Passwords, 2FA, Passkeys: What to Really Choose

Cybersecurity for individuals isn't about antivirus; it's about habits. Ninety percent of reported frauds don't stem from technical flaws but from people being convinced by a phone call, SMS, or a well-crafted message to do the wrong thing.

Two-factor authentication should be active on anything that touches money or identity: your bank, primary email, and favorite marketplace account. Even better is a passkey, the latest system and most resistant to phishing attacks. It takes five minutes to set up once, and it eliminates half of your risks.

If you receive a strange message from a fake courier, a fake bank, or a fake operator of a website you use, there's only one rule: don't click. Close the message, open the official app or website manually, and find the information there. Most scams die out when the victim ignores the link and authenticates through the official channel.

If a site asks you to save your card "for convenience," think twice. It's not necessarily a bad idea, but it means you're delegating that responsibility to the party in front of you. When in doubt, I always prefer to enter the data manually each time: I lose ten seconds and alleviate the worry of understanding how and where it will be stored.

If you've been scammed online, report it. Always. Even for small amounts, even if you're convinced that "it's useless anyway." Reports are the only way the postal police can reconstruct patterns and close connected accounts. Every report, in aggregate, protects the person after you.

A simple but powerful habit is to keep the minimum possible funds on the card you use for online purchases. Use a dedicated prepaid card, load it with the exact amount you need, and nothing more. Even if someone manages to steal your data, the maximum damage is already limited from the start. Small friction, great peace of mind.

What really matters in this market isn't a single lucky deal. It's the rules you set for yourself, which remain valid even when you're in a hurry, even when you're excited about finding the right listing. Discipline, for once, beats opportunity.