Hacked, Scammed, and Impersonated Online. Here's How to Protect Yourself

Caitlin Sarian (0:00)

90% of the people are like, yeah, I use the same password, or I have the same variation. Hackers can literally take the same password, that's like breach, and do 10,000 variations in a couple of minutes. If BobSled has been your password since freshman year of high school, and then you started BobSled1, BobSled123, and you're just doing different variations, they can run variations of it and get into your account.

Nicole Lapin (0:18)

Caitlin Sarian, better known to millions as Cybersecurity Girl, has spent her entire career figuring out the world of online safety. And today, she joins Money Rehab to tell us how to protect ourselves against the craziest financial scams out there right now.

Caitlin Sarian (0:32)

We in the cybersecurity industry unfortunately call it pig butchering, which I hate because we're basically referring to people as pigs. The reason why it's called that is because you kind of fatten the pig up for a really long period of time, you kind of give them little things to make them build your trust, and then you slaughter them and you take them for all they have.

Nicole Lapin (0:46)

The safe word every family needs right now.

Caitlin Sarian (0:49)

Let's say your daughter is 14, she calls and she's freaking out. I would ask for a safe word and if she doesn't give you a safe word, you know that's not her.

Nicole Lapin (0:55)

Any tips around what that safe word should be?

Caitlin Sarian (0:58)

It should just be like an extremely random, weird word that like no one would ever guess.

Nicole Lapin (1:03)

And the one way to pay that can actually get your money back.

Caitlin Sarian (1:06)

Credit cards are a lot better at getting your money back than anything else. And if anyone's asking for like cryptocurrency or a weird way like Venmo, it's a little bit of a red flag. And honestly, the only way to defend themselves is to ****.

Nicole Lapin (1:22)

I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some Money Rehab. Caitlin Sarian, welcome to Money Rehab.

Caitlin Sarian (1:37)

Thank you for having me. So excited.

Nicole Lapin (1:39)

I'm so excited for so many reasons to have you here. Also, please take a look at this text that I just received.

Caitlin Sarian (1:45)

Oh no. Okay. Do you want me to read it out loud?

Nicole Lapin (1:49)

Please.

Caitlin Sarian (1:49)

The toll roads notice of toll evasion. Oh, bad girl. You have an unpaid toll bill on your account to avoid late fees.

You need to pay within 12 hours, or the late fees will be increased and reported to the DMV, and then gives you this sketchy link, and then says, please reply why, then exit the SMS and open it again to activate the link.

Nicole Lapin (2:09)

Seems totally legit.

Caitlin Sarian (2:10)

I mean, the best part, it's from, I don't even know how to, bisutbut43 at hotmail.com.

Nicole Lapin (2:19)

Yeah. That seems like the toll road authority of America.

Caitlin Sarian (2:22)

Yeah. I will say when the toll scams first came out, it was like two years ago and I was just visiting my parents back here in LA. I got this text and I was like, and this is before everyone started talking about it. I was like, Mom, did I go through, is there a new toll road in LA?

Fun fact, I don't drive in Miami. So just happened to be the perfect timing. I did not fall for it, by the way. But I had to ask my mom because it looked like it wasn't from a sketchy thing either. But I was like, I don't think I went through a toll, but maybe there's a new toll and she's like, no, you have a toll pass and there's no tolls. Anyways, but yes, this is not legit. So fun. Should we go through why it's not legit? Yeah.

Nicole Lapin (3:00)

But the thing is, it's not legit, but it takes you a minute to realize that it's not legit.

Caitlin Sarian (3:05)

Yeah.

Nicole Lapin (3:06)

It took you a minute when they first came out. Oh, yeah.

Caitlin Sarian (3:09)

I had to ask my mom. It was like scams hit you at the perfect time. When people fall for a scam, I knew but I was in a rush or I wasn't thinking it, it was convenient and it made sense.

That's what happens.

Nicole Lapin (3:21)

Yeah, when it's in the context of a scams podcast, you totally get it. But when you see it and it catches you off guard, you're like, oh my God, did I make this charge? Or did I go through a toll? Or did I buy something on walmart.com?