What Financial Scammers Can and Can’t Do with Your IP

Sometimes, criminals need just one piece of information about you to inflict harm. If they have your physical address, they can get in and rob you. Well, the same applies if they get your digital address. Financial criminals have evolved over the years, and the old-school deceit schemes are long gone. Now, scammers might be hunting your IP address.

What’s an IP

Address?

An IP address is a unique series of numbers given to any device that is connected to the internet. Think of it as your device’s digital address that allows you to send and receive information online. Anytime you browse the web, your IP address becomes visible to websites, servers, and sometimes even third parties. It’s necessary to ensure that information, like a webpage you’re trying to visit, is sent back to the suitable device.

Wondering what your IP is? There are several ways to check it, but the IP address lookup is one of the most reliable tools for this matter. It not only allows you to check any IP of your choice but also ensures that if you use a VPN (and you definitely should), it is working properly.

How Scammers Misuse

IP Addresses

It probably never crossed your mind that someone can misuse your IP address. But scammers are getting smarter and do this malicious act in several ways:

Tracking your general location: Your IP address reveals the city or the region you’re living in. This information might be vague for scammers, but it’s enough to send you, for example, fake emails under the disguise of local services.

Launching DDoS attacks: In some cases, cybercriminals can use your IP address to flood your device or network with traffic in what’s called a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. This overloads your connection and slows down your internet until the point that it becomes unusable for some time.

Exploiting system vulnerabilities: Online services and websites send data to your device using transmission control protocol (TCP) requests. Being aware of your IP address, scammers can send TCP requests to your device’s open ports. Eventually, these requests can open doors for hackers to learn about your device and network, including your operating system and any technical vulnerabilities they could exploit.

Tracking your online activity: Your device can publicly broadcast your IP address to another device requesting it. It is also known as “ping.” If hackers discover your IP address, they might be able to see what websites and apps you use and study your buying history and browsing habits. This information helps scammers tailor targeted phishing attacks, like fake emails similar to the legit websites you often visit or harmful ads for things you’ve bought.

What Scammers Can’t

Do with IP Addresses

Your IP address might be used as a tool for scammers to target you, but there are also limitations to what they can do:

Can’t access bank accounts or personal information: An IP address is not enough to give bad actors access to your bank accounts, credit card details, and passwords. To achieve this, they would have to breach your devices, email accounts, and other security layers you might have.

Can’t pinpoint your exact location: Your IP address doesn’t reveal your home address, so you won’t have to worry about scammers tracking you down and disrupting your privacy.

Can’t hack your online accounts: To access your online accounts, a scammer would need your login information, such as a username, password, and email. Simply knowing your IP address is not enough for them to take control of your accounts.

Can’t steal your identity: Your IP address doesn’t lead to identity theft. To commit that type of crime, a hacker must know your full name, social security number, or driver’s license information.

How to Protect Your

Online Privacy

An IP address alone is not enough ammo for scammers to cause you financial harm. But you should still take the necessary steps to protect your online privacy.

Use a VPN

A virtual private network is the wisest decision you can make about protecting your IP address. It masks your actual IP address, replacing it with a different one from a remote private server. This way, your real location and IP address are hidden from potential scammers.

Enable Firewall

A firewall is like your own personal bodyguard that protects your devices against cybersecurity threats. It can filter out unwanted traffic to your devices and stop hackers from accessing your system. You should always keep it active and update it regularly.

Stick to Secure

Networks

Public Wi-Fi networks are unsecured and can make your IP address and other online data visible to anyone sharing the same network. Don’t ever do financial transactions or access financial data on a public Wi-Fi because hackers can easily steal that information.

Keep Your Software

Up-to-Date

If you don’t keep up with software updates, you will run into plenty of security vulnerabilities. Ensure your antivirus programs, operating system, and web browser are always updated. This way, hackers won’t have any security vulnerabilities to exploit.

Be Aware of Phishing

Scams

Scammers use phishing emails and messages to trick you into clicking on their malicious links. Through phishing scams, they can also trick you into giving them your sensitive information. Always double-check the sender’s legitimacy.

Hide or Not To Hide?

Scammers don’t do as much harm with an IP address as many people fear. Nevertheless, by having this small piece of information, they can still cause a substantial amount of damage. That’s why you need to protect your IP address in all circumstances. Keep the peace of mind, knowing that your data is safe and sound.