To avoid being hacked, never provide your username, password, or PIN in response to any email, text message, or telephone call unless you have confirmed the requestors’ legitimacy. (It will seldom if ever, be legit.) Even if the call appears to come from your bank or credit card company, the caller ID likely is “spoofed” – in other words, it looks like it’s coming from your bank or credit card company, but it’s someone else who has hacked into your bank or credit card company, making it look legit (i.e., your caller ID says it’s coming from Chase or Bank of America, but it’s really coming from the hacker). Trust none of these.
