Before you do anything make sure you 2FA all of your accounts. On top of that, don’t use the same nor similar passwords online. Trust me, I learned a valuable lesson. Let my nightmare of a situation be your blessing. Below is an image of a few 2FA apps I recommend. 2FA, which stands for 2-factor authentication, commonly known as two (2) step verification.
Now let’s get into it. I’m a musician, that’s what I'm mainly known for despite people thinking I’m a gamer. Over the years I’ve had numerous hacks and phishing attempts across multiple platforms. What I learned over the years can save you from future headaches. I was naive to think no one would try to assume my brand or attempt to lead others to think of me in a different light. I was wrong and it was a hard pill to swallow.
I’ve been locked out accounts, had them stolen, and deleted. I even had someone hack my account to spam messages to people. Some were inappropriate and others were to scam people out of their hard-earned money. I even had someone shoot their shot at my sister. Can you say embarrassing?
We live in a technology age that can be both scary and beneficial. The reason I say that is because not only are we as consumers victim to these attempts, but also companies. Remember when I stated use different passwords, trust me, I meant every word of it. My information was leaked to the dark web from a data breach at a company which we didn’t find out about until almost a year later. It leaked all the sensitive information including my email and password on the platform.
The aftermath of this event had a negative effect on not only me but other consumers nationwide. I started to get random emails and notifications of someone trying to access my account and while some were successful and locked me out. Now if I had a 2FA verification setup, they would’ve logged in but couldn’t actually use the account. With 2FA you can set it up to receive a code via text or use the app for an authorization code.
The setup process is simple with most 2FA apps, you can manually enter the number the platform provides you or scan the QR code. You’ll then enter the code the app gives you on said platform to confirm you have access, then its successfully setup. I know some people will be like, I just want to login, but trust me, this extra step will protect you and your sanity. Thanks for reading, be sure to check out my articles here and via USAWire.