Devon & Cornwall Police are encouraging residents to take a simple but highly effective step to protect themselves from cybercrime: turn on 2-Step Verification (2SV) for their most important online accounts.
Cyber Protect Officers say that passwords alone are no longer enough. If a password is guessed, stolen or leaked, criminals may be able to access your accounts. Two-Step Verification adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second check, usually a code sent to your phone or approval through an app.
Police recommend starting with three key accounts:
📧 Your main email account – often used to reset passwords for other services.
🏦 Online banking – helping to protect your finances.
💬 Social media and messaging accounts – preventing scammers from impersonating you or contacting friends and family in your name.
The extra security code can be delivered by text message, an authenticator app, or a notification sent directly to your phone. Any of these options provide significantly more protection than using a password alone.
Setting up 2-Step Verification usually takes only a few minutes. Simply open your email, banking or social media app, visit the Settings or Security section, and look for 2-Step Verification, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) or Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
A small amount of time spent today could help prevent fraud, account theft and online scams in the future.
