Our special guest again this week (and for the next two episodes) is ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum, one of America’s top consumer experts. Known nationally as ConsumerMan, Herb’s been protecting consumers for more than 40 years. Check below for Herb’s website and newsletter information.
Herb does a lot of stories that look out for older adults. ConsumerMan is a font of well-researched, practical information and alerts that help make us wiser consumers:
Romance scams: If you’re in love with someone you’ve never met in person, “odds are these days you’ve fallen in love with a criminal,” Herb said. “The picture is bogus. All the stuff they tell you is bogus. What they’ll do is tell you that they’re overseas and the pitch is ‘I’m a savvy crypto investor. I’ll send you screenshots of all the money I’ve made, and I want you to make that money as well. So that when we finally get together, we’re going to live in the lap of luxury.’” He continued: “Before you know it, they’ve drained your bank account. I’ve spoken with people who have lost their life savings over a romance scam, and they’ll never see their money again. If somebody starts asking for money in any form, you should run for the hills as fast as you possibly can.”
- Read this AARP Fraud Watch article for more information: 10 Telltale Signs of a Romance Scam
Password managers and two-factor authentication: “Passwords are the key to our lives and most people use horrible passwords because they’re hard to remember,” Herb said. “Simple passwords can all be cracked by con artists in seconds. The mistake people make is using a lousy password and using it repeatedly. You need a strong password, 10 to 12 characters long.” Herb continued: “You can either write passwords down and keep them by your desk; the odds of somebody breaking into your house and getting those passwords is significantly lower than somebody breaking into your account if your password is 123abc.
A password manager is a tool that you access from your computer. The password manager can create and store strong passwords and create different passwords for each of your accounts. And if you want the password manager on multiple devices, it’s a very small fee.”
Herb also encourages readers to use two-factor authentication with any important accounts. That means that, before you can log on, you will either get a telephone call, text message, or e-mail with a unique code that is used for authentication. According to Herb, accounts with two-factor authentication are 99.9 percent hackproof.
- For more information, read Herb’s article, How to Create and Easily Store Secure Passwords
ABOUT HERB WEISBAUM: After 22 years and about 6,500 daily consumer tips, recently Herb hung up his headset for the last time and retired from Northwest Newsradio (KNWN). Thankfully, he’s still writing for Consumers’ Checkbook and hosting their bi-weekly Consumerpedia podcast. If you visit Herb’s ConsumerMan website, you can sign up for his free weekly newsletter and stay up to date on the latest consumer news.