5 Ways To Defend Yourself From Online Fraudsters

Image Source. Licensed under Creative Commons

Online criminals are constantly finding new ways to steal the personal details of unsuspecting victims. Here’s how you can defend against the most common types of fraud.

Strengthen your passwords

You should firstly ensure that your passwords aren’t easy to hack. You should avoid obvious numbers such as dates of birth and addresses, as well as obvious words such as you child’s name or your pet’s name. Instead, try to keep passwords completely random. Feel free to use real words to keep things memorable – just make sure that these words are totally random and try to add in numbers and different case letters. Something like OrangeZebra23Saturn is completely random and very secure without being particularly complex. Make sure to use multiple passwords and avoid saving passwords so that they’re automatically filled in.

Be wary of suspicious emails

Online frauds may try to pose as your bank or your energy bill provider in order to trick you into giving away personal details. They may even use an email address and template that makes them appear genuine. Try to remember that no official body will ever ask for your details via email – a bank will usually ask you to come into the branch in such a situation.

Use screening software

You may be able to use software to help detect fraudsters in many cases. The likes of Netverify by Jumio can be useful if you’re a business wanting to screen clients – it allows you to use facial recognition technology as a secure option. You may also be able to use a secure email filter such as VadeSecure to check emails for authenticity. There are also tools that can check if sites are genuine to prevent you using a fake site to buy something and giving away your details.

Watch what you post on social media

Fraudsters are now using social media to gain information on people’s personal details. Be careful of broadcasting information such as your address, your date of birth or your mother’s maiden names (there are quizzes that are sometimes set up to obtain these details). Avoid accepting friend request from people you don’t know and make sure that your account is set to private – this will ensure that only people you trust see your information.

Use a credit card for online payments

When it comes to online payments, you’re sometimes better off using a credit card than a debit card. Credit cards tend to be more secure – it’s often easier to get refunds for money that was spent fraudulently. Most payment online platforms such as PayPal allow credit card payments.

What Should You Do When Your Child Is Sick?

Sick children are something that no parent wants to go through, and yet it is a fact of life that people get sick. There are things that we can do to prevent it, but this isn’t going to stop your child from ever getting poorly. As such, you need to know what to do when your child does eventually have some kind of illness and we are going to help you with this. We are going to talk about some of the things that you need to do when your child is sick.

Image Location

Get Some Professional Advice

The first thing that you should do is get some professional advice. If you don’t know what is going on with your child, and you have no idea how to treat it, then you should seek out professional advice as soon as possible. If your child has an issue like eczema but you have never seen it before on your child, there are some sites that you can go on to find the best treatments for eczema. While this is the case, if it is the first time that you are noticing this issue, you should still take your child to get checked out. As the saying goes, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

If the issue isn’t too bad, you can usually wait and get a doctors appointment the next day. However, if your child is having serious symptoms such as loss of consciousness or anything like this, you need to take them to the emergency room.

Keep Them Feeling Cozy

One of the things that everyone likes when they are sick is to feel safe, and cozy. This is the same for adults and children alike so you need to make sure that they feel this way. Wrap them up in blankets, sit them on the couch or in their bed and make sure that they have everything that they need to feel cozy. If they have a soft toy that they love, let them have this with them at all times. You need to be giving them everything that they need to feel better again.

Don’t Leave Them Alone For Too Long

Credit Picture

You shouldn’t be leaving them alone for long periods of time. Not because anything is going to happen, but because they are going to want to be comforted. Giving them your love and attention is going to be crucial at this time. You want to be there for them, so the only time they should be left alone for hours at a time is when they are sleeping at night time. Even if they fall asleep in the day, you should ensure that you are staying with them so they have that comforting feeling.

Even if you have things to do through the day, try to make it so that you can do them around your children. This way your child will know that even though they are ill, they have their parent there with them, and this alone will make them feel a little better.

Keep Them Hydrated

Your child needs to be getting all the fluids necessary to keep their body working. Having them take small sips of water or juice are great ways to do this. As well as this if your child is hot, you can have them sucking on an ice pop. This will not only get them the fluids that they need, but it will also bring their temperature down. It is common for kids not to want to eat or drink when they are poorly, but it is important that they do continue to do so. You need to be replacing all the fluids that they are losing through sweat, and even if they aren’t sweating, keeping their intake of fluids up is vital.

Encourage Them To Play

Finally, you should be encouraging them to play as normal. Sometimes this is not going to be possible, but if your child can, you should be getting them to play with their toys as they normally would. This could help them to feel better, or it could just serve as a distraction to the fact that they are ill.

Hopefully, you have found this article helpful, and now know some of the things that you should do when your child is sick. Keeping them comfortable is one of the most important things here, because while we as adults know that it will pass, kids sometimes don’t realize this and need the comfort of their parents.

Prepare Your Home For Viewings

Image

Now that 2019 is here you may be looking to move on to the next stage of your life and this can often involve you looking to buy a new house for your family. If you fancy buying a new home this year and living somewhere else, you will want to start preparing your home for a sale. There are some super simple ways you can check your home is ready to sell, and today we are going to look at ways to prepare it for viewings. 

Clean Up

The first and most obvious thing you will want to do before people come and look at your home is to look around and clean up. Your house can end up scruffy in your everyday life and of course you don’t want this to be the impression other people have of you and your home. Be sure to clean the house completely and clear away any of your personal items. Make sure to also lock and hogs any valuables to keep you safe. 

Curb Appeal 

The way your home looks from the street outside is actually much more important than you might think. When you want to sell a home fast you will need to make sure that your house is looking good from the street and it is tidy and appealing. Before people go and view houses they will often drive by and take a look. This can be a make or break for your home so make sure that the front looks just as good as the inside. 

Make Repairs 

Cracks in the wall, mold, damp… all of these things will be annoyances to you in your home but they can be make or break for anyone who is looking to buy your house. Be sure that you take the time before viewings to make some simple repairs around the house and this can really make a huge difference to you when they come over to take a look. 

Cook Something Nice 

This is something which is about creating that cozy and homely atmosphere more than making the home look presentable. When people come to view your house they will be trying to imagine themselves living in this house, not you. This is why anything you can do to make the home feel more like a home is amazing. Baking some cookies or having a stew in the cooker when people come around can spread homely scents around the house and this will help people imagine this as their own home. 

Clear The Rooms 

As we said above, when people come to see your home they will want to imagine themselves living here and not you and because of this it is important for you to clear out things such as your photographs and personal items. This will allow people to see past your home and to a clear space which they will be able to fill up with their own furniture and Knick knacks, which will make things much easier and will make them more likely to buy your home. 

The Benefits of Animal Medical Insurance

Healthcare is something that is very necessary for every family in the United States. It protects you from unexpected health events. Just like you would invest in medical insurance for your children, you might want to think about investing in insurance for your animals. Whether you are looking for insurance for your dog, or horse medical insurance for a farm of animals, there are a number of different providers that you can choose from. The policy that you choose should fit your budget, but it should still be able to provide you with the amount of coverage that you need.

What is Pet Insurance?

Pet insurance is designed to provide coverage that will cover the cost of a medical procedure. Just one day of attention from a vet could cost you thousands if you aren’t prepared. Something as simple as a urinary tract infection can take time to diagnose and treat. Your insurance provider will help cover the costs that you incur during an appointment with a professional. Depending on the policy that you have chosen, you may also get assistance with routine medical examinations, prescription medication, etc.

Peace of Mind

You can’t predict when one of your animals will require medical attention aside from a routine appointment. The monthly cost is usually very low and typically a large percentage of your expenses will be covered after you reach a certain deductible. In the long run, you’re going to save a lot of money. You’ll also feel better knowing that you have this coverage available.

Pets Living Longer

Unfortunately, many animals are not able to receive the attention that they need because the owner cannot afford immediate medical attention. Insurance will remove this burden and get an animal the care that they need. When you invest in animal medical insurance, you are preparing for a medical emergency that could strike at any time. Seeking medical attention for an animal can be a very expensive situation. Take the time to learn about animal medical insurance and what it provides to you as the owner.

What Are You Trying To Teach Me, My God?

Image Source

This is going to be a short post. I just need to write my thoughts and feelings about something that happened to me.

Two days ago, I was worried about our financial state. There are so many medical expenses we need to take care of, then the bills for utilities, even the budget for food was a concern.

I whispered a prayer. "My God, please give me an opportunity to earn a steady income. You know my needs, Lord. Please lead me to the way where I can provide more for my family."

In the afternoon of the same day, I lost a thousand pesos. I was so upset, trying to budget everything and then BANG! I lost my money. Maybe it was because I paid it for my tricycle fare (and never got change back) or misplaced it (impossible for me because I always keep track of expenditures).

My hard earned money that was supposed to go into the food budget for the week is gone. I will have to offset some payments first because food is a priority.

I asked myself, "What is God trying to teach me?" I am confused. I asked Him for an earning opportunity, and yet I lost money instead.

My husband said, "Pray. Ask God to make you understand. Just pray."

I know it is just money and that I can still earn it back somehow. Sadly, I had to accept this unfortunate incident. I am still praying for guidance, for peace in my heart. 

I am putting all my trust in God. He has plans for me. I may not understand it now, but I know everything happens for a reason. 

Come into my heart, O God and dwell in it. Make me understand your Divine Plan for me. 

How To Pay For Emergencies

Image Source. Licensed under Creative Commons

Apply for a credit card

Credit cards are a convenient way of borrowing money for emergencies - rather than going through the whole loan application process, you can make purchases with borrowed money with the swipe of a card. It’s worth doing your research when choosing a credit card as there are many different cards out there. 

Many credit cards come with variable interest rates, which you should be wary of. Most also have a spending limit, which is also worth considering.

Having a good credit score will often help you to get better deals on credit cards although there are credit cards for bad credit. You should always aim to pay your credit card bills on time as many credit card providers will offer rewards for good spending.

Open a savings account

If you don’t want to get into debt, you could always set up a rainy day fund. This could include putting money regularly into a savings account. Ideally, you always want to have a couple thousand dollars saved up so that you’ve always got enough money in the event of an emergency.

It’s worth shopping around for savings accounts in order to find one with the best interest rate. This will allow you to naturally grow your savings. Some savings accounts with high interest rates may have restricted access of penalites for taking out money (for example, you may not get any interest for the month if you take money out). You should weigh up whether these restrictions are worthwhile. Online savers also have good interest rates, but withdrawing money from these accounts isn’t as fast as withdrawing from a brick and mortar savings account, making them potentially unsuitable for emergencies. 

Make sure that you only dip into these savings for expenses that are genuine emergencies. Having another savings account set aside for treats such as vacations or a new car is worthwhile.

Image Source. Licensed under Creative Commons

Get insured

Insurance is another way to pay for emergencies for those that don’t want to get into debt. There are insurance schemes out there for all kinds of disasters – by agreeing to pay a small amount each month, your insurer will then pay for any emergency costs when they arise.

Health insurance, pet insurance and property insurance are some of the most popular voluntary insurance schemes, although it’s possible to get insured against anything. Obviously, you don’t want to be paying extortionate insurance rates, so you should always shop around for cover.

There are lots of ways to lower your insurance. Investing preventative measures in order to lower the risk of emergencies can often lower your insurance rates (for example, if you live in a high flood risk zone and take out flood insurance, it could also be worth making some physical attempts to flood proof your home such as putting a wall up and damp-proofing the side of your home. Upping your deductible can also lower insurance rates, however this does mean that you have to pay more out of your own pocket in an emergency. 

Quartz Clinical: Providing High Quality Health Care At A Lower Cost

Everyone needs health care. Whether you get health care coverage from your employer, or pay for it yourself, access to health care must be available to everyone.

It is sad that the rising cost of health care drives people to self-medicate, which would later cause a disease to progress and complications to set in. 

No one wants to fall ill, but if we do, we entrust doctors and health care workers to provide the care we need. On the part of the hospitals and medical professionals, they perform their sworn duties to alleviate suffering to the patients who come to them for treatment. However, they have to consider certain factors such as providing quality care while reducing patient costs and possible re-admissions as well as ensuring profitability.

The medical profession operates on ethical standards, so there should be no short-cuts in providing care, and reducing operational costs should not mean compromising quality of treatment offered.

What can be done to achieve both quality health care and business sustainability?

The solution to this is provided by Quartz Clinical.

Quartz Clinical is a program specifically designed to help hospitals deliver high quality care while reducing costs. It is cloud based therefore it provides ease of access to data. A feature of the program is artificial intelligence that can provide forecasts on possible complications and/or readmissions. 

The platform provides in depth analysis of the areas for improvement by handling billions of big data from all aspects of hospital operations - medical care, finance, logistics, etc, all coming together to provide the best strategy that would give patients the same high quality, customized care regardless of demographics, and with a lower cost for both patient and hospital.

This is modern technology meeting health care that was only dreamed of decades ago. Quartz Clinical is bound to change the delivery of health care. It will be more efficient, more customized, more economical and patient centered. This is business intelligence perfected. 

With all that has been said, we are looking forward to a healthier future with Quartz Clinical.

6 Major Mistakes You Must Avoid When You Buy Property

From Pixabay

Buying a new home is an incredibly exciting process, especially if it’s your first time. Between choosing the perfect area and viewing all of the great houses, it’s easy to get caught up in the fun. However, as enjoyable as this task can be, it’s also very complicated and confusing, which can lead those less experienced to make a number of huge blunders. To save yourself the unnecessary cost and worry when buying property, here are six major mistakes you should avoid.

1. Buying Before You’re Ready

Buying property is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s one of the largest transactions you’ll ever make and has the power to affect the rest of your life. Because of this, you should ensure you’re definitely ready to buy a house before you jump into the process. As frustrating as renting can be at times, it is the best option for those that need a little more flexibility. 

2. Not Getting Pre-Approved

Online mortgage calculators can be of great help when determining how much money you can borrow. However, you shouldn’t just assume you’re going to get approved for that amount. Many loan applications, especially those for an itin loan, are denied each year. To put yourself in the best position for negotiations, you must ensure you get pre-approved before you start to bid. 

3. Shopping Without An Agent

With property sites and online listings at your fingertips, no one would blame you for questioning the use of a real estate agent. That being said, they are incredibly beneficial, saving you time, money, and worry with their knowledge and support. What’s more, it is the seller that pay realtors fees, not the buyer, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a professional at your side. 

4. Underestimating The Full Cost

Unbeknownst to many first-time buyers, a mortgage loan doesn’t actually cover the entire cost of buying a property. There are a number of expenses you’ll need to pay yourself, including a down payment, loan application fees, mortgage insurance, and more. You must ensure you have enough money saved up to cover these costs, or your plans could fall through. 

5. Skipping The Home Inspection

Home inspections, though often costly, are utterly invaluable in your property buying process. Though there’s the chance you’ll pay out for little to nothing, it’s also possible that an inspection will spot a major issue that could have caused you problems later down the line. This allows you to negotiate a better deal or walk away from a bad one. 

6. Settling Out Of Desperation 

The process of finding and buying a house can go on for months, and sometimes even years. This can cause a great deal of frustration, that causes desperate buyers to settle for a home they’re not entirely happy with. Instead of leaving yourself in debt, and with a house you don’t like, you should take a break for a while and start looking again when you feel up to it. 

Buying a property is a major transaction, so ensure you do it right by avoiding the mistakes listed above. 

Keeping Your Family Safe On The Road

When you take your family out on the road, you need to be confident that you know how to keep them all safe. There are some precautions that you can take to ensure that you have done everything possible to keep them safe, and there are also some things that you can do while you are in the car as well. So, let’s take a look at what some of these are.

Picture location

Keep Your Tires Inflated

The first thing that we suggest is to make sure that you are keeping your tires inflated. According to sites similar to https://ericpalacioslaw.com/ underinflated tires could end up causing accidents on the road. We know that this is not something you want, and as such, you should be making sure that your tyres are inflated the correct amount before you set out on your journey. 

If you do this, you will have peace of mind when you are on your journey that you have taken the right precaution by correctly inflating your tires.

Don’t Forget Your Furry Friend

We said keeping your family safe, and your pet is included in this. You need to ensure that you have the measures in place to keep your pet safe while you are traveling. This could be getting a seatbelt clip so that you can strap your dog in safely from their leash. Or it could be putting their bed in the back so that they feel safe on the way, and are not going to move about and hurt themselves. You need to keep your pet in mind here, because you don’t want them to get injured while you are on the road.

Use Child Safety Seats

If your kids are under a certain age, or a certain height, they need to be using child safety seats. These make sure that in the event something does go wrong, your children have an extra layer of protection from harm. You will have to check the specific requirements as they vary from state to state, but making sure that you have one is always going to be a good idea. You might find that your children don’t want to sit in these seats, but it is imperative that they do so that you are not distracted with their safety while you are operating a vehicle. If you are looking for the best child safety seats, then check out this site http://www.madeformums.com.. 

Be Vigilant Near Water

Finally, you need to be vigilant while you are near water. This might sound silly but water is unpredictable and could cause you an issue at any moment. Especially if you are driving by the sea, you need to ensure that you are watching out for slippery roads, or large amounts of water coming towards you. To do this, you need to stay calm, and have no distractions in the car. So make sure that everyone has stopped talking until you are passed it, and don’t have anything on the radio either.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now know some of the things that you can do to keep your family safe on the road.

This Is the Year to Get Your Driver's Licence

Photo source

If you’re legally old enough to drive, but don’t have your own licence, this is the year when you should really focus on getting it. Learning to drive can benefit you in so many different ways! Let’s just take a moment to look at some reasons you should book into lessons and finally get behind that wheel.

Driving Really Isn’t That Difficult or Scary

Of course, getting behind the wheel for the first time is bound to be a relatively daunting experience. You’ll find yourself quickly switching from being in the passenger’s seat to suddenly having control over an entire vehicle. But think about this rationally. Look at the sheer number of people who drive on public roads every day. If most people are capable of something, it really can’t be that difficult or complex. When it comes down to it, driving is a simple combination of being aware of how roads work, understanding how to make a vehicle move in the way you want it to, and combining the two things safely. Besides, you’ll have a professional instructor by your side and you can always reach out to HugheyLawFirm.com/sc/charleston-auto-accident-lawyer/ if you do experience any issues on the roads.

Driving Provides You With a Newfound Freedom

One of the main benefits of being able to drive is a newfound sense of freedom. You will be liberating from the timetables and stop locations of public transport. You’ll be able to drive to a wider range of places as and when you please! You can head where you want, when you want, without having to rely on anyone else to get you there.

Driving Can Boost Your Career Potential

It may sound odd, as you’d think that you only need to drive for jobs that require you to drive for a living, such as being a taxi driver. Now, obtaining a licence can open up new career opportunities like that if that’s something you’re interested in. But driving can boost your career potential in other ways too! Nowadays, more and more employers are requesting a full, clean driving licence of applicants. There are various reasons for this. Some may want you to run occasional errands in the company car. Many will simply want to ensure that you can get into work on time without having the excuse of public transport cancellations and delays.

Committing to Something

If you don’t have a hobby, driving lessons encourage you to commit to something productive until you manage to completely master it. You won’t pass your test unless you are fully competent and can be trusted to drive independently on the roads. So, you’re going to have to keep trying again and again if you don’t take your lessons seriously.

So, it’s time to get on it! Check out local driving schools and pick one with good reviews and recommendations. You’ll be steering the wheel of your own car in next to no time!