Account Security for Escorts and Clients: Passwords, Two-Step Login and Phishing

For independent companions, online accounts are the business: your email, your phone, your messaging apps and the sites you advertise on. If someone gets into them, they can read your conversations, change your ads, contact your clients or use what they find to threaten you. The good news is that a few simple habits stop most attacks. This guide covers the essentials, for advertisers and clients alike.

Start with your email

Your email is the key to everything else: whoever controls it can reset the passwords of your other accounts.

• Use a separate email address for work, not the one linked to your real name.
• Give it a long, unique password and turn on two-step verification.
• Check the recovery phone number and backup email, and remove any you no longer use.

Passwords: long, unique and stored safely

• Use a different password for every site. When one site is breached, attackers try the same password everywhere else.
• Long passphrases of four or five random words are easier to remember and harder to guess than short complex ones.
• A password manager can create and remember them for you, so you only need one strong master password.
• Never share your login details with anyone, including people who say they work for a site or an agency.

Turn on two-step verification

Two-step verification, also called two-factor authentication, asks for a second code when you sign in from a new device. Even if someone has your password, they cannot get in without it.

• Turn it on for your email, messaging apps, social media and payment accounts.
• An authenticator app is safer than text messages, which can be intercepted if someone takes over your phone number.
• Save the backup codes somewhere safe and offline.

Spot phishing

Phishing is a fake message designed to make you hand over your password or a code. It is the most common way accounts are stolen.

• Be suspicious of urgent messages: "your ad will be deleted", "unusual login", "payment failed".
• Do not click login links in messages. Open the site yourself, by typing the address or using a bookmark.
• Check the address bar before typing a password. Fake sites often use addresses that look almost right.
• Never share a verification code sent to your phone. No genuine site or app will ask you for it.

Escorts Guide will never ask for your password or a verification code by email, message or phone. Advertiser login is only at app.escortsguide.net.

Protect your phone

• Use a strong screen lock and keep the system and apps updated.
• Add a PIN to your mobile account with your network operator, to make SIM-swap fraud harder.
• Turn on the PIN or two-step verification in WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal.
• Review which apps can see your photos, location and contacts.

Our guide to online privacy for escorts and clients covers photos, metadata and separate work phones in more detail.

If you think you have been hacked

1. Change the password of your email first, from a device you trust, then every other account.
2. Sign out of all other sessions and remove unknown devices.
3. Turn on two-step verification if it was off.
4. Warn your regular clients if your number or messaging account was used to contact them.
5. If someone threatens to share your images or information, do not pay. Our guide on what to do about sextortion explains the next steps.
6. If your Escorts Guide ad was changed without your permission, contact us through the contact page.

Checklist

1. A separate work email with two-step verification.
2. A unique password for every account, kept in a password manager.
3. No codes or passwords shared, ever.
4. Login links typed or bookmarked, never clicked from messages.
5. Phone locked, updated and protected with an operator PIN.

Frequently asked questions

Is two-step verification by text message good enough?

It is much better than nothing, but an authenticator app is safer, because text messages can be redirected through SIM-swap fraud.

Someone asked for the code I just received. What should I do?

Do not share it. It is almost certainly an attempt to take over your account. Change your password and check your security settings.

Are password managers safe?

Reputable password managers encrypt your data and are far safer than reusing passwords. Protect the manager itself with a strong passphrase and two-step verification.