3 Ways Ensure Your Confidential Financial Details Remain Secure While Buying A House
Make sure your cyber house is in order. A lot of sensitive information will be shared throughout the process of buying a home and getting a mortgage. Now is a good time to ensure that all of that information is well-protected, Johnson said. This includes changing passwords to make them more secure and enabling two-factor authentication whenever possible. And since you can’t freeze your credit during the mortgage process, it’s not a bad idea to sign up for credit-monitoring or identity-theft protection services.
Ask every company how they will protect your data. Not all companies have the same policies when it comes to cyber security — while banks may be subject to stringent federal oversight, the same is not true of smaller mom-and-pop real-estate agencies or title insurers. Before going with a certain company, consumers should find out how they protect information — for instance, do they store documents in encrypted databases?
Avoid sending documents or other sensitive information over email. Many wire-fraud schemes involve hacked or spoofed email addresses. If a real-estate agent, lender or insurer asks for sensitive information over email, consumers should call them to double-check the email is really from them, Johnson said. If possible, consumers should opt to deliver information in person, verbally over the phone or through a secure online portal rather than over email.
Article source:
Passey, Jacob. “Buying a House? Here’s How to Ensure Your Confidential Financial Details Remain Secure.” Find Real Estate, Homes for Sale, Apartments & Houses for Rent – Realtor.com®, 3 June 2019, www.realtor.com/news/real-estate-news/buying-a-house-heres-how-to-ensure-your-confidential-financial-details-remain-secure/.