Lincolnshire Police visit Sixth Formers with a serious message

When PC Danny Westwood from the Lincolnshire Police Cyber Crime Unit visited our Sixth Form – the students were not in trouble with the Police, but they were being protected with a serious message before they go off to university or employment.

Over the past few years, there has been an alarming growth with 16 to 18 year olds being targeted via social media and online platforms – with Instagram now being the main platform targeted.

We would all like to think that we are keeping ourselves safe online, but how safe are we?

Our sixth formers (and staff) learnt how easy it can be to be exposed and the information that fraudsters are looking for, plus how they can use that data and how little they pay for your information.

In this eye-opening talk, the Police used their experience and knowledge to pass on useful advice so everyone can improve cyber-security. In summary, we should all follow these six actions:

1. Create a separate password for your email
2. Create a strong password with three random words
3. Save your passwords in your browser with a password manager
4. Turn on two factor authentification (2FA)
5. Update the software on your devices
6. Turn on back-up functions

If you think you have been targeted, then report to Action Fraud – www.actionfraud.police.uk