Tips to Help Keep Your Online Accounts Safe
Passcodes are the keys to your “online home.” You should do everything you can to prevent others from guessing or gaining access to your passcode for online banking. The following information should be used for all of your passcodes on the internet today – especially social media. While it might seem overly complicated, the stronger the passcode the better your protection against others trying to cause you financial harm.
CREATE YOUR PASSCODE
- Use special characters in place of letters. ( e.g. use symboles like @ in place of a, e, or o.
- Try not to use ordinary dictionary words. They are easy to guess.
- Never use your user name, real name or company name.
- Do not use a complete word
- Make your Online Banking passcode significantly different from previous passcodes and other online passcodes.
- Consider using a Passphrase. A passphrase is longer than a password and contains spaces in between words such as this: “The road to success is always under construction!.” A passphrase can also contain symbols, and does not have to be a proper sentence or grammatically correct.
REMEMBER YOUR PASSCODE
- Create an acronym from easy-to remember pieces of information. For example pick a phrase that is meaningful to you, such as “My son’s birthday is 12 December 2004.” Using that phrase as your guide you might substitute numbers, symbols, and misspellings for letters or words.
- Relate your passcode to a favorite hobby or sport.
PROTECT YOUR PASSCODE
- Never share your Online Banking passcode with others.
- Have a different passcode for each online account, especially social media sites.
- Change your passcode several times a year
