Warning: Take these steps to protect your privacy on FaceApp

If you’ve been on social media at all over the last few days, you’ve probably noticed your friends, family and even celebrities posting pictures of themselves aged dozens of years using an app called FaceApp.

However, there are new warnings about what might be happening to those pictures you’re allowing the app to access and how they might be used in the future.

Techcrunch reports that the company, a Russian startup, is uploading users’ photos to the cloud, rather than making those crazy image transformations directly on your device.

“FaceApp goes on to specify that it ‘might’ store the photos users have chosen to upload in the cloud for a short period, claiming this is done for ‘performance and traffic’ — such as to make sure that a user doesn’t repeatedly upload the same photo to carry out another edit,” Techcrunch says.

That doesn’t sound too reassuring to us.

If you’ve downloaded and used FaceApp, here’s how to remove your pictures from their storage

If you’ve given FaceApp permission to access your photos and you’re concerned about how they could be used, the company has outlined how to request that your pictures be deleted:

1. Open the app on your device
2. Click ‘Settings’
3. Click ‘Support’
4. Click ‘Report a bug’
5. In the subject line of the report, write: privacy
6. Submit it

As always, be careful about the apps that you download — and especially with the data you share with them!

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Warning: How criminals steal your banking info over the phone

Criminals are impersonating bank employees and getting customers to hand over their debit and credit card security codes, according to TV station KION.

Police in Carmel, California, are reportedly warning residents about this scam, but the message — and steps on how to stay safe — is relevant to everyone.

Report: New bank scam targets phone users with bank accounts

The scam works like this: A crook calls your phone pretending to be an employee from your bank.

What makes it more believable is that the phone number appears to be from your financial institution because of a technology called caller ID spoofing.

The thief typically tells you that your account has been compromised in some way, KION reports. To fix the issue, the crooks ask for the three-digit code on the back of your credit card.

Do don’t it: That three-digit code, known as a CVV (card verification value) or CVC (card verification code) is an anti-fraud measure.

Those numbers are part of the verification process that merchants need to go through to charge a transaction to your card.

In the event that you do happen to get a phone call from your bank, here are two things you should make sure of:

• Make sure they address you by your full name. They may have the wrong person.
• Make sure they identify themselves at the outset. You need to always know who you’re talking to.

Bank scam: What to do if you get a call

Don’t give out your personal info: The main thing you need to know about dealing with phone calls from a bank is to never divulge any information: Banks don’t ask for personal information over the phone.

Hang up the phone: If someone from a financial institution (or anyone really) asks for your personal information, hang up immediately.

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File a complaint: Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Complaint Center at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov  or call them at call 1-877-FTC-HELP.

Here are 3 things your bank will never do

If you receive calls from time to time from financial institutions, you should always feel confident in who you’re dealing with.

Here are some red flags that will let you know that you’re dealing with a scammer on the other line:

• They ask for your full Social Security number, bank account or credit card number.
• They ask you to send sensitive bank information via email
• They ask you to go to a third-party site to enter your personal information

Here’s what money expert Clark Howard says about this scam: “Understand this: No one is ever going to call you from your bank or credit union in possession of your credit or debit card number and ask you for either your four-digit PIN or your three- or four-digit code from the card.”

Clark says here’s the #1 way to stay safe from this bank scam:

“You never, ever NOT EVER give someone pretending to be from a bank or credit union that information because that unlocks their ability to pretend to be you and have a field day buying as if they are you.”

Listen to Clark Howard talk about this phone scam

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New warning: How scammers are robbing people through the Zelle app

Zelle, the popular payment app backed by the big banks, has become such a security risk that only people with money to lose should use it.

That’s the advice from money expert Clark Howard, who is on record as warning consumers to stay away from Zelle due to previous infractions.

A good reason not to use Zelle: Banks offer no consumer protection

Hackers have figured out that Zelle and similar apps are low-hanging fruit when it comes to stealing people’s hard-earned money, Clark says.

Here’s their latest strategy: You think you’re buying something online on a marketplace site like Facebook or Craigslist and the seller tells you to pay using Zelle.

Once you do that, the seller (scammer) simply takes your money, shuts down their bank account and never sends the product, according to TechCrunch.

The kicker in all this is that Zelle users have virtually zero recourse for getting their money back.

The banks behind Zelle — JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and more — have been largely silent on problems with Zelle fraud protection.

Clark says the fact that Zelle being fully integrated into the banking system is what makes it different from the other payment apps from a security perspective, as well as fraud protection.

Many banks have built Zelle into their apps. Here’s the Wells Fargo app. You can see there’s a “Send Money with Zelle” button dead-center:

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Because real bank accounts are involved — and you figure that the big banks are backing and securing the transaction  — many people feel a false sense of security when using Zelle.

The banks’ position has been that if you agree to send money to someone, there’s no turning back. Here’s what it says in Zelle’s fine print:

So, unlike with a credit card, there’s no mechanism for reversing or disputing a payment once you’ve made one using Zelle.

Final thought

If you take nothing else away from this, let be that Clark absolutely doesn’t want you to set up Zelle if your bank offers it.

However, other payment apps can be useful when it comes to transferring money to family, friends and trusted merchants. Here is the #1 thing you need to do if you use payment apps.

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