Those old accounts you’ve forgotten about are still lurking around. Even if you no longer use them, they are a prime target for hackers looking to steal your information. Even if you’ve moved or changed your details since your original email accounts, hackers can still do odd things with your credentials. Let’s take a look at how to locate them and delete them for good.
A step towards getting your real information
Your old online accounts like Myspace might not have payment information tied to it. So why would criminals want to break into those old accounts? One reason is to get as much personal information about you as possible. That way, they can use it for more nefarious acts, like identity theft. Each piece of the puzzle they get makes it easier for them to hack the next account and then the next until they hit the jackpot and get your current passwords or credit card information. It’s best to cut them off at the knees, find those old accounts and get rid of them forever.
Tracking down those forgotten accounts
Eradicating your digital life is nearly impossible. Tap or click here to see five things about your personal life you cannot remove from online. While you can’t completely erase your digital footprint, you can delete those pesky old accounts. Sites like just JustDelete.Me have directories of links to get rid of hundreds of various accounts. On JustDelete.Me, the sites are color-coded by difficulty. Tap or click here for more about JustDelete.Me For another approach, try Googling your favorite usernames from the past to locate accounts you forgot about. You’ll have to go through the process of resetting your passwords to get it, but it’s worth the time and effort.
If you can’t delete an account
Not every account is fully deletable, but you can still make it mostly harmless. If you can’t fully delete the account, remove as much of your personal information as possible. Then remove any payment information or old credit cards so hackers won’t be able to access them. Finally, update your password, so it’s strong and less likely to be hacked. Nobody likes to be a victim of hacking, but removing and updating your old accounts is a good place to start. For more protection against hackers, here are 20 security secrets hackers don’t want you to know.
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