𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬//

In August, every single card and bank account I have was hacked.

And even as I ordered replacement cards, they were already being stolen before I had received them.

It’s been an absolute nightmare.

Shutting down all my bank accounts and reopening new ones. Transferring all my payments to a single card, which would get hacked and then I’d have to transfer them to a new card etc.

I found out a LOT about how to protect myself online and I want to share it with you.

This comes from my new friend Chris, who is head of IT at a medical college in Pasadena and has been an 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 during this process.

I want to share them with you, because Chris shared some scary things with me that I think everyone needs to know:

1 ) If you are finding that you have had a card stolen and the new one is stolen before you receive the replacement, it’s because your digital wallet has been hacked.

There are collections of locations (Amazon & Google for example) where you may store multiple different cards.

Because of an 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 in technology, your digital card is replaced as soon as your new card is issued, long before you receive it in the mail.

The easiest way to prevent the new one from being stolen, is to call your bank and have them manually remove all your cards and accounts from your banks digital wallet.

They are hesitant to do it - because it can take 30 mins or so - but it instantly removes your cards from any accounts you’ve used them online. So just keep pushing.

2 ) I started getting notifications that my info was on the dark web. Chris shared that there’s really no hub spot that is officially 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑒𝑏 and that everyone’s info is there．if you’ve used an account with any companies that have been hacked in the last few years: Target, LastPass, Amazon etc your info in on the dark web.

The best way to protect yourself is to have a different password for every online account you have.

He shared a software called 1Password that lets you know how secure your online accounts are and how many reused passwords you have. This app (which is on your phone too) will generate a unique 20 character password for each account (and then remember it for you ).

It also shows you every online account that offers passkeys and Authenticator apps, which he HIGHLY recommended I use for everything.

When I started this process, I had 450+ shared, weak passwords. And he had a panic attack on my behalf

He also showed me how to set up a unique email address for every single account for free, through creating a catch all email address. Which is amazing! Because now I have a unique login and password for every online account.

3 ) To extra secure your most sensitive accounts, he shared that you can get a USB key and can only login to those accounts with that (it was a little high tech for my pay grade, but it may be something to look into - especially if you move a lot of money around)

4 ) Lastly, he recommended to use 1 card for all accounts, that way it can be easily dealt with if there is a security breach and they don’t have access to your money. He recommends to never use your debit cards.

To his point, I got lazy while I was in Vegas and used my debit card for a couple of things…. And got back to find that my debit card was stolen while I was there.

He is right.

Avoid at all costs.

It’s been a pain in the ass, but I’m down to my last 150 accounts and my fraud has decreased 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 to nothing.

I hope this helps to protect you from the crazies out there who are doing stupid stuff rather than making a positive impact in the world.