SoFi

Think for a moment about all the personal information floating around online: We chronicle our activities on Insta and TikTok, send payments to keep the lights and WiFi on, and order up a storm of gifts, groceries, and impulse buys with a few quick clicks.

Sure, our digital lives are fast and fun, but there’s a downside — you might say a dark side. Many of us have online habits that can leave us wide open to the growing ranks of hackers and scammers. Cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly common concern, and getting hacked — or just the fear of it — can be one more stressor in an already anxious world.

SoFi took on the topic with a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults who self-identified as credit card holders, conducted online in February 2023. It revealed some surprising statistics about who’s been hacked, how worried people are, and what steps they are (and aren’t) taking to avoid becoming a victim.

Over Half of People Believe They’re Doomed to Be Hacked

With the average person spending more than 6.5 hours per day online, there’s a lot of sharing going on of ideas, feelings, funny memes… And highly personal data.

Perhaps you’ve made a flurry of purchases on social media or discussed embarrassing symptoms via text and then thought, Uh-oh, I hope that was secure.

You aren’t alone. According to SoFi’s survey, 59% of people believe their credit card information or personally identifiable information will be stolen at some point, if it hasn’t been already.

That means the majority of people who participated in our survey expect to be hacked or already have been. When you consider how the number of data breaches is rising, it makes sense. Cybercrime is projected to almost triple between 2022 and 2027. No wonder we’re worried!

Less Than Half of Respondents Say They Know How to Outsmart Hackers

Frankly, most of us don’t have a clue as to what is really involved when you fall victim to cyber crime. Less than half of respondents in SoFi’s study believe they understand the risks of credit card fraud and different types of identity theft very well. In fact, only 45% of respondents said they understand very well how to protect themselves from online crime.

Most Respondents Are Working Hard to Defend Their Data and Assets

No one wants their most personal info kicking around on the dark web. Nor does anyone relish checking their credit card bill and seeing that someone charged $600 worth of baby clothes to their account when they are most definitely not a parent.

Here’s what SoFi’s research found about how people are playing defense. Check out how many people use these protective tactics to avoid becoming an identity theft or credit card fraud statistic:

•   82% of people check their credit reports regularly.

•   82% use multi-factor authentication, or MFA. (A good sign: Only 3% of people don’t have a clue what MFA is.)

•   63% avoid using public WiFi.

•   41% use a VPN, or virtual private network. That said, 8% don’t know what a VPN is.

•   61% use a password manager.

•   86% avoid sharing personal information online.

•   60% use a credit monitoring service.

More of Us Should Be Monitoring Our Credit

That last move, using a credit monitoring service, is an important one. It can make mobile banking safer and help protect other aspects of a person’s digital life.

“Credit monitoring and identity theft protection work. If you don’t have this in place, do it now. With the size of the last few mega breaches and the companies they have affected, assume your data is exposed and you’re at risk. Everyone is required to purchase insurance for their car and house. Why not have the same for your most critical asset: your identity?” —Steve Tcherchian, CISO and Chief Product Officer at XYPRO, a cybersecurity solutions company

In addition to using the tactics above, the SoFi survey respondents have also deployed these moves to protect themselves from credit card fraud and other cybercrimes:

•   Using strong passwords

•   Clearing browser cookies and cache frequently

•   Not sharing their location in browsers or apps

•   Checking their account activity frequently

Most people (90%) check their credit card statements at least once per month. 44% of people check their statements at least once a week.

More Than Half of Respondents Admit to Recycling Passwords

Most people have good intentions when it comes to protecting themselves from the bad guys trying to swipe their financial or personal data. But hello, we’re all human. And that can mean sometimes recycling passwords because it’s just too complicated to come up with a new one. Or logging onto WiFi at a cafe or in a hotel because those Taylor Swift tickets are about to go on sale and you cannot, cannot live without them.

More Than 1/3 of Respondents Use Public WiFi Without a VPN

Here, the SoFi survey respondents admit to risky online behavior:

•   53% have used the same passwords for multiple accounts.

•   34% have used public WiFi without a VPN.

•   29% have stored credit card information in their browser.

•   27% have provided credit card info over the phone.

•   26% have stored confidential information on a cloud server, such as Google Drive or Dropbox.

•   20% have shared credit card information with others (either in person or not secured online).

•   18% have downloaded software from unsecure websites.

•   13% have left their phone or computer unattended in a public space.

•   11% have responded to emails from unknown senders that asked for personal information.

“When logging onto public WiFi that doesn’t require a password for access, know that hackers can track your internet activity and intercept passwords and other sensitive data that is exchanged. If you must use an unprotected public WiFi network, avoid entering your social media, email, or bank credentials while connected.” —Brandon King, founder of Home Security Heroes, an identity-security advisory service

Not everyone realizes the very real risks of playing fast and loose with their personal data. More warnings about the consequences of getting hacked or scammed could be a huge help.

“Education and awareness campaigns need to be implemented at all levels, including schools, workplaces, and public forums. Financial institutions can play a significant role in providing customer education on safeguarding personal information. And social media platforms can spread awareness and provide tips on preventing fraud and identity theft.” —Andrew Lokenauth, founder of Fluent in Finance, a financial education platform

With the right information, many people might avoid becoming an identity theft statistic.

14% of Respondents Are Using Their Birthday or Their Pet’s Name as Their Password

You don’t need to confess, but many people are guilty of using shockingly simple passwords. One like your first name plus the digits of your birthday. Or your phone number. Or even the dreaded password1234.

And, making matters even worse, lots of busy people reuse their passwords with abandon. It’s easy to understand why: You might be prompted to create an account when shopping online so you can unlock a discount or free shipping, so you fall back on your old favorite. Or perhaps you need to create a password to access info on your vet’s website, so of course your doggo’s name is an easy to remember password, right?

Whatever the reason, there’s no doubt that there are plenty of people who aren’t following password security best practices. Here are some of the missteps the SoFi survey revealed:

•   14% use passwords that include their pets’ names or birthdays

•   13% use passwords that include their childrens’ names or birthdays

•   11% use passwords that include their significant other’s name or birthday

•   10% use use passwords that relate to a band or song they like

•   7% use something easy to remember like “12345” or “password”

•   7% use something easy to type like “QWERTY”

On the flip side, 16% use auto-generated, secure passwords provided by a password manager. High-five to those folks!

No More Lame Passwords: Pro Advice

Some advice from experts on this super-important subject:

•   Buckle down and “use different passwords for each login or account. If you reuse passwords, hackers can access your accounts more easily” in the event of a security breach. “By using separate passwords for each account, you can rest easy knowing that even if one of your accounts is compromised, the rest will remain secure.” —Brandon King, Home Security Heroes

•   “Keep a close eye on credit card balances, and immediately report any discrepancies to the bank or credit card company” to minimize your liability. —Andrew Lokenauth, Fluent in Finance

•   “Don’t write down passwords!” —Monica Eaton, founder of Chargebacks911, a chargeback management company

And need we mention that writing your PIN on the back of your debit card is a real no-no?

44% of Respondents Have Had Bogus Credit Card Charges

Sometimes, you get lucky, and your bank or credit card company pings you asking whether that’s really you trying to pay for a lavish dinner in SoHo, NYC, when you are actually sitting on your couch in Santa Cruz. Fraud protection can be a wonderful thing, but it doesn’t catch every scammer. Learn more about threats to credit card security:

Older Respondents Are More Than 2x As Likely to Endure Credit-Card Fraud

Here’s what SoFi survey participants told us about experiencing examples of credit card fraud in the form of unauthorized charges:

•   44% of people have experienced fraudulent charges on their credit cards.

◦   Nearly two-thirds of this group (63%) have experienced fraudulent charges more than once.

◦   For most people (84%), the unauthorized charges were less than $500.

◦   6% of people said their most recent fraudulent charge was $1,000 or more.

•   4% of respondents have experienced fraudulent charges five or more times.

•   53% of respondents ages 55 and older have experienced fraudulent charges on their credit cards, showing that older age seems to correlate with being scammed more often.

◦   Perhaps that’s why confidence in one’s credit card security seems to wane with age: 26% of those aged 55 or older said they had been or expected to be hacked, versus 10% of those aged 18 to 24.

•   Almost three-quarters (74%) of those who experienced fraudulent charges said their credit card company notified them of suspicious activity.

Who Knew? Where Scammers Shop

Curious about where credit card scammers go shopping? People who experienced fraudulent charges and knew where their stolen credit card numbers were used said the purchases were made in these types of environments:

•   Big box retailers and grocery stores like Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club, Costco, Whole

•   Foods

•   Online retailers like Amazon and eBay

•   Smaller ecommerce sites

•   Gas stations and convenience stores

How can you better protect yourself?

“Opt for the latest payment innovations. Contactless payments, for example, can protect you against credit card ‘shimming’ [in which scammers insert a thin device into the slot of card readers to steal your data], as can digital wallets like Apple Pay, which deploy tokenization technology just like an EMV [which stands for Europay, Mastercard, and Visa] chip card does.” —Monica Eaton, Chargebacks911

Ouch: 15% of Respondents Have Been Victims of Identity Theft

It’s a scary fact that identity theft is on the rise. It can be deeply upsetting to have someone steal your personal information and credentials and use them for nefarious purposes, opening accounts and making purchases that you would never dream of. It can be similarly troubling to have to unravel the damage done and reclaim what is rightfully yours.

34% of Victims Lost Money Due to Identity Theft

Unfortunately, the SoFi survey revealed the following identify theft statistics:

•   15% of respondents have been victims of identity theft.

•   Most often, this group found out about identity theft because they noticed fraudulent charges on their bank statements (21%).

•   Other common ways people found out:

◦   12% said they were getting suspicious emails, calls, and text messages.

◦   12% said their tax return was incorrect or filed by someone else.

◦   12% said there were inaccuracies on their credit report.

◦   10% said they were unexpectedly denied credit.

•   The most common impacts that people described as a result of identity theft were:

◦   52% said it made them angry or frightened.

◦   36% had to set up new online accounts.

◦   34% lost money that was never recovered.

◦   26% said their social media accounts were hacked.

◦   25% reported that their credit scores were hurt.

•   More than half of all respondents (51%) said they know someone who has been a victim of identity theft.

Those who are concerned about the possibility of identity theft can subscribe to services designed to help protect one’s information and send alerts about any evidence of this kind of activity. It can help provide peace of mind as this kind of crime increases.

92% of Respondents Are Confident Companies Can Protect Their Data

Learning about all the risks of credit card and identity theft out there can be troubling and make a person feel as if they have a big bullseye on their back, tempting hackers to target them.

But of course, that’s not the case. Steps are being taken to protect consumers from identity and money scams and new techniques are emerging. Most people recognize that it’s not all doom and gloom out there.

In general, people are cautiously optimistic about how well their information is and can be safeguarded.

•   92% of people are somewhat confident or very confident in companies’ abilities to protect their personal information.

•   8% of respondents said they’re not confident at all in companies’ abilities to protect their information

◦   However, people realize there is only so much that can be done to protect information. 69% of this group believe all systems are vulnerable to hacking, regardless of the security measures that are implemented.

◦   On the flip side, 25% of this group believe companies don’t spend enough resources on cybersecurity.

Yes, we all may be at risk, but by adopting smart strategies and partnering with top-notch, security-focused financial institutions and other businesses, we can minimize the odds of falling prey to cybercriminals.

The Takeaway

As SoFi’s survey reveals, credit card fraud and identity theft are growing concerns for Americans. But there are proven and emerging ways to stay ahead of the scammers. By doubling down on smart tactics and taking steps to safeguard your personal information, you can protect yourself from serious damage.

To learn more about options for protecting your credit cards and tips for managing your accounts, explore our credit card guide.

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Third-Party Brand Mentions: No brands, products, or companies mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this article. Third-party trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective owners.

Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.

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Federal student loan payments have resumed. Whether you’re concerned about being able to manage your monthly payments or you’d just like to save money on interest, now is a great time to consider a new repayment plan.

Here, we’ll focus on two popular ways of paying off law school debt — refinancing and consolidating — and the pros and cons of each. Keep reading to learn which one is right for your situation.

Law School Loan Refinance

Usually, the main goal of refinancing law school loans is to reduce the amount of interest you’re paying over the life of the loan. To do this, borrowers typically reduce the payment period of their loan. But that means your monthly payments may not be much lower and could be considerably higher. For this reason, refinancing works best for people working in the private sector, earning a good salary, and enjoying a sense of job security.

One drawback to refinancing federal student loans is losing access to certain federal protections: loan forgiveness programs, income-driven repayment plans, and forbearance options. That’s because when you refinance, you’re paying off one or more federal loans with a new, private loan.

That said, high earners usually don’t qualify for loan forgiveness or income-driven repayment plans. And if you’ve previously refinanced your student loans (some folks do it more than once), then losing federal protections is no longer an issue.

Still think you want to refinance law school loans? Before moving forward, decide on your financial goal (after saving on interest): either reducing the time you’re paying off the loan, or keeping your monthly payment about the same.

How to Refinance

With two of your big decisions already made — whether to refinance, and what your financial goals are — the process of refinancing itself is pretty straightforward.

1. Check Your Credit History

Lenders set interest rates based on an applicant’s credit score. Requirements vary, but many lenders like to see a credit score minimum of 670 or higher, which Equifax, one of the credit reporting agencies, considers “good.” Keep in mind the higher the score, the more likely a borrower is to get a better offer or interest rate. If your credit score is below 670, you may choose to take some time to build up your credit before proceeding.

You can request your credit report for free from AnnualCreditReport.com. You can find out your credit score for free from Experian, and through some banks and lenders.

2. Explore Income-Driven Repayment Options

If your goal is to have more manageable payments, an income-driven repaymaent plan may be a better option before turning to refinancing. There are four of them — Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Plan, Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan, and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan — and each payment is based on 10% or 20% of your discretionary income. (SAVE is the program that promises the lowest payments, with payments dropping to 5% of discretionary income starting in July 2024.) After 20 or 25 years, depending on your plan, the remaining balance of your student loan is forgiven. (Some participants in the SAVE Plan may get their balances forgiven after as little as 10 years.)

3. Run the Numbers in a Student Loan Refinancing Calculator

An online student loan refinancing calculator can tell you what interest rate you’ll need to qualify for in order to make refinancing worth your while. It can also show you different loan term options. Generally, the longer the repayment timeline, the lower your monthly payments, but the more you’ll pay in interest over time. Shorter timelines mean higher payments and less interest paid.

4. Compare lenders

Go online to research the top lenders who offer student loan refinancing. Select a handful with strong reputations that also offer your target interest rate.

5. Prequalify to See Terms

Prequalify to see what the loan terms are. (This requires only a soft credit check, which doesn’t affect your credit score.) When comparing terms, don’t just go with the lowest interest rate. Also look for any added benefits (such as unemployment protection), cash-back bonuses, and customer service ratings.

6. Select a Lender and Apply

Once you’ve settled on a lender, gather the documents you’ll need to make a formal application. They may include W2s or pay stubs to verify your income.

Pros and Cons of Refinancing

Carefully review the pros and cons of refinancing student loans before you make a decision.

Pros of Refinancing	Cons of Refinancing
High earners don’t qualify for many federal protections	Potentially giving up federal protections, including loan forgiveness
Save money on interest — possibly tens of thousands of dollars over time	May not be worth it if your new interest rate isn’t significantly lower than your current
Pay off loans faster	Not intended to substantially lower your monthly payment

💡 Quick Tip: Ready to refinance your student loan? With SoFi’s no-fee loans, you could save thousands.

Consolidating Law School Loans

Debt consolidation involves taking multiple loans and combining them under one new loan with just one monthly payment. The main goal is to simplify your finances — not to save money in interest.

Borrowers with federal student loans may utilize a federal program called a Direct Loan Consolidation. Your new loan’s interest rate will be the weighted average of all the old student loans’ interest rates, rounded up to the nearest eighth of a percent. This means your interest rate might actually be slightly higher than the rate you were paying before consolidation on some of your student loans.

When you consolidate, you’ll also have the option to select a new repayment plan. The Standard plan (which spreads payments evenly over 10 years) will still be available, but consolidation can also be a first step toward other plans of action, like loan forgiveness or income-driven repayment.

Private student loans cannot be consolidated using the federal program.

How to Consolidate

The Direct Loan Consolidation application process is available through StudentLoans.gov and comes with no fees. Simply fill out the online application, or you can print out a paper version and mail it. It may help to gather all of your loan records, accounts, and bills as you work through the form. The process takes about 30 minutes total.

If you have a loan that will be paid off in a short amount of time, you might consider leaving it out of the consolidation. The same goes if you have already made qualifying payments toward forgiveness on certain loans.

Your first new payment will be due within two months of when your Direct Consolidation Loan is first paid out.

Pros and Cons of Consolidating

Just like refinancing, there are advantages and disadvantages of student loan consolidation.

Pros of Consolidating	Cons of Consolidating
Can lower your monthly payment	Pay more in interest over the life of the loan
Simplifies repayment	Extends your repayment period
Renews eligibility for federal protections, including Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)	Can cause you to lose credit for payments toward loan forgiveness
Doesn’t affect your credit score	Private loans and Parent PLUS loans cannot be consolidated with federal loans in the student’s name
Allows you to switch from a variable interest rate to fixed
Safer for average earners or if your finances are unstable

What Are Some Solutions for Handling Law School Debt?

If you’re passionate about having a career in law and are confident in your abilities, don’t let the costs of your education deter you from pursuing a rewarding profession.

Managing law school debt might seem overwhelming, but having a strategy can help you pay off your debt.

Here are several solutions to consider:

Making Interest-Only Payments While in School

While under the federal student loan deferment program, you aren’t required to make any payments while you’re in school, paying at least the amount of interest that is accruing on your loans each month could help keep your student debt from snowballing. And if you are able to pay more than just the interest, it’s a smart idea. The faster you pay down your loans, the less they’ll generally cost you over time.

Picking a Repayment Plan That Fits Your Budget

Once you graduate and start working, you’ll likely have a few financial priorities competing with your student loan repayment. In general, it can be a smart strategy to pay down law school debt as soon as you have a steady income, but paying down your loans too aggressively could leave you without enough savings.

Building up an emergency fund can provide you with a buffer in case you have unforeseen expenses. It can also make sense to start putting a percentage of your income toward a retirement fund to take advantage of potential long-term gains. You may want to factor your savings goals into your budget and pick a student loan repayment plan that fits your cash flow.

Putting any Extra Funds Toward Your Debt

Alternately, you can make paying down debt your top priority and put any extra income you have toward your highest-interest loans. Of course, if you choose this route, you may want to make sure you have a financial safety net in place first. This law school debt repayment strategy is typically called the avalanche method.
Essentially, while making regularly scheduled payments on all your loans, with the avalanche method you’d make additional payments on your highest-interest loans first. This method helps reduce the amount of total interest you’re paying. And by paying your loans down early, you could save on interest payments over the years because the faster you pay off your student loans, the faster you can stop paying interest on your debt.

Cutting Back

Relating to the strategy above, you could try to cut back on your monthly expenses and put that extra money toward your debt payments. While sticking to a budget can be challenging, it is one tool to help you stay on track with your spending.

Can you cut back on certain expenses each month? You may have to make a few sacrifices (within reason), but you probably don’t need to cut back on everything. See what simple changes you can make to your budget to find extra money to put toward your law school debt. Paying more than the minimum monthly payment on your student loans can go a long way towards getting out of debt faster and, therefore, making fewer interest payments.

Making Your Loan Payments Cost Less

What if instead of taking that job at a top law firm, you opt to go into public defense or spend a year traveling? If you find yourself looking for a way to make your federal loan payments more manageable, income-driven repayment plans can also lower your monthly payment by capping the amount you pay based on your discretionary income and household size.

With these plans, you may pay more interest over the life of your loans. But if your monthly payments are too high, income-driven repayment plans can bring them down.

Another option that can potentially reduce the cost of monthly payments (in one way or another) is to refinance your student loans with a private lender. When you refinance, a private lender gives you one new loan to pay off your existing student loans (including your law school debt and the undergraduate debt you may still have). Your new loan will have new terms and a new (hopefully lower) interest rate.

Instead of paying on multiple student loans, you’ll just have to worry about paying off one loan. If you qualify for a lower interest rate and/or shorten your loan repayment term, you may pay less in interest over the life of the loan.

Refinancing federal student loans with a private lender means you’ll no longer be able to take advantage of the benefits that come with federal loans, like income-driven repayment plans, deferment, and forbearance.

Employer Student Loan Repayment Assistance

If you work in legal aid or the public sector, your employer may be able to help pay down your loans. The best time to discuss repayment assistance is when you’re negotiating a new position. Benefits will vary from employer to employer.

The Takeaway

Two popular ways of paying off law school debt are refinancing and consolidating. Refinancing is typically used by high earners in the private sector who aren’t eligible for loan forgiveness. The goal is to pay off loans faster while saving money on interest. Direct Loan Consolidation is a federal program targeted to average earners in government and nonprofits. The goal of consolidation is to simplify your finances by combining multiple federal loans into one — without losing federal protections.

Looking to lower your monthly student loan payment? Refinancing may be one way to do it — by extending your loan term, getting a lower interest rate than what you currently have, or both. (Please note that refinancing federal loans makes them ineligible for federal forgiveness and protections. Also, lengthening your loan term may mean paying more in interest over the life of the loan.) SoFi student loan refinancing offers flexible terms that fit your budget.

With SoFi, refinancing is fast, easy, and all online. We offer competitive fixed and variable rates.

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SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.

SoFi Student Loan Refinance
Terms and conditions apply. SoFi Refinance Student Loans are private loans. When you refinance federal loans with a SoFi loan, YOU FOREFEIT YOUR EILIGIBILITY FOR ALL FEDERAL LOAN BENEFITS, including all flexible federal repayment and forgiveness options that are or may become available to federal student loan borrowers including, but not limited to: Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), Income-Based Repayment, Income-Contingent Repayment, extended repayment plans, PAYE or SAVE. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. Learn more at SoFi.com/eligibility. SoFi Refinance Student Loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. NMLS #696891 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).


External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.

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