BERLIN: It's not possible to completely prevent personal and sensitive data from falling into the hands of cybercriminals. In the event of a data leak due to a hacker attack, often the only thing left for you to do is change affected passwords as quickly as possible.

However, there's a number of measures you can put in place beforehand, to protect your data from phishing attacks and other scams.

Here are seven tips from the European Consumer Centre:

If you notice suspicious movements in one of your accounts, act quickly to prevent further damage. You should report it to the police and inform your bank to block any pending debits.

You should also object to unauthorised credit card payments to receive your money back. If necessary, have accounts or payment cards blocked or apply for a new ID card.

 - dpa