The use of the Internet to steal people's personal details such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, user IDs and passwords is called "phishing" (pronounced fishing). This is accomplished by the fraudulent impersonation of a trusted institution or corporation such as a bank or credit card company.
Phishing is growing all the time and the techniques and technology used is becoming ever more sophisticated. However by following these simple rules you can greatly reduce the chance of falling victim to phishing.
Never reveal your passwords. Not even to a family member or close friend. Of course you trust your family and friends but once you have revealed a password to them you can never be sure that they will not unwittingly reveal your password to someone else. There may be occasions, due to sickness or accident for example, when you have no other choice than to allow family or close friends to access some on-line accounts. Following such occasions you should change your passwords as soon as you possibly can.
Use secure passwords. Never use a password such as your middle name, your pet's name, your date of birth and so on. These may be easy to guess. Nor should you use any word that exists in the dictionary. A strong password uses a combination of letters and numbers and symbols. It is possible to create such passwords in an easy to remember format. For example, the password A$4A10c looks quite random but may be remembered as "A dollar for a dime". Using a technique such as this You can have lots of fun creating your own secure password.
Use good security software (an anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and firewall are a minimum requirement). Once installed don't forget to keep all your security software updated. Many require an annual license fee in order to keep working at their best. You should never allow your security software to become outdated or allow the license to run out.
Use the most current versions of Internet browsers. Most of the current versions contain their own anti-phishing filters and blacklists to help keep you safe. A recent trial by a popular consumer magazine in the UK (you know WHICH one) recommended Firefox as their browser of choice.
Never click a link in an email. Phishing emails can look exactly like a regular email from your bank or credit card company and you may be tricked in to clicking their link which will take you to their website where any username and password entered will be recorded. To prevent this never, ever click on a link in an email instead open your Internet browser and type in the website address of the institution concerned.
Regularly check your on-line accounts. Log on to your account and investigate any action that you don't recognise. It may just be that the details of a retailer transaction are not easily recognisable so investigate before you take action.
About the Author
Tim Maguire holds a Masters degree in Computer Science and is a full-time computer consultant. For further help in protecting your PC against spyware, computer virus, hacking, spam, phishing and general PC security you should visit his website keepyourpcsafe.co.uk
Paid Surveys That Never Live Up To The Hype
I recently wrote an article discussing my intentional experiment in paid surveys. I broke my own rule and paid a site to locate these services for me. Please know that this was more like one of those investigative news reports. I already knew what I was likely to find, but I had to pay a price to see the evidence up close.
In my personal experiment in paid surveys I found that in the bulk of the survey offers I was asked to complete questions that were nearly identical between surveys. I was encouraged to download RoboForms to make this process easier.
In the first three hours I was offered about 24 surveys. None were paying offers.
I did have one email that indicated I had been chosen to complete a survey that would pay me $20. Since this was the first (and only) time I had been offered a payment for a survey I signed on and filled out two screens of information before a screen came up thanking me for my time while informing me that I did not meet the qualifications for taking the survey.
The other thing I noticed about my experiment in paid surveys was that the entire experiment was an interruption. Yes, I allowed the interruption because of the experiment, but even when I wanted time away from the pursuit I was still barraged with incoming emails that alerted me to new survey opportunities. All of these opportunities simply gave a chance to win a grand prize featuring a variety of prizes if I participated.
I imagined those that signed up for surveys find a thrill when they received the emails and I can understand the hope that they may have felt in relation to claiming a valuable prize or simply paying off the fees so many willingly pay to find compensated survey sites.
Meaningful pursuits may have been ignored while the email page is refreshed consistently looking for that next big chance to pay a bill or meet a need.
Paid surveys often appeal to those who may not have much in the way of expendable resources. The idea of being able to fill out a survey is appealing because it is something they can do in their spare time, and the potential to receive money makes this something many feel is a worthwhile opportunity.
Because many of these sites use a random drawing to select winners of cash prizes the process really does have the feel of gaming.
I suppose if you were to pay for a one-dollar scratch card each day at the convenience store the thought of paying $30-50 for one year's worth of access to a clearinghouse of paid survey results may not seem so bad. However, when folks who can't afford to waste $35 feel this might be their only way out it speaks to a bigger problem.
It was my intention to gain a first hand perspective of paid surveys so that others might not have to.
If you really want to make money you should either consider a part time job to supplement your income or use your existing skills to create an online business.
The hype of paid surveys never quite reveals actual results. Actual results never live up to the hype.
About the Author
Make Your Own Website in minutes with HighPowerSites.com or Build Your Own Website with BuildAGreatSite.com. Start an EBOOK BUSINESS at BooksWealth.com.
In my personal experiment in paid surveys I found that in the bulk of the survey offers I was asked to complete questions that were nearly identical between surveys. I was encouraged to download RoboForms to make this process easier.
In the first three hours I was offered about 24 surveys. None were paying offers.
I did have one email that indicated I had been chosen to complete a survey that would pay me $20. Since this was the first (and only) time I had been offered a payment for a survey I signed on and filled out two screens of information before a screen came up thanking me for my time while informing me that I did not meet the qualifications for taking the survey.
The other thing I noticed about my experiment in paid surveys was that the entire experiment was an interruption. Yes, I allowed the interruption because of the experiment, but even when I wanted time away from the pursuit I was still barraged with incoming emails that alerted me to new survey opportunities. All of these opportunities simply gave a chance to win a grand prize featuring a variety of prizes if I participated.
I imagined those that signed up for surveys find a thrill when they received the emails and I can understand the hope that they may have felt in relation to claiming a valuable prize or simply paying off the fees so many willingly pay to find compensated survey sites.
Meaningful pursuits may have been ignored while the email page is refreshed consistently looking for that next big chance to pay a bill or meet a need.
Paid surveys often appeal to those who may not have much in the way of expendable resources. The idea of being able to fill out a survey is appealing because it is something they can do in their spare time, and the potential to receive money makes this something many feel is a worthwhile opportunity.
Because many of these sites use a random drawing to select winners of cash prizes the process really does have the feel of gaming.
I suppose if you were to pay for a one-dollar scratch card each day at the convenience store the thought of paying $30-50 for one year's worth of access to a clearinghouse of paid survey results may not seem so bad. However, when folks who can't afford to waste $35 feel this might be their only way out it speaks to a bigger problem.
It was my intention to gain a first hand perspective of paid surveys so that others might not have to.
If you really want to make money you should either consider a part time job to supplement your income or use your existing skills to create an online business.
The hype of paid surveys never quite reveals actual results. Actual results never live up to the hype.
About the Author
Make Your Own Website in minutes with HighPowerSites.com or Build Your Own Website with BuildAGreatSite.com. Start an EBOOK BUSINESS at BooksWealth.com.
Internet Scams- What You Should Know
Internet scams- You've probably heard of them, and you even might have fallen for a few of them. They are everywhere. They exist for one reason only; To make one person rich by scamming money from someone else. Its very harsh, but it happens everyday. There are people who are trying to search for ways to make money online, and they will come across money making guides that claim to make them money. How can we be sure that these types of money making ebooks aren't internet scams? There are signs you can look for in order to detect a possible get rich quick scam.
Does the product offer a money back guarantee? If so, this is a good sign. It doesn't always mean that its not an internet scam, but it does reassure you that if it happens to be a scam, you can get your money back. Always make sure that you look for a money back guarantee when you are searching for a product online. Usually there will be a 30 day refund period, sometimes longer.
Does the product claim you can make 'x' amount of money in 'x' amount of time? A lot of internet scams will claim that you will make $3500 / week or something similar to that. Avoid these types of products as much as possible. No one can guarantee how much money you can make in a week, so don't fall for these types of guarantees! This is usually a red flag and is most likely internet scams!
Have you done your research on the product? When you find a product that seems legitimate, the next step is to do your research. The internet is huge, and there will most likely be many people online who have purchased the product you are interested in. Type in the product name into google, and see what comes up. Join a few home business forums, and you will most likely find people there who can tell you some information about the product. Research is key if you want to avoid internet scams.I can't stress it enough that in order to avoid internet scams, you have to:
Look for a money back guarantee
Make sure the product doesn't guarantee how much money you'll make
Do your research.
Those are all key steps you have to take, to ensure you don't become another victim of an internet scam! For more information on get rich quick scams, please visit http://www.scamseekers.com
Holly is on entrepreneur who searches for get rich quick scams. You can visit her website at http://www.scamseekers.com
Does the product offer a money back guarantee? If so, this is a good sign. It doesn't always mean that its not an internet scam, but it does reassure you that if it happens to be a scam, you can get your money back. Always make sure that you look for a money back guarantee when you are searching for a product online. Usually there will be a 30 day refund period, sometimes longer.
Does the product claim you can make 'x' amount of money in 'x' amount of time? A lot of internet scams will claim that you will make $3500 / week or something similar to that. Avoid these types of products as much as possible. No one can guarantee how much money you can make in a week, so don't fall for these types of guarantees! This is usually a red flag and is most likely internet scams!
Have you done your research on the product? When you find a product that seems legitimate, the next step is to do your research. The internet is huge, and there will most likely be many people online who have purchased the product you are interested in. Type in the product name into google, and see what comes up. Join a few home business forums, and you will most likely find people there who can tell you some information about the product. Research is key if you want to avoid internet scams.I can't stress it enough that in order to avoid internet scams, you have to:
Look for a money back guarantee
Make sure the product doesn't guarantee how much money you'll make
Do your research.
Those are all key steps you have to take, to ensure you don't become another victim of an internet scam! For more information on get rich quick scams, please visit http://www.scamseekers.com
Holly is on entrepreneur who searches for get rich quick scams. You can visit her website at http://www.scamseekers.com
Make Money Online Scams
Making money online is an amusing way to build an income through home based businesses. There are a number of different business opportunities available online. These opportunities save your time and money but you must be always ready for make money online scams. Scams are fraudulent business schemes and in this case, they come online.
If you are an online business man, or if you are getting money being online, you may be exposed to one of the many online scams. Online scams, coming in different forms, will cut back your chances of making money online. Even though, the get paid-to-do programs (including reading emails, clicking the banners, shopping, filling out paid surveys, and chatting) are easy, around 90% of them are scams.
Make money online scams is common in multi level marketing (MLM). This vast online infrastructure provides opportunities for people to engage in businesses with simple MLM websites, MLM directories, MLM companies, online training courses, and investment clubs. Work at home scams is another type of online scams which is considered as one of the top telemarketing frauds. This type can be seen in the form of ads. You may be required to give a registration fee and after collecting that they may shut shop. A successful online scammer can earn a lot of money (ranging from $10 to $70,000).
The online scams can often appear in the form of unsolicited e-mails (spam). They attack your system and rest in the inbox. You cannot completely remove the spam from the list by just a click on a link, something like ?remove me from the list?. Almost all Internet connected PCs have no self-restraint facilities against the spam.
Online scams also affect credit card dealings. Dealing with online scams may injure your business. These scammers may steal your identity (credit card number, social security, or address) and manipulate your earnings.
Make Money Online provides detailed information on Make Money Online, How To Make Money Online, Make Money Online With Surveys, Make Money Online With Affiliate Programs and more. Make Money Online is affiliated with Ebusiness Software.
If you are an online business man, or if you are getting money being online, you may be exposed to one of the many online scams. Online scams, coming in different forms, will cut back your chances of making money online. Even though, the get paid-to-do programs (including reading emails, clicking the banners, shopping, filling out paid surveys, and chatting) are easy, around 90% of them are scams.
Make money online scams is common in multi level marketing (MLM). This vast online infrastructure provides opportunities for people to engage in businesses with simple MLM websites, MLM directories, MLM companies, online training courses, and investment clubs. Work at home scams is another type of online scams which is considered as one of the top telemarketing frauds. This type can be seen in the form of ads. You may be required to give a registration fee and after collecting that they may shut shop. A successful online scammer can earn a lot of money (ranging from $10 to $70,000).
The online scams can often appear in the form of unsolicited e-mails (spam). They attack your system and rest in the inbox. You cannot completely remove the spam from the list by just a click on a link, something like ?remove me from the list?. Almost all Internet connected PCs have no self-restraint facilities against the spam.
Online scams also affect credit card dealings. Dealing with online scams may injure your business. These scammers may steal your identity (credit card number, social security, or address) and manipulate your earnings.
Make Money Online provides detailed information on Make Money Online, How To Make Money Online, Make Money Online With Surveys, Make Money Online With Affiliate Programs and more. Make Money Online is affiliated with Ebusiness Software.
Reporting Internet Scams
When it comes to reporting Internet scams most of us either don't have a clue who to contact or just ignore them in our email. But according to an FBI report in December 2004, nearly ten million people last year didn't ignore them and fell for the latest Internet scams. The money those victims lost totaled nearly $5 billion.
That number of victims and their losses are probably much higher because several cases go unreported every year. People either don't want to admit that it happened to them or have no idea who to report it to.
But that's how these thieves get away with Internet email scams for so long without getting caught. The only way to stop these con artists from operating is by reporting Internet scams to the proper authorities.
If you or someone you know has become a victim one of these scams here is where you can report it and do your part to catch these criminals. The best place to report email scams is The Internet Fraud Complaint Center or (IFCC). They are a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). Their web address is: http://www1.ifccfbi.gov
The IFCC's mission is to address fraud committed over the Internet. For victims of Internet fraud, IFCC provides a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of a suspected criminal or civil violation.
Reporting email scams to The Internet Fraud Complaint Center helps them arrest and convict the criminals that are ruining the Internet for everyone. Anyone should have the right to safe Internet surfing without having to worry about predators stealing their money or their identity.
Identity theft and these recent Internet scams are the fastest growing crimes in America today. You can make the Internet safer for everyone and help put a stop to this terrible crime just by reporting Internet scams to the IFCC. It will make a difference.
This article is provided by http://www.spyware-information.com where you will find free spyware cleaners, downloads, removal software, valuable tips and updated articles about adware and spyware that show you how protect yourself from identity theft. For other informative spyware and identity protection articles go to http://spyware-information.com/articles_1.html
That number of victims and their losses are probably much higher because several cases go unreported every year. People either don't want to admit that it happened to them or have no idea who to report it to.
But that's how these thieves get away with Internet email scams for so long without getting caught. The only way to stop these con artists from operating is by reporting Internet scams to the proper authorities.
If you or someone you know has become a victim one of these scams here is where you can report it and do your part to catch these criminals. The best place to report email scams is The Internet Fraud Complaint Center or (IFCC). They are a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). Their web address is: http://www1.ifccfbi.gov
The IFCC's mission is to address fraud committed over the Internet. For victims of Internet fraud, IFCC provides a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of a suspected criminal or civil violation.
Reporting email scams to The Internet Fraud Complaint Center helps them arrest and convict the criminals that are ruining the Internet for everyone. Anyone should have the right to safe Internet surfing without having to worry about predators stealing their money or their identity.
Identity theft and these recent Internet scams are the fastest growing crimes in America today. You can make the Internet safer for everyone and help put a stop to this terrible crime just by reporting Internet scams to the IFCC. It will make a difference.
This article is provided by http://www.spyware-information.com where you will find free spyware cleaners, downloads, removal software, valuable tips and updated articles about adware and spyware that show you how protect yourself from identity theft. For other informative spyware and identity protection articles go to http://spyware-information.com/articles_1.html
The last scam I fell for.... Did you?
I am always researching business ideas on the Internet. There is so much information to read. You can spend hours without realizing it. We all want to earn extra cash for whatever reason. I am no exception. I received an email using Google in the title. We all see these in our junk mail. It sounded pretty convincing. It promised you could work from home "typing forms".
I was leery about, but I visited the website anyway. Smart, I know. They guaranteed my $39.00 would be refunded if I did not make any money. I figured I didn't have a lot to loose. I signed up and waited for my log in information. I received it and proceeded to follow the instructions in the email. As I was logging in, I barely noticed a disclaimer right after you log in. I proceeded to review their website, dying to know what the work would be. And I'll be a monkey's uncle, they were talking about clickbank. Clickbank is FREE! I paid $39.00 for free information. I didn't panic. I had a guarantee right? Wrong! That little disclaimer I talked about was the catch. I had to sign over my rights to a refund in order to access the account. Wow!
To say the least, I was pissed! My only saving grace was Google was used as the shopping cart. So their name was attached to this business. I tried contacting the company first requesting my refund. I received no answer. I looked around Google's website to find a complaint form. Google researched the issue and also received no response from the business. They refunded my money. Yeah! Very professional and classy. They did not have to do this. But I am grateful they did.
What did I learn from this? Do my research a lot more before spending my hard earned money.
The website is an excellent resource. http://www.buildyoursecurity.com/
Has this happened to you? Let me hear from you.
I was leery about, but I visited the website anyway. Smart, I know. They guaranteed my $39.00 would be refunded if I did not make any money. I figured I didn't have a lot to loose. I signed up and waited for my log in information. I received it and proceeded to follow the instructions in the email. As I was logging in, I barely noticed a disclaimer right after you log in. I proceeded to review their website, dying to know what the work would be. And I'll be a monkey's uncle, they were talking about clickbank. Clickbank is FREE! I paid $39.00 for free information. I didn't panic. I had a guarantee right? Wrong! That little disclaimer I talked about was the catch. I had to sign over my rights to a refund in order to access the account. Wow!
To say the least, I was pissed! My only saving grace was Google was used as the shopping cart. So their name was attached to this business. I tried contacting the company first requesting my refund. I received no answer. I looked around Google's website to find a complaint form. Google researched the issue and also received no response from the business. They refunded my money. Yeah! Very professional and classy. They did not have to do this. But I am grateful they did.
What did I learn from this? Do my research a lot more before spending my hard earned money.
The website is an excellent resource. http://www.buildyoursecurity.com/
Has this happened to you? Let me hear from you.
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