Saving car rental evidence: My pal Clark Howard always recommends taking pictures of a rental car before you drive away from the lot to prevent false damage claims. But when is it safe to delete them? Clark suggests keeping them for two months. Subscribe to Clark’s free newsletter to receive more must-have money tips every day.
A New Jersey family is living a nightmare
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It started back in September. Dan in Bridgewater, New Jersey, had his bank account hacked. Their first step was to withdraw money and apply for a loan. In October, he got a letter from TD Bank notifying him of an address change on his account.
Dan told CBS News hackers are now in all his financial accounts, took over his email and Amazon accounts, and have taken complete control of his cellphone and even his landline. It’s a safe bet the hackers are in other facets of his life, including stealing his medical ID and selling off access to his insurance.
It’s really not that hard for someone with the right know-how to find these login credentials. Often, your passwords are part of data sets hackers will give anyone for free. Others cost only a few bucks on the Dark Web. For as little as $30, someone can buy enough details to do this to you, too.
Imagine that for a second. What started out as a strange bank charge has become a full-blown disaster.
Whoever hacked Dan has applied for 18 credit cards, tanking his credit score. He gets texts saying, “[A]m watching you,” and, even with the police and FTC involved, there’s been no progress in solving the case.
It can happen to anyone
Unfortunately, Dan’s story isn’t unique. It’s just an example of how quickly one hack can spiral into a full-blown identity theft attack. These are all folks I’ve talked to recently on my national radio show:
- Peter called me after his 85-year-old mom lost her life savings — $1.4 million. Scammers convinced her they were bank officials and federal agents.
- Debby, an Air Force vet and successful banker, was conned out of $1 million by a man pretending he loved her.
- Rick got a message on WhatsApp from a woman who eventually convinced him to start investing in a fake crypto scheme. That was tens of thousands of dollars he’ll never see again.
‘OK, Kim. What do I do?’
The good news: Cybersecurity basics I’ve been telling you about for years still work. I’ll get to those. The bad news: Most of us don’t have the time and energy to take every step we know we should. Here’s what I do that you should consider, too.
- Strong passwords matter: I’m a broken record, but you need a strong, unique password for every account. A password manager can handle this for you, generating and securely storing them so you don’t have to. It’s the most important step here, so more on that below.
- Add extra security: Two-factor or multifactor authentication (MFA) adds enough friction to stop lazy hackers and might alert you if the good ones are going after you. Turn it on for any financial account, your email account and your cellphone provider. Make sure you put a PIN on your cell account to prevent SIM swapping.
- Set up alerts: Turn on notifications for your bank and credit accounts so you know instantly if there are big charges or withdrawals. Train yourself not to ignore these. It could save your butt.
- Freeze your credit: I did this proactively, and I recommend you do, too. Steps here for all four (yes, four) credit agencies.
- Once a month doesn’t cut it: Set a calendar reminder if you have to and scan your accounts once a week. Catching suspicious activity early can save you a lot of trouble.
A few simple habits can make a world of difference in keeping your personal information safe. So do the right tools.
Every parent should read this
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This topic hits me personally, and I don’t like to discuss it at all. You never know who’s a child predator. I was molested by a trusted family friend when I was 6 years old. I told my parents, and they took immediate action — well, not the action my Dad wanted, which was to cut off the guy’s hands.
📈 Turn your text into visuals: Napkin.ai turns words into flowcharts, infographics and diagrams. Just paste your text and click the lightning icon to generate a few options. Pick one you like, make tweaks and hit Export. FYI, all their plans are free while it’s in beta, but you may have to deal with some bugs. Triple-check numbers if you’re using this for work.
Best wildfire app: I’m praying for everyone in California near the wildfires. I went looking for the best source for folks dealing with wildfires and found the nonprofit Watch Duty. I talked with CEO John Mills after reading their story. They’re totally volunteer-run and deliver real-time updates across 13 states. Get their app on iPhone, Android or in your browser.
Happy news: After I shared about Barry’s hearing loss, a few of you reached out to tell me how much better your new hearing aids are making life. If you could use a pair, too, hit this link to see if you qualify for a 45-day no-risk trial. It makes a huge difference!
Get your business up to speed: AI isn’t going anywhere, but using it in your operations can get expensive. Take a free test drive of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure now at Oracle.com/kim to see if they can cut your bill in half.
How does everyone get their IG posts so fancy? I’ve gotcha! Add text to photos by tapping the text button, or throw in stickers via the gallery. For Reels, you’ve got the text, animations and effects buttons.
Social media addiction is real: Every like, share or funny video triggers a dopamine hit. It’s that feel-good chemical your brain loves. But too much scrolling and your brain will produce less dopamine, leaving you craving more screen time just to feel normal. Taking a break can reset those pathways. A few days offline does the trick.
🖨️ Ink outside the box: Dust can cause unexpected problems with your printer. Open the paper trays, remove any paper and use a handheld vac to suck up the dust. You can also blow it out with compressed air.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
Brush up: Microsoft offers free online training for Office programs, including video tutorials, interactive guides and practice exercises. Sorry, there’s no secret for making Teams better.
💪 Wanna get in shape? Ask your favorite AI chatbot to create a custom fitness plan. Try this: “Create a 30-day fitness plan for fat loss and muscle gain tailored to a [male/female] beginner at [your age].” Or get specific: “Create a four-week fitness plan to help me run a mile for the first time.” Don’t sweat it.
“Hey, Kim, what was the name of that …” I get so many questions about our security sponsors. You need five security products. I put together a handy resource where you can find what they do, links and deals I’ve negotiated just for you.
It never hurts to ask: Some credit cards offer extended warranties on anything you buy with the card. If your expensive vacuum or laptop craps out, it’s worth asking Amex or Chase if they’ll pay to repair or replace it.
💵 A dollar here, a dollar there: It seems like every subscription is more expensive than when I signed up. Use the Rocket Money app to see what you’re paying for. I do! They’ll even cancel a subscription for you if it’s not worth the money anymore.
Someone always thanks me for this shortcut: You probably already use Ctrl/Cmd + V to paste. Try Ctrl + Shift + V on PC or Option + Cmd + Shift + V on Mac to paste text without the formatting.
😶 Secret button in your Windows 10 and 11 taskbar: Clicking it will minimize everything you have open. It’s located in the bottom right corner of your screen, past the time and notification icon — a tiny sliver. Click it again to bring your stuff back. Good one!
Small-biz smarts: When you have contracts with different companies and vendors, you’ll never remember those dates. Create a shared work calendar that gives everyone who needs it notice when a contract is renewing. Pro tip: Build in time in case you have a 30- or 90-day out.
💡 AI trick of the day: “Priming” is the insider term for telling a chatbot exactly what you want from it. With ChatGPT or any other, the more constraints you give, the better your answer. Examples: “Limit your response to 250 words,” “Give me the list in bullet points” and “Format the results as a table.”
Check your 401(k): A whopping one in five Americans has an inactive 401(k) account. The average value? $55,400! If you left a job and never dealt with your account, call your former human resources department and ask if you have an inactive account. You can also try this site.Stop hackers in their tracks: EndpointLock encrypts your keystrokes when you enter usernames, account numbers and passwords so no one can copy and steal them. It’s genius, really. Hit this link for 10% off.