Yesterday I looked in the spam box in my email account, and found that there were some messages in there that had an old, out-of-date password in the subject line.
These were quite scary-looking messages trying to blackmail me. But the presence of an actual password that I used to use made them seem very real.
So. Two things.
1) If you get a message like this, it will probably go to your spam box, but if it doesn’t, then don’t be scared. It’s fake.
BUT…
2) Did you know that there are databases on the internet of “leaked” email addresses and passwords? You can check if your email has ever been leaked here and, if you’re willing to risk typing your password into a box on someone else’s website, you can see if you’re password has ever been leaked here.
The existence of my email address and an (old) password in these leaked databases explains how I got these messages.
So if you DO get an email like this, or see one in your spam email box, and you still use that password. Then I suggest you immediately stop using that password and change it wherever it’s used.
If you’re response to that is “But I use it everywhere” then even more reason to log in everywhere and change it. Try to use different passwords on different websites and apps if you can.
Modern web browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge) have some brilliant built-in tools for managing passwords, generating and saving random passwords for you, remembering them so you don’t have to. So try to use those if you can.
Or if you want to be super-advanced try one of the password managers like 1Password or LastPass. I’ve made a video that shows you how that works (once it’s set up it actually makes logging in to things both EASIER and MORE SECURE!)
As always, ASK ME if you have any questions about this.