Beware of hackers coming out to play

Beware of hackers coming out to play

I learned the hard way

About a month or so ago when the lockdown first went down here in New York City, and everything personal and business-related was up in the air, I had another fun little development bubble up in my life:

I had my primary bank account hacked.

Once I noticed the theft, I immediately called them to have the money reclaimed and have the account frozen.

The monkey-wrench thrown into the scenario was that I got sick with symptoms related to coronavirus and wasn’t able to leave my apartment. 

Now, for many of you who work with online-based banks, this doesn’t pose much of a problem. You simply can close and open a new account and transfer your money over with a couple clicks.

Oh, if it were only that easy.

Since I had the hacked account frozen, the only way to open a new account - and have access to that money - was to physically step into the bank and handle business inside the branch. 

Quite a little pickle I found myself in - just in time to pay my monthly bills and rent, :)

Fortunately, I was able to work around some financial limitations and avoided penalties. 

After waiting over 2 weeks, I finally was able to leave my apartment and make my way to a branch to sort out the mess that some digital hacker asshole made on my behalf. 

Turns out that I’m not the only one dealing with this problem right now. After having a few conversations with some colleagues, apparently this is going around.

Digital theft is on the rise in light of the pandemic, which really restores my faith in humanity, know what I’m saying? 

Regardless of how shitty this reality is, we all need to be more diligent and on alert with regard to protecting our assets from the filthy hands of these online criminals. 

Now, I will be the first to admit that I was the type of person who used the same password - or a very simple derivative - for every single online account that was in my name. 

I’ve been hacked multiple times - and yet, I was still too damn lazy to learn my lesson.

It took the fear of not being able to pay for my rent, food or any essential items while I was sick to finally wake the hell up and be smarter with my online security. 

Don’t be like me, folks.

While there’s a lot of talk on social media right now about leveraging quarantine time wisely to learn and grow in one way, shape or form, here’s one valuable suggestion from me to you:

Strengthen all of your passwords on everything that is password protected. 

Don’t get caught in a precarious position when it never needs to get to that point in the first place. 

Staying safe in the pandemic era doesn’t simply relate to your health - it also relates to your wallet, as well.

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