Client Children And Spouses Can Accidentally Aid Internet Crooks

Spouses and offspring can inadvertently spring open trap doors that hackers place to let themselves into your data.

The risk of money being stolen online is higher from negligent, compared with criminal, actions of a child, spouse or friend, said internationally recognized cyber security consultant Adam Levin.

Loved ones can easily mistakenly click on a link that can give crooks access to bank accounts, brokerage accounts and other sensitive personal and business information of advisors and their clients, the expert explains.

Making passwords difficult to guess, changing them frequently, encrypting data and taking other often-recommended cyber hygiene advice can save time, money and aggravation.

Levin adds there are plenty of opportunities for aggrieved spouses, children and domestic workers to steal data from an advisor or client, especially when checks, tax returns and other sensitive papers are carelessly left laying around.

Levin recalled that several years ago, a big scam in New Jersey involved home health workers rifling through the files of sedated patients and stealing personal information. The workers conspired with bank tellers and others to use the information to make purchases that even included buying property.

“This shows it is important you use a reliable home health-care organization. Make sure they have conducted criminal background investigations of anyone they send into your house,” Levin said.

Putting financial papers in locked file cabinets and having a locked snail-mail box are two of the easiest way to stop you and your clients from being easy prey, notes Identity Theft Resource Center President and CEO Eva Velasquez.

“You can’t protect yourself from everything, but you can ensure you are not low-hanging fruit,” says Velasquez.

People who run businesses at home will want to take other steps to protect their files. “As a parent, having a computer in a central location is a good tool for monitoring kids’ online behavior,” she notes, but a business computer would be better in a locked room where others can't gain access to it.

John Slowiaczek, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, says his members tell their clients a home computer or a cellphone is basically an electronic file cabinet and no judge is going to penalize a spouse in a divorce action from going through either the IT or paper version.