A small group of anti-identity theft advisors are visiting libraries around Boise to help people avoid becoming victims of scams that can do long-lasting financial and other damage. And they suggest everyone use strong passwords, and not tell anyone what that is, for starters.
"We need everybody to have superstrong passwords," said Robert Lane, a financial advisor who was leading the seminar. "We hate that... But it's your first line of defense in protecting you from everything."
A strong password may include so-called 'special' characters such as the symbols above the numbers on a keyboard, capital letters, non-sequential numbers, a sequence of characters that is not a word, and more.
(One article presents an argument for creating a strong password that is also easy to remember by using up to six normal words in a row.)
The seminars include topics such as elder abuse, craigslist scams where a thief may pose as a landlord and take money from earnest renters as deposits which are never connected to the property.
Their next appearance is November 9 2016 and is listed here.
The City of Boise has an identity theft prevention guide here.
FACES provides resources to seniors who are abused by anyone, including relatives and caretakers, and may be found here.
