Top CREDO Tips of 2024

It’s the end of the year and we are reflecting on the last 12 months — with a list of our Top 10 Tips!

In case you missed them the first time around, here are the most popular tips — from charging your phone to what to do if your personal information is exposed in a data breach.

#10: Try these alternatives to Amazon

Amazon. If you’re like us, you’ve got feelings. On the one hand, it’s so convenient. A few clicks and whatever you want is at your door in a day.

On the other hand, a lot goes on at Amazon that conscious consumers are not OK with, like its impact on local economies. Like its opposition to unionization by its employees. Like its massive CO2 emissions: 69 million metric tons in 2023, which is about what the nation of Hungary emits in a year.

Add it all up and you might decide it’s time to look for options. Unfortunately, they aren’t easy to find—which is why lot of people haven’t found them. One-fourth of Americans shop at Amazon at least once a week and half of Americans now have an Amazon Prime account. But options are out there.

#9: How to use your phone to scan your important tax documents

It’s tax season and that means you’re likely receiving a lot of tax documents in the mail. When you go to file your taxes online or with an accountant, it can get a little cumbersome entering all that information manually, not to mention keeping all your paper files organized.

Luckily, you can use your smartphone to easily digitize and organize all of your important tax documents, without needing a scanner. We’ll show you how.

#8: Spring cleaning for your phone – delete those zombie apps

If you’re like most people, you’ve got a lot of apps on your phone you never use. Indeed, a quarter of all apps downloaded are used just once and never again, and far more are used a few times then forgotten.

These zombie apps are, well, if not an apocalypse, at least a big problem for your phone. They hog storage and memory, clutter up your screen and open the door to serious security threats. They should be deleted and you can learn how at our recent blog post.

#7: Eating canned fish is one of the best ways you can fight climate change

If you’re of a certain age, you might remember the days when canned tuna was a regular purchase at the grocery store—and made regular appearances on the dinner table, in dishes like tuna casserole, tuna salad and tuna-stuffed tomatoes. 

Those days are gone. Consumption of canned tuna has dropped by almost half over the past three decades.

There are various explanations for the decline.

#6: Quick ways to extend your phone’s battery life

Smartphones are small computers. And, like any computer, they use a lot of power. Also like any computer, they’re useless if they don’t have a charge. So a part of most people’s routine these days is periodically checking the battery level on their phone.

If you find yourself constantly dealing with a low battery, there are ways you can extend the life of your charge. Like charging your phone more often, unplugging it when it’s fully charged and checking to see which apps are using the most power.

Here’s how to extend your phone’s battery life.

#5: What to do if your personal information is exposed in data breach

Your personal information is valuable. And bad actors are working harder than ever to get their hands on it. Data breaches were up 20% in 2023 from 2022. There were 3,205 data breaches in 2023 and 353 million victims in total.
If you’re unlucky enough to be one of them, the consequences can be life-changing. You may suffer serious financial loss, reputational damage, your credit score can be wrecked and the emotional stress can be severe. You might spend weeks or months — maybe years — trying to recover.

If you do get a notification that your personal data was exposed in a breach, take these five steps to limit the impact, prevent identity theft or other fraud and save yourself a great deal of trouble.

#4: Is your phone slowing down? Try these tips to speed it up

We all slow down with age. And your phone is no different. As it gets older, you might notice that it just doesn’t have the zip it once did. 

But before you embark on an upgrade, there are a few steps you can take to speed up your old phone and keep on using the device you’ve come to know and like.

#3: Mobile banking Trojans are built to hack your bank account and steal your money

If you have a bank account, you probably use your phone to access it. Almost half of consumers now do the majority of their banking on their mobile.
It’s quick and convenient. But it can be risky, because bank accounts are a rich target for hackers, who every year create more ways to infiltrate your phone and steal your banking credentials.

One fast-increasing threat is mobile banking Trojans. Learn more about them—and how to protect yourself.

#2: Phone porting fraud: First, scammers steal your number—then your money

It’s a nightmare scenario. You wake up, grab your phone and discover that you have no service. You can’t call or text. But you still have WiFi, so you check your email—and see a message from your bank saying someone just transferred thousands of dollars from your account to an account you’ve never heard of.

What just happened? You’ve become a victim of phone porting fraud, a rapidly growing scam in which hackers call your carrier and pretend they’re you, then ask the carrier to port your phone number over to a mobile account that they control. Or they steal your number by calling your carrier and asking for a replacement SIM card to be sent to them.

Take these steps to prevent port out fraud.

#1: Are you charging your phone wrong?

Phones are awesome. We love our phones. But let’s be honest. There are times when our phones annoy us, especially as they get older. They respond sluggishly to taps and prompts. They load apps slowly. Sometimes the screen freezes.

If your phone is acting like this, there’s a good chance the battery is to blame. Because as your battery ages, its health degrades and it’s not able to supply the juice your phone needs to run at peak efficiency.

Your goal is to keep your battery young and fit. And to do that, you have to charge it right. Here’s how.