How to Prevent Online Identity Theft

Identity theft rates one of the fastest growing crimes in mAmerica today and the Internet can make it even easier for some criminals to take your good name and drag it through the mud.

Identity theft involves criminals stealing your personal information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers and other information, usually to buy things on credit or to empty out your bank accounts.

Through your financial liability with your credit cards may be limited to $50 to $500, it can take years for you to clean up the mess online identity thieves leave behind.

As with any crime, an ounce of prevention may just cause the would-be identity thieves to leave you alone and move on to an easier target.

The following tips can help you avoid having your identity stolen.

1. Never give out your social security number, online or otherwise. No company you buy things from needs your social security number.

If you do business on the web, obtain a a Federal Tax ID number to use instead of your social security number.

Once criminals have your social security number, along with your birth date and address, they have virtually everything they need to start wreaking havoc in your life.

2. Use a good anti-virus program. One of the ways criminals get your credit card numbers, passwords and other sensitive information is through "Trojan horse" viruses that log your keystrokes and transmit information to the evil doers.

The "Bad Trans" virus that has caused so much havoc is just such a virus.

3. Always use a "secure" server when transmitting credit card information over the web and know something about the company before handing over your information.

You can feel pretty confident that you are using a secure server if a little lock displays in the status bar on the bottom of your web browser.

4. A popular new way to pay for goods and services online is to "use your checking account just like a credit card".

Be extremely cautious about paying this way through the web. By giving a company your checking account numbers you give away much of the information necessary to empty your bank account!

5. Never give out information such as your birthday, marital status, education level or other personal information.

This additional information makes it extremely easy for criminals to make themselves appear legitimate when they pose as you. Websites should ultimately only require you to provide your name, email and billing information for a purchase.

You should avoid any site requiring more information than that.

These criminals prey on people's ignorance and you can usually defeat them simply by making it too hard for them to get your information.

If you do find yourself a victim, immediately contact police and get legal help. Do not wait because you feel embarrassed or "stupid" over what happened.

Waiting only lets the trail grow cold and limits how much law enforcement can do to help you.

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links...

Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to your website for weeks, even months... without spending a dime on advertising! ==> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com

RELATED ARTICLES

Wells Fargo Report Phishing Scam
First off I should explain what phishing is. Phishing is basically the act of tricking a victim into divulging information. It involves the receiving of an email message with a link to a website where the victim would enter personal information. In this particular scam, you get an email from "Personal Banking: personalbanking@wellsfargo.com" stating that there may have been some unauthorized access to your account and that you should click the link and enter your account and verify some information. When you click the link you are taken to a site which looks identical to the Wells Fargo site.

Phishing-Based Scams: A Couple of New Ones
Phishing in its "classic" variant is relatively well-known. Actually, 43.4 % of adults have already been contacted by phishers, says the survey released on May, 17 by First Data Corp.

If You Steal It, They May Come!
Business on the internet is getting down right shameless. This week, my email box was literally filled with hype, overly inflated promises, phish mail, scams, ezines I did not order, and about 14 viagra gimmicks. This makes you wonder what your going to get if you click in the wrong place. What's worse is you may get the same thing several times from different people.

Protecting Your Home Both Inside and Out
If you are a parent, you have probably wondered at one time or another, what more you can do to protect your children and yourself, not only physically but emotionally, mentally, spiritually etc. Today many parents and families are discouraged. They perceive, and even experience first hand a disturbing lack of basic civility and community respect. This disregard of the 'protective virtues' often leads to anxiety and fear. Those who disregard civility and respect demean those who take the time to work hard for their homes and their assets. They also demean those who work hard to maintain elevated ideas and standards within their homes. If you are a parent, don't let negative trends discourage you. Stay proactive and protect your home both inside and out.

Web Conferencing Readers - So What Do We Do with the PAYPAL SPAMMER
From: "Paypal Security"Subject: New Security RequirementsDate: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 19:20:51 -0800

Detect Spyware Online
You can detect spyware online using free spyware cleaners and by installing spyware protection software on your computer. Often it's best to start with free spyware cleaners because these free programs will remove any spyware programs currently running on your computer.

The Bad Guys Are Phishing For Your Personal Information
Do you know what "phishing" is?

How To Be Your Own Secret Service Agency
So you want to know who your kids are chatting with. Or if your spouse has a blossoming e-mail romance. Or if one of your employees is leaking confidential information on the side. These tools will allow you to find out the truth and get the evidence you can present to court.

How to Protect Your Child from the Internet
When the Internet first came about, it was realized it could be quite the multi-tasking machine. These days people use it for just about everything, from downloading music to checking e-mail, and virtually making the rest of the globe closer all the time.

Delete Cookies: New-Age Diet or Common Sense Internet Security?
No, this article isn't about some new, lose-20-pounds-in-a-week, certified-by-some-tan-Southern-California-doctor diet. It's about cookies on your computer - what they are, why they are there, and what to do about them. Computer cookies actually have quite a bit in common with their baked counterparts - some are good, some are bad, and they have expiration dates.

Cybercriminals Trick: Targeted Trojan-Containing Emails
Threats we ordinary Web users face online leave us no choice but learn. Haven't you noticed how many new things you learned lately? We are much better informed about malicious programs than just a year ago.

If You Sell Anything Online Your ePockets Are Being Picked
You and I are a lot alike. We are both software publishers and eBook authors getting hosed on a regular basis. You and I, my friend, are victims of software piracy that accounted for over $24 BILLION dollars in lost revenue over the last two years*. There are so many ways people can get your product for free these days. If we continue doing nothing we will lose even more money this year as potential customers become more and more aware of just how easy it is to obtain digital products without paying for them.

Don?t Become An Identity Fraud Statistic!
"You've just won a fabulous vacation or prize package! Now, if you'll kindly give me your credit card information and social security number for verification purposes, you will receive this awesome gift!"

How to Thwart the Barbarian Spyware!
Today,on most internet user's computers, we have theability to employ software, along with ourintelligence, to prevent viruses and spyware.To put this article into proper perspective, we'll useMedieval defense tactics.

Social Engineering - The Real E-Terrorism?
One evening, during the graveyard shift, an AOL technical support operator took a call from a hacker. During the hour long conversation the hacker mentioned he had a car for sale. The technical support operator expressed an interest so the hacker sent him an e-mail with a photo of the car attached. When the operator opened the attachment it created a back door that opened a connection out of AOL's network, through the firewall, allowing the hacker full access to the entire internal network of AOL with very little effort on the hacker's part.

Spyware Programs Are Out To Get You!
The average computer is packed with hidden software that can secretly spy on online habits.

Adware and Spyware: The Problems and Their Solutions
The Threat

Protection for Your PC - Painless and Free!
Viruses, Bugs, Worms, Dataminers, Spybots, and Trojan horses. The Internet is a veritable minefield of things that can invade your PC and affect it's Security and Performance.

Phishing, Fraudulent, and Malicious Websites
Whether we like it or not, we are all living in the Information Age. We have nothing left but adapt to rapidly developing information technology, no matter who we are and what we do for living.

How to Manage Your Username and Password The Easy and Secure Way
Have been an Internet user for more than 9 years, I have 100's of logins and passwords to keep. I'm paranoid. I'm now even more paranoid after I joined YMMSS because I use online paymentsystems on weekly basis if not daily.

home | site map | www.1001topwords.com