While identity theft has been a problem for Americans for literally decades, it’s only in the last two that this crime really took off as far as it occurring over the Web. Thanks to the information superhighway, thieves can steal information from virtually anyone in the world, anywhere, at any time. Since most Americans, over 75%, have access to the Internet either at home, at work, or both, everyone needs to know a few simple rules about how to protect themselves during their online activity.
Spot phishing scams before you get hooked by reading emails with links in them carefully. If these emails have numerous spelling errors, it can be a dead giveaway. Another way to tell is to simply roll your mouse over the link so that the URL appears in your address bar. Does the address look like one for a legitimate site or does it have extraneous characters? Not sure? Delete the email. Just contact the organization that supposedly sent the message using verifiable contact information.
Don’t download email attachments unless you’re certain that you know where they are coming from. A lot of people get in trouble when their friends’ or relatives’ email accounts get hacked. The crooks send emails from these legitimate accounts and the recipients of the messages trust that they are real.
Because of this, the thieves are able to get the recipients to download spyware or other malware onto people’s machines. Then all it takes is some digging to find account information the people save or type in to their browsers. To avoid this, don’t download attachments that come wrapped in dubious emails, such as those that have subject lines like “I love you” or “you gotta see this.” You may miss out on a funny YouTube video, but better safe than sorry.
When you’re shopping online, be careful where you make your purchases. Try not to buy from stores that just look like a compilation of Google ads and popup windows. Instead, stick with merchants you know to be real. There are some thieves who set up fake commerce sites just to collect information.
A good way to use the Internet to protect yourself instead is to use it to sign up with one of the best identity theft protection services. While you do need to provide some personal information so that the service can monitor your credit properly, the well respected plans have secure sites and thoroughly documented privacy and security policies. They are organizations you can trust.