Quick Tips on How to Protect Your Smartphone and Communications from Spammers

Are you receiving more calls on your cellphone from numbers you don't recognize? Is your inbox becoming more and more inundated with junk mail, even though you have a spam filter?

Your personal information is stored in several different places online, and more and more companies are getting ahold of your data and using it for advertising and product-pushing. Just think of all of the information you need to put into forms and applications to join social media groups, a savings card at your local grocery store, loan applications, credit scores, deals and promotions from your favorite restaurants and shops, etc. It's hard to join or become a member of anything with at least not supplying your email.

There are two major influencers when it comes to keeping your personal data safe: security and the selling of your information.

Security starts at home. You shouldn't make it easy for spammers and hackers to get your personal information. Passwords are a good place to start. Everyone has heard by now not to make their password something easy, like "god," "money," "your birthday," and similar easy-to- guess passwords.

Beyond that, it's good to add uppercase letters, numbers and symbols. It's OK that your password doesn't make any sense and that it looks like a young child smashed the keyboard to generate it. Once you have it memorized it will be easy to type in and extremely hard for hackers and spam-bots to crack.

When it comes to the selling of your information to third-parties, it gets a bit more convoluted. For starters, believe it or not, you may have given the company permission to sell your personal data to third-party entities. How many of us actually read the "terms of use" when we sign up for Facebook or other social platforms?

Facebook, for example, has been selling your information and activity to advertisers for years. That's how they pinpoint ads on your timeline and reach targeted demographics. Be careful what you share online when it comes to your personal information.

A lot of sites will ask you for a phone number to back up your account. Don't give it to them. Use an email or a "burner number" as a backup, or just skip the step altogether. Won't be long before that number is sold and your phone is blowing up with nonsense spam from a state you've never even visited.

You can also request off of call lists, but that generally doesn't have a huge effect. You'll have better luck going back through different groups you've signed up for and removing your number from your profile or information. You could even change your number to Facebook's customer support number, so they can start spamming themselves.

Want to speak with a security expert right now to see if you are doing all the proper steps to ensure you aren't constantly interrupted and bothered by spam? Call MAXtech: 614-401- 8800 and a dedicated technology engineer can give you a free evaluation for your business. Or email: support@maxtechagency.com