Do you know that there are around 200,000 instances of identity fraud recorded in 2016 alone? Year after year, the number of identity fraud cases is rising. News of data breach in Equifax, a consumer credit reporting agency, recently made headlines worldwide. This means that transactions done over the Internet are shaky and that includes something even as simple as finding the best quote for an excavator operator income insurance online.
The Age of “Vulturism”
Dependence to the digital world is a reality today. Along with this sense of dependency comes various challenges and often, the repercussions can be quite disastrous. Many Australians may have already heard of phishing emails from a Nigerian prince or princess. Some of them may have also heard of friends seemingly asking for help paying hospital or hotel bills or being mugged somewhere needing help. Some may even go around hacking mobile phone numbers sending messages asking for immediate assistance. All these points to thousands of dollars lost, jobs and classified projects compromised, and even a national election gone haywire. It’s catastrophic to have vultures in the midst of progress.
This sense of “vulturism” is what makes the era of digital dependency disastrous. Amid the many advantages the Internet brings, various forms of abuse have also risen from the dark wreaking havoc to people’s lives. To an excavator operator looking for a safety net in times of financial crisis, the act of looking for an income insurance quote from any website on-line may seem so simple. But then vultures can always come and harvest data via bogus insurance aggregator websites and use it for their own not-so-appropriate intentions.
Protection From Online Invasion
When caught in a situation, it is wise to report the problem at once to the ScamWatch program, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to be exact. It is, however, wise not to wait for such a situation to descend upon you. Living with the aid of digital technology already puts you in a situation where fraud vulnerability is always on high. The moment you lodge a request for an income protection insurance quote online, for instance, you can be putting your data at risk of being mined by a predator out there– that is, when no precautionary measures are exercised.
The key here is to not dodge the bullet but rather preventing the one holding the gun from firing. Prevention, they say, is always better than cure. It is therefore important to always be prepared and protected by all sorts of online invasion. As scammers continue to use highly sophisticated means, it is also of utmost importance that you raise your barriers. Do not just trust any website that offers you insurance quotes. Instead, go for secured and verifiable ones complete with certified insurance brokers and their license number.
It is never safe to assume that you will not fall victim to identity theft or any form of insurance fraud. The Internet, though it guarantees convenience and ease, may also bring a host of dangers not just pointed to your excavator operator income insurance policy but to other aspects in your life– banking, credit card, credentials and so on. Always see to it that you transact only with reliable and verifiable people when obtaining an insurance policy. Be vigilant.
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