Author Archives: Theenvironment

How to Make Your Phone Safer

December 15, 2017 ,

It’s more important than ever to protect your personal and financial information from hackers and phishing scams. We’ll go over the best ways to make your phone safer.

Install a VPN

Safely browse the internet while on public Wi-Fi with the use of a VPN. We like to use TunnelBear. It’s simple interface allows you to choose which IP location you would like to use with the toggle of a button.

Make Sure You Have a Passcode Set

This may be obvious and you might already have one set up, but make sure that you have a passcode on your phone. If it’s ever lost or stolen this will ensure that any sensitive information on your phone will be protected.

Turn on Find My Phone

With iPhones you can turn on Find My iPhone which will allow you to remotely track your iPhone if it’s ever lost or stolen. Also, and most importantly, if a phone can’t be recovered this feature allows you to wipe the phone completely. If your phone ever gets stolen, this will protect you!

Use Stronger Passwords

After so many breaches, you’d think that people would start using stronger passwords. Unfortunately, we don’t because having too many different passwords can be too difficult to remember. In 2018 it’s important for you to start using unique, strong passwords for each of your many online accounts. We recommend using a password vault app, like LastPass, to generate all of your passwords and keep them safe.

Password vaults will create and then guard and pre-populate the sign-in fields whenever you go to a site that requires you to log in.

Block Spam on Your Phone

Lastly, make your phone safer by using a white pages iPhone caller ID app. These apps run in the background of your phone and will block calls from numbers that have been reported as spam.

Never deal with an annoying telemarketer or potential phone scammer ever again.  There are many different options and some carriers even provide their customers with free spam blocking.

Posted in: Cell Phone

How To Find Out Where A Call Is From

October 27, 2017 ,

You probably get calls from random phone numbers all the time. Some might look familiar, while others might be completely unknown. The best way to identify these calls and where they’re coming from is by using a reverse phone lookup.

How Do They Get Your Number?

There are a lot of ways in which companies and scammers get your phone number. The most common way is via you giving it away to them. Whenever you sign up for something and are asked to give your phone number be sure to read the privacy policy first.

Many survey companies and realtors will often sell your information to third-party marketing companies that will then add your phone number or email to call and email lists.

Another way you may be giving it away is via your social media. Make sure that your profile information is public only to people who you know and trust. Many times we’ll unintentionally provide information in our social media profiles because we’re not aware of the privacy settings. Be sure to double check what’s visible to strangers on your social media profiles.

How To Find Where The Call Is Coming From

The easiest way to find out where a call is coming from is by looking at its area code. However, this isn’t always reliable do to caller ID spoofing. This technique allows a caller to disguise their caller ID as any number they wish.

This technique can sometimes result in you receiving calls from your own number!

The best way to identify an unknown call is by using a phone tracer app for the iPhone. These apps will allow you to look up any phone number, identify where it’s from, and even see other people’s experiences with the phone number. This means you can avoid all of those annoying robocalls.

Posted in: Cell Phone, Mental Look Ups

Caller ID Apps and Online Dating

September 29, 2017 ,

Love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage! You know the song, well now it’s time to update it for 2017 and caller ID apps and online dating go together like a horse and carriage.

If you’re single and you haven’t at least tried online dating then you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage. We’ll go over why you should try out online dating and what you need to know to keep you safe.

Why Online Dating?

Nowadays, many couples meet on online dating sites and apps. Some of the most well-known ones are Tinder, Match.com, Bumble, and eHarmony. There are so many options for online dating that it’s important that you do your research and pick the one that’s best for you!

What You Need To Know

Some people like dating and other people dread it. It’s important that you think about what you’d like out of your dating experience. Do you only want the opportunity to meet new and interesting people in your area? Do you want to find “the one”?

We recommend going with the first option. Relax, take your time, and most importantly enjoy yourself. Not every date will be perfect, but that’s okay.

In addition to this, it’s also important that you be safe with online dating. After all you are meeting strangers off of the internet!

Caller ID Apps And Public Meeting Spaces

If you’ve met someone that you like and you want to invite them out on a date the first piece of information you’ll probably share with each other is your phone number. You can use an app for unknown number look ups to verify that the person is who they say they are.

If you don’t feel comfortable giving out your real phone number to someone you’ve just met you can also download an app that gives you a second number, like Burner. This is a good app to have whenever you’re dealing with people you’re unsure of.

The number one rule with online dating is to always meet in a public place and don’t have your date pick you up from your house.

Posted in: Search Your Mind

How To Protect Yourself From Data Breaches

September 12, 2017 ,

There was a major hack at Equifax, one of the three major credit reporting companies in the U.S. This hack has exposed the information of 143 million Americans, nearly half the population. We’ll go over how you can protect yourself by using iPhone caller ID, avoiding phishing email scams, and freezing your credit.

Is Your Information At Risk?

You can find out whether or not your information may have been exposed by going to Equifax’s Cybersecurity Incident & Important Consumer Information site. Equifax is also offering a free credit monitoring service. However, it’s important to note that by joining this you waive your right to sue the company in the future.

What To Watch Out For

Beware of phishing scams and keep an eye on your credit report. Here are the top things to watch out for:

  • Impostor phone scams: Don’t trust callers who are requesting that you confirm your Social Security Number or asking for other sensitive pieces of information. Scammers will often pretend to be calling from credit card companies or other organizations in order to trick you into giving them information.
  • Phishing email scams: Almost more common than phone scams are email scams that are phishing (or requesting) personal information. Look for spelling mistakes in the emails, this is a sign that the email isn’t legitimate.
  • Changes in credit score: If you notice changes in your credit score, report it immediately to the the three credit reporting agencies and put a freeze on your credit. You can learn more about this here at the FTC.

Using iPhone Caller ID And Other Tools To Protect Yourself

If you’re an iPhone user, download an iPhone number tracer app to allow you to identify unknown calls. This will help you identify whether an incoming call is trustworthy. If you have an Android phone you should check out Truecaller.

Secondly, you should also check emails to verify the address. Don’t click on links that seem suspicious, and if you have doubts go directly to the company’s website and contact them directly.

What’s most important though, in cases like these, is to keep an eye on your credit report. Any fluctuations are a red flag.

Posted in: Mental Look Ups

Mental Pollution: How to Stop Automated Calls

August 16, 2017 ,

At SequentiaEnvironics we want to focus on ways to reduce the mental pollution that is everywhere around us. This has gotten to be quite difficult especially today. We are bombarded with psychological toxins on a daily basis via television, the internet, aggressive marketing tactics and more. One of the most annoying of these mental pollutants are automated phone calls. In this article we’ll go over how to stop automated calls.

What Is an Automated Call?

Have you ever gotten a call from what looks like a local number? You pick it up, and instead of an actual person a recording of someone saying you’ve won a cruise plays. They instructs you to call back (XXX) XXX-XXXX to claim your prize. Annoying. And a waste of your time.

There are different variations of this too. Sometimes the recording might say that you’re going to be arrested by the IRS, that you’re eligible for a free medical alert system, or that you can refinance your home. Most of the time these claims are fraudulent and you shouldn’t pay attention to them.

If you’re receiving automated calls on your cell phone this is illegal and you should report it.

Stopping Automated Calls

Unfortunately, not much has been done to try and stop these annoying calls, but there are a few things that you can do. If you’re a T-Mobile customer you can use their automatic scam call block, other phone carriers are also working on different ways to help their customers avoid these types of calls. In addition, there are apps like Nomorobo and an iPhone caller ID app that have incorporated automatic spam call blocking features.

Having an app on your phone will help reduce the amount of unwanted automated calls you receive, but there is still more that you can do. Whenever you pick up an automated call, do not press any buttons to be removed from the calling list. Pressing buttons on these types of calls will alert scammers to the fact that your phone number is an active number and they will inundate you with even more calls.

Lastly, make sure you report automated calls to the FTC. They are working to put a stop to these types of scams and your help brings them closer to achieving this!

Posted in: Search Your Mind