Use a secure password manager with a built-in random password generator. It will automatically create strong passwords for your accounts and store them for later use.
- Add two-factor authentication to all of your online accounts. However, don’t use your phone number or SMS for 2FA. Instead, use an authenticator app like Authy, which combines passwords and biometric data to safely secure your accounts.
