Louisiana Residents Warned – Stop Using These 4-Digit PIN Codes

(KMDL-FM) Your PIN, it's your Personal Identification Number, or at least you hope it's "personal". However, if you live in Louisiana, you might be shocked to learn that about one in ten people who live here have the exact same PIN as you.

To put that in more local terms, about 1,000 people who live in Crowley, Louisiana, have the exact same PIN. It's the PIN that unlocks their phone, or maybe it's the PIN that unlocks their money at an ATM.

Let's face it, once we get comfortable with a PIN, we use that number for any device or account that needs a PIN. Don't shake your head, you know you do it too.

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A recent deep dive into some 29 million PINs by ABC revealed that the most popular PINs are shared by a large number of people. Making those numbers the first numbers that hackers, or more accurately thieves, will attempt to use to access your personal information, credit cards, and cash.

ABC noted in their study that if someone stole or somehow came across a locked phone and they only had five guesses to attempt to get passed the security code, they would have a one in eight chance of guessing the code correctly. That should frighten you, especially if your PIN is included in the list we are about to share with you.

What is the Most Common PIN Used to Unlock ATMs and Phones?

That would be 1234. According to the ABC study, about 9% of folks use that one. The second most popular PIN is 1111, the third is 0000, and the fourth is 1342. Have we guessed your PIN yet? Don't worry, if you have an easy PIN, we are about to.

The other PINs that authorities really wish you'd stop using are 1212,2222,4444,1122,1986, and 2020. Those numbers, along with the four we mentioned above, make up the top ten most commonly used PINs. Are you ready for the second ten?

These PIN Numbers Are The Most Hackable in the World

At number 11 on the most hackable PINs list is 7777, then comes 5555, 1989, thanks Taylor, and 9999. At number 15 on the list is 6969, and if you know an immature male, that's probably his PIN. Followed by 2004,1010,4321,6666, and rounding out the top 20 of PINs that are easily hacked comes 1984.

If you want to review the entire list,  you can see that here. 

According to experts, most of us won't ever need to change our PINs unless that number is compromised. If your number showed up among the numbers we listed above, that "being compromised" is going to eventually happen, so based on expert advice, we'd suggest you go ahead and make the change now.

It's also a good idea to set up Two-Factor Authentication on your most important accounts. Almost every reputable website and or business you'd want to do business with can offer that security feature. If they don't ask them what safeguards they have in place to protect you.