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Fun Apps for Elders
Fraud & Security

Preventing Fake Apps from Stealing your Identity

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

 
Fake apps are in every app store. These forgeries are near mirror images of popular apps and often have similar logos, color schemes, and names as the apps they’re trying to mimic. If you inadvertently download one onto your device, your personal information could be at risk. Preventing Fake Apps from Stealing your Identity
What’s the harm in downloading a fake app? Fake apps can bombard downloaders with an avalanche of ads, more so than the real apps. Fake apps can gain access to personal information from a downloader’s device, including contact lists, photos, videos, and any websites a person visits or apps a person has on a personal device. Fake apps can also use the downloader’s device to engage in other tasks, find a person using the phone’s GPS (global positioning system) location, or even record real-time audio and video of a person. The harm a fake app can cause is very real. Preventing Fake Apps from Stealing your Identity
Do you know how a fake app company will use your information? Do you know how long that information will be stored on the company’s server or if the company will sell it to others who will pay for the chance to get access to your data? No, and these scammers will make as much profit from your resources as possible, even if it causes your information to fall into hands of those who engage in criminal activities.
While it’s true that some producers of real apps may also collect your data and gain access to the same information from your personal device as fake apps, genuine apps are less likely to allow that information to fall into the hands of criminals. The reputations of these companies are on the line, and although real app producers want to increase revenue, they also want to continue operating long into the future.
Fake app producers can close up shop and move on to another app scheme if app stores or authorities force an old scheme to close operations. While no company can guarantee that your information will avoid falling into the wrong hands in the event of a cyber intrusion or insider theft, real app producers are more likely to take high-level security precautions to safeguard your information than fake app companies.
Before downloading an app from any app store, make sure it’s the genuine article. If the name of the app is dissimilar to the real app in any way, don’t download it. The fake app could use part of the real app name or add other words to the real app name to convince people to download it. If you want to download the “Ultra Cool Music” app and you find an “Ultra Music” app in the app store, it might not be the real thing. The same goes for an app titled “Awesome Music from Ultra Cool Music.” Neither app is likely to be the real thing, and you should avoid downloading either of them.
A fake app could also have a nearly identical logo or color scheme to the real app. If you’re not sure about the authenticity of the logo, go to the website of the company you’re interested in and review its logo there. If it’s not immediately identifiable, run a web search for its app and compare the look of what you find to the app you want to download. If it isn’t the same, you’ve found a fake app. Avoid downloading it.
If you’re still not sure if the app you want to download is the real thing, look at the number of downloads or reviews. Popular social media, music, or movies on demand apps will have a large number of downloads and reviews, numbering in the 10s of thousands, 100s of thousands or more. Fake apps won’t have anywhere near these number of downloads or reviews. If you find an app for a popular social media site, but the app only has 20, 100, or even 1,000 downloads, it isn’t the real thing. Avoid downloading it. The process isn’t as easy when dealing with less popular applications.
Less popular apps may only have 1,000 downloads or reviews, but they could be the real things. Check to see what others have said about the apps before downloading them by running a search for the apps in your favorite search engine. In the “Awesome Music from Ultra Cool Music” example above, type that exact app name into your search engine. If people use words such as “scam” or “fake” to describe the app, you’re better off avoiding it. Never use reviews for the app in the app store itself to determine if it’s the real thing. The fake app might have the means to generate fake reviews, and anything you read could be a complete fabrication.
Always stay on your guard when shopping for apps and use your best judgment to determine if any app you want to download is safe. It will help prevent personal information stored or accessed on your device from falling into a criminal’s hands.
Preventing Fake Apps from Stealing your Identity Preventing Fake Apps from Stealing your Identity Preventing Fake Apps from Stealing your Identity Preventing Fake Apps from Stealing your Identity Preventing Fake Apps from Stealing your Identity

Preventing Fake Apps from Stealing your Identity

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Fun Apps for Elders
Fraud & Security

Scam Alert: When Text Message Authentication Fails

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

How text message authentication can fail, and what to do about it

 
During a dinner at a local restaurant, Phil and his date Aggie share a delightful evening together. When they finished their meals, Phil removed his black cloth napkin from his lap and set it on the table next to his plate. Shortly after that, he paid the bill and left the restaurant with Aggie. Scam Alert: When Text Message Authentication Fails
At an adjacent table, Dominic casually watched other diners in the restaurant, including Phil and Aggie. When he spotted Phil drop the napkin on top of a black smartphone, Dominic focused his laser-sharp senses on Phil’s next moves. As Phil left the restaurant, and before the restaurant staff could clear the dinnerware, Dominic casually moved to the table abandoned by Phil and borrowed the salt, while subtly slipping the phone into his coat pocket.
Dominic returned to his table and perused Phil’s lock screen. He saw a picture of the man with his date standing on a beach somewhere on a bright, sunny day. Scrolling across the image was the message “Email me if you find this phone” followed by an email address. Dominic smiled at the message and retrieved his phone from his pocket.
The career criminal opened his web browser and navigated to Phil’s email hosting provider. He entered Phil’s email address and a wrong password, which prompted the message, “Can’t access your account?” to appear on the screen. Dominic followed the instructions to reset the email account password, and within a few seconds, a message scrolled across the screen of Phil’s phone with a recovery code. Scam Alert: When Text Message Authentication Fails
After Dominic entered the code into his phone, he was able to change the password to Phil’s email account and gain access to everything inside it. Since Phil used the same login name and password for many of his online accounts, Dominic could identify the social media, financial and other accounts Phil used through his emails and gained access to those accounts as well.
Criminals will look for every opportunity to steal everything they can from you whenever possible. In the scenario above, Phil used his cell phone number as a password recovery option for his email address. When Dominic gained access to Phil’s phone and email address, he used the information to order the email provider to send a recovery code to Phil’s phone. Dominic was able to read the message containing the code since Phil allowed new messages to appear on his lock screen. Phil’s use of the same password for multiple accounts gave Dominic easy access to Phil’s bank, shopping, and social media accounts, allowing the criminal to easily raid their contents. Scam Alert: When Text Message Authentication Fails
If there is a vulnerability in your phone security, a criminal will find it. Don’t give them the chance to make your life miserable.
Take the following steps to make sure a criminal can’t use your phone to gain access to your personal information:

  • Add a passcode to your phone to prevent an unauthorized user from gaining access to its contents.
  • Turn off new message alerts on your lock screen.
  • Use a secondary email address as an email account password recovery option.
  • Make each password to every online account you own unique. Never use the same password twice.

If you don’t have a “lost phone” notification message on your lock screen, see if your cell phone offers the option and install it. Add the message, “If found, please call (telephone number).” If you don’t own the offered telephone number, ask another person for permission to use his or her number for the recovery option.
Following the steps above to secure your accounts might increase the time it takes you to access new messages, but it will make it far more difficult for a criminal to gain access to your data.
Your account security is in your hands. Make that security as strong as possible to avoid getting hacked.
Scam Alert: When Text Message Authentication Fails
Scam Alert: When Text Message Authentication Fails
Scam Alert: When Text Message Authentication Fails

Scam Alert: When Text Message Authentication Fails

Scam Alert: When Text Message Authentication Fails

Scam Alert: When Text Message Authentication Fails

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4 Reasons Your Wi-Fi is Slower Than It Should Be
Fraud & Security

Has Your Computer been Hacked?

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

A quick way to find out if a criminal breached your account security. Has Your Computer been Hacked?

Cyber criminals have hacked some of the most well-known, powerful companies in the world. When they do, they gain access to tightly-kept secrets, valuable proprietary data, and perhaps most damaging of all, your personal information. When such as breach occurs, will you know about it? Has Your Computer been Hacked?
It may take a considerable period before a company realizes that an intruder has compromised its systems. When the business finally discovers the hack, its reputation is on the line. Before an organization reveals to the world that such a breach occurred, and risk losing clients who might reevaluate their business relationships with the firm, the company concentrates on damage control. Only after it deals with the situation, and crafts a satisfactory public relations response, will it reveal the existence and extent of the damage.

Will you know if a criminal compromised your account even after a company discloses the breach?

You have to protect yourself when dealing with your personal online account information. Change your passwords periodically. Make passwords difficult to guess by using a string of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Never use the same password for multiple accounts. Ever. And finally, check periodically to see if a criminal has gained access to your accounts. Has Your Computer been Hacked?
A good resource to see if a criminal has stolen your account information is: https://haveibeenpwned.com/. This website allows individuals to type in their email addresses or usernames to see if they have been included in publically released information resulting from an illegal cyber breach. Have I been Hacked?
If you discover that a criminal has compromised your account, change the password to that account immediately. Be sure to change the answers to any password recovery questions that may be associated with the account as well. Have I been Hacked?
While you might not be able to stop a criminal from hacking the database of a company you do business with, you can take the steps above to limit the useful shelf life of that information and compartmentalize the damage criminals can do with it.
Has Your Computer been Hacked? Has Your Computer been Hacked?Hacked? Has Your Computer been Hacked? Has Your Computer been Hacked? Has Your Computer been Hacked? Has Your Computer been Hacked? Has Your Computer been Hacked? Has Your Computer been Hacked? Has Your Computer been Hacked?

Has Your Computer been Hacked?

 

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Job offer could be a reshipping scam in disguise
Fraud & Security

Job Offer Could be a Reshipping Scam in Disguise

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

When a man recently posted his resume online, he looked forward to a new career opportunity. What he found was a chance to become an unwitting partner in a reshipping scam. Job offer could be a reshipping scam in disguise
After posting his resume online, a company contacted “Billy” to tell him about a unique job offer. The company claimed to be a charitable organization that needed an independent contractor to receive donated items and mail them out to other destinations. Billy thought the job sounded easy enough, so he accepted.
Soon, Billy received a variety of expensive items in the mail and mailed them out as instructed by the charity. Billy was never paid for his time performing this service and ultimately reported the fraud to the authorities.
This charitable organization received its “donations” from stolen credit cards, and used Billy to ship items purchased with the stolen cards out of the country. Billy not only wasted his time performing work for a fake charity, he also became an unsuspecting party to a fraud.
Don’t let this happen to you. If a company contacts you and offers the opportunity to work from home as a reshipper, the safest action is to say “no thanks.” If you feel compelled to learn more about the company and whether the offer might be legitimate, here are a few ways to do your homework:

  • Check with the Secretary of State for the state in which the company operates to see if the business is licensed.
  • Check with the Better Business Bureau to see if there are any complaints against the company.
  • If the company is a charity, check out give.org to see if it’s listed.
  • Perform a web search for the company using your favorite search engine. Type the name of the company followed by the word “scam” and check the results.

Job offer could be a reshipping scam in disguise Job offer could be a reshipping scam in disguise Job offer could be a reshipping scam in disguise Job offer could be a reshipping scam in disguise Job offer could be a reshipping scam in disguise Job offer could be a reshipping scam in disguise Job offer could be a reshipping scam in disguise Job offer could be a reshipping scam in disguise

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5 Phases of a Scammer's Attack
Fraud & Security

5 Phases of a Scammer's Attack

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

The five phases of a scammer’s attack and how to avoid them

On a recent trip to New York, I had the chance to walk around and absorb the complexity that is Times Square. The area was bustling with tourists, street performers, bright lights, and plenty of cars jockeying for position along the narrow, construction-laden streets. Among the tall buildings and bounding characters, there were individuals seeking free cash under the guise of offering free information. For you, I engaged one of these individuals in conversation to find out more about the pitch. 5 Phases of a Scammer’s Attack
The man I spoke with in the blended darkness of night and bright lights of overwhelmingly large, and intensely illuminated billboards, looked to be in his 50s. He stood near a street corner next to a mobile vendor cart offering information about the city to tourists. Everyone I watched that neared his position ignored him. He looked eager to strike up a conversation, so moved near him and stopped on the corner. The man did exactly as I expected.
“You look like that guy from the Addams Family,” he said with mock awe.
I turned to him. “Really?” I said.
“Yeah,” he replied. “You look just like him.” He moved toward me and extended his hand. “I want to shake the hand of a celebrity.”
I looked at his hand, saw nothing that looked malicious, and shook it.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
I replied with a state I had never visited before.
“Oh, that’s great,” he said. “People from there have a lot of love in their hearts.” He grabbed a laminated identification badge hanging around his neck and flashed it to me. He said he was with a certain organization that works to show love to the homeless population and helps them out with their needs. He asked me if I would share the love in my heart with the homeless and help them out too.
At this point, the group I was with had moved further down the street. I had most of the information I needed, so I told the man “no thank you” and moved to rejoin them.
Before I go to a new place, I read up on potential scams in the area. I reviewed stories of scams similar to what this man pitched, and it was an interesting experience to see it executed well. This man had practiced his craft and wielded enough experience to lure in future wide-eyed tourists.
Let’s take a look at the components of this encounter to identify why it can be an effective scam. In the first phase of the attack, and make no mistake, you are under attack when a person has targeted you for monetary extraction, the man offered helpful information about the city to those who might be looking for something unfamiliar. He was specifically targeting tourists, individuals new to the area and unlikely to be aware of his pitch. When nobody accepted his offer, he targeted a stationary individual nearby and engaged that person in innocuous, flattering conversation. This gave him a casual opening that would lower the target’s guard. Since the individual he engaged wasn’t moving, this gave him a few extra seconds to lure him in.
Once he hooked the target into a conversation, he made a personal connection, the handshake, to make him more than just a random, ignorable guy on the street. That was phase two of the attack, and it anchors the target in place to prevent him from escaping. 5 Phases of a Scammer’s Attack
From there, he moved on to phase three. He showed a flimsy, laminated badge that anyone could print from home to establish his credibility. This compounds his appeal to the target, making him seem like a trustworthy guy.
In phase four, he made his pitch, requesting money to help the homeless, and modulated his voice to sound sincere and pleading to seal the desperate need of the request.
I didn’t give him a chance to execute phase five, the rebuttal, since I walked away. I know you won’t be his next victim after reading this article, but keep in mind that individual pitches will vary from person to person, and the scammer you encounter may have more aggressive tendencies. 5 Phases of a Scammer’s Attack
Do not engage a person you suspect of being a scammer, nor should you tell a suspected scammer that his or her pitch is a scam in disguise. The scammer may not appreciate the implication and could attempt to cause you physical harm if he feels threatened. 5 Phases of a Scammer’s Attack
If you suspect a person has targeted you for a scam, get away from the person as calmly and casually as possible. Separating yourself from a scammer is the best defense against an unknowable action by an unknown individual.
5 Phases of a Scammer’s Attack

5 Phases of a Scammer’s Attack

 

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4 Reasons Your Wi-Fi is Slower Than It Should Be
Fraud & Security

When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

I am sure you have clicked on something you wish you didn’t, only to find trouble on your computer screen. Recently, a friend of mine texted me a frantic message. When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus
“A screen just popped up on my computer saying my computer has been blocked. It states they have been alerted that it has been infected with a virus and spyware. It’s from Microsoft and it said to call (number redacted). Could this be real? I don’t know what to do!” Clicking a Link Brings a Virus
The message on her screen wasn’t from Microsoft. It was from a scammer intent on causing her harm. Instead of calling the number offered by the message, she contacted me and I walked her through the process of eliminating the threat. Fortunately, the scammer didn’t cause real harm, this time, but it can happen again without understanding how it happened.
When Clicking a Link Brings a VirusThe message that appeared on her screen is a variation of a tech support scam. In this scam, a thief attempts to scare a computer user into calling a number to seek help in eliminating an immediate threat on his or her computer. This “tech support” isn’t trying to help with a problem. The individual on the other end of the telephone is a scammer with the intention of extracting cash from the computer user for assistance in eliminating a fake threat. When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus
How did the threat appear on the computer screen? My friend couldn’t recall what might have triggered the fake virus message that appeared on her screen, nor could I inspect the computer personally as I was in the gym in another state and couldn’t see her screen. I suspect that she clicked on a link directing her to a website that generated the threatening pop-up window. It’s also possible that she attempted to download free software that either directly generated the message, installed third-party software that generated the message, or sent her to a website that generated the pop-up window. When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus
Whatever the case might have been, the pop-up window wasn’t a threat to her computer. As a safety precaution, I had her download a malware removal tool to eliminate threats that might been working sneakily in the background of her system.
To prevent this type of message from crossing your computer screen, avoid clicking on links that might take you to an unknown location. To find out where a link will take you, hover your cursor above the link, but don’t click it. Look at the bottom left corner of your screen for a small box that will identify the details of the link. If it doesn’t look like the destination you want, or it looks like an unidentifiable code, refrain from clicking the link. When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus
If you find a message similar to the one my friend encountered on your screen despite your best efforts to avoid it, refrain from clicking on anything in or around the window and don’t follow its instructions. Instead, take the following action:

  • Press the CTRL-ALT-DEL keys simultaneously on your keyboard
  • Select “Start Task Manager” on the screen that appears
  • Left click the logo of the browser you’re using from the selection menu that appears (such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chome, etc.)
  • Click “End Task” on the bottom right of the menu

This should terminate the browser session and close the fake virus message. Click here for more help.

When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus

When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus
When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus When Clicking a Link Brings a Virus

Clicking a Link Brings a Virus

Clicking a Link Brings a Virus

Clicking a Link Brings a Virus

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How to Avoid Package Scammers
Fraud & Security

How to Avoid Package Scammers

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

During this holiday season, package delivery is expected to rise between 10-15 percent above last year’s volume. FedEx anticipates a 10 percent increase in volume, while UPS expects a 14 percent increase. The U.S. Postal Service also anticipates a sizable rise of 12 percent in shipping volumes from the previous year. What does this mean for you? It means staying vigilant to avoid becoming a victim of package scammers who harness the value of this growing shipping phenomenon. How to Avoid Package Scammers
Scammers take advantage of the latest trends and technology to lure unsuspecting victims into their traps. As package volumes continue to rise each year, scammers increase their efforts to benefit from this growing trend. One of their methods of attack is to send an email to targets informing them of an attempted package delivery by a well-known delivery company. The email may include authentic logos, copyright notices, disclaimers, and the correct language to fool a target into believing the email is genuine. The contents of the email, however, are anything but helpful.
The body of the email will inform the reader that the company was unable to deliver a package to the recipient. It will offer one of two methods to retrieve the package – print an attached label and take it to a local office or click on a link in the email to reattempt delivery. If an email recipient follows these instructions, he or she will inadvertently download a virus that will either corrupt the computer or steal personal information to send back to the scammer. Either scenario is bad news for victims of this scam.
 
Package scammers have also been known to call targets to attempt this scam over the phone. This type of attack takes more time for a scammer to implement since it involves one-on-one conversation instead of an email sent to many individuals at once, but it has a greater success rate. People are more likely to respond to a phone call than an email, and a scammer can offer a more convincing story while countering any objections to secure compliance from the target. This type of package scam specifically targets the extraction of a victim’s personal information. How to Avoid Package Scammers
Here are two easy tips to keep your personal information out of a package scammer’s hands: How to Avoid Package Scammers

  1. Never click on a link or download attachments from an unsolicited email.
    Even if the email looks authentic, it may be from a clever scammer who designed it to look as convincing as possible. If you think the email could be genuine, contact the company using information you have in a statement or on the company’s official website and ask about the email.
  2. Never provide your personal information over the phone to a caller.
    You have no way to know if a caller is who that person claims to be. Instead, tell the person you’re going to call the company he or she represents to discuss the matter further and then hang up. Don’t use any contact information the person offers you as it may not be genuine. Also, don’t stay on the line with the person after you make the decision to hang up as he or she may pressure you into staying on the line. If you think the call could be authentic, call the company using contact information you have in a statement or on the company’s official website.

The holidays should be remembered with fondness, not as the time a package scammer corrupted your finances. Follow the two simple steps above and help keep your holidays bright.

How to Avoid Package Scammers

 
 

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Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
Money Tips

Wise to Check Prices on Receipts

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

When a mother and her two children recently visited a fast food restaurant to order reasonably priced meals for her family, she ended up with an outrageous bill fit for a king. Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
The transaction proceeded like any other, at least initially. The woman ordered sandwiches, fries, and drinks. The clerk taking the order dutifully punched in the appropriate items on the computer screen and asked the customer to swipe her card to pay for her purchase. After she did so, the clerk told her that her bank declined the transaction. Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
The woman knew she had a large enough balance in her account to handle the cost of the purchase. Without knowing why the card was declined, however, she decided to use cash instead. Rather than accept the new form of payment for the current transaction, the clerk cleared the order and re-entered the requested items into the terminal. Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
When the new transaction completed without further difficulty, the clerk crumpled the old receipt and prepared to throw it away. Before he could do so, the woman requested the receipt to help her figure out what went wrong with the original transaction. The clerk refused at first, but when the woman insisted, he gave in to her demand. Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
After the mother of two returned home, she reviewed the receipt. That’s when she found the glaring issue with the transaction – the clerk had erroneously charged her more than $13,000 for the $13.00 food order. She contacted her bank afterward and confirmed that it had declined the transaction due to its unusually high cost that far exceeded her typical spending pattern.
Though this event didn’t harm the woman financially this time because of the significant dollar amount involved, what if the clerk had entered $23 instead of $13,000? Would she have noticed?
Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, no matter how hard anyone tries to be flawless in everything they do. Don’t let an innocent mistake by another cost you more than you need to pay for a purchase. Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
Whenever you shop at a brick and mortar store, or even online, always review the final price of a transaction before making payment. It will help you avoid unexpectedly inflated prices, and prevent a casual dining experience from costing a royal sum.

Wise to Check Prices on Receipts

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Are You Overpaying for Auto Insurance?
Money Tips

Are You Overpaying for Auto Insurance?

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

The pleasure of driving a new automobile can be a costly benefit. Besides the expense of the car itself, new vehicle owners pay higher registration and insurance costs, easily adding an extra $1,000 or more annually to the cost of owning the car. That’s why many drivers operate their existing vehicles for as long as possible. When that period extends to a decade or more, some insurance costs may no longer offer a significant benefit to owners of older vehicles. If a vehicle’s value becomes less than the cost of two months of rent or mortgage payments, it may be time to reconsider certain insurance coverage. Are You Overpaying for Auto Insurance?
When was the last time you checked the value of your vehicle? If your car is approaching 10 years of age, it’s worth your time to take a quick peek online to see what it’s worth. One website I use to do this is http://www.kbb.com. Are You Overpaying for Auto Insurance?
Kelly Blue Book is a valuable resource for monitoring a vehicle’s value. Its online tool is free to use, and it provides a range of options to tailor the results to the condition of your vehicle. Once you’ve obtained the estimated value of your auto, it’s time to evaluate your insurance coverage.
Though liability insurance is required to pay for the damage you might cause to other people and property in an at-fault accident, you can make adjustments to that coverage to determine the limits that make sense to you, so long as you maintain minimum coverage required by your state. Other coverage such as wage earner benefits, death benefits, rental reimbursement, and towing and labor are optional and not required unless you determine they’re needed for your financial situation. Two of the more costly auto insurance options, comprehensive and collision coverage, can be mysterious in nature, so we’ll evaluate what they are and how to determine if you really need them.
Comprehensive coverage provides you with financial relief if a thief steals your car, if a tree falls on your car during a storm, or you drive into a deer that popped out of nowhere into the middle the road. Collision coverage provides you with financial relief if you back into a telephone pole or mistake the gas pedal for the brake and ram your car into a building. Comprehensive and collision coverage financially assists you with the loss of or damage to your vehicle, while liability coverage financially assists those you harm in an accident you cause.
Comprehensive and collision can easily increase the annual cost of insurance coverage by 20 percent or more. Is maintaining this coverage worth the expense?
First, if you have a loan on the car, the lender usually mandates comprehensive and collision coverage for your vehicle, so removing them isn’t an option. Second, if you have no savings, no backup vehicle, and no other options to get to work or doctors appointments should your vehicle become inoperable in an accident you caused, it may be worthwhile to maintain comprehensive and collision until you can create a small financial cushion to handle the loss of your vehicle. Beyond these situations, let’s look at the value of your vehicle to see if you need to keep the extra coverage.
If the annual cost of comprehensive and collision insurance is 50 percent or greater than the value of your vehicle, it might be a good idea to drop the coverage, so long as you’re a safe driver and don’t live in a high-risk area. Between 25 and 50 percent coverage cost to vehicle value, dropping the coverage is worth considering if you have another option to get to where you’re going or have a financial cushion to draw from should your vehicle become disabled and the damage isn’t covered by another driver’s insurance coverage. Below 25 percent cost to value, it might be best to maintain the coverage unless the loss of the vehicle and its value would not cause a significant impact on your finances.
The bottom line: The decision to drop comprehensive and collision insurance coverage is a personal one, and should be carefully evaluated to determine if keeping them is right for you. If, after assessing the value of your vehicle and your financial resources, you determine that it makes sense for you financially to drop the coverage, it could save a significant sum that you can use for other current expenses or save for future use.

Are You Overpaying for Auto Insurance?

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