The Internet is extremely useful to many people. It allows us to communicate with friends and family who we do not regularly get to visit with. It helps us research information on a specific topic. We can use it to listen to radio stations, music and movies from all across the globe. We can even use the Internet to buy things without ever leaving our homes.
Unfortunately, the Internet can also be a dangerous place. Identity thieves can use the Internet to access your personal information. As you may have assumed, knowledge is the best weapon against identity theft.
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Follow these steps to learn how you can stop being a possible victim of online identity theft:
1.) Visit secure servers
Make sure the website you are using is secure or encrypted. This prevents an identity theft from locating where you are online because they cannot locate your ISP through a secure site and the URL is not available to them through an encrypted server. Secure servers and search engines sort out fraudulent websites and spam e-mails before they are available for you to access.
2.) Don’t answer spoofing requests
Spoofing requests are most often sent through e-mails and are then considered “spoofed e-mail”. Do not reply to any spoofed e-mail. A spoofed e-mail asks for details about you or requires you to verify banking or personal information.
These e-mails come from certain e-mail accounts and can pose as a banking company, retail websites or payment websites such as PayPal. The e-mail address may have the name of a familiar company in it and the e-mail may look legitimate but banking companies, retail companies and other similar sites never ask you for that personal information to use for verification or to collect a prize. Do not be fooled. Do not reply to spoofed e-mails.
3.) Never open files from unknown sources
If you receive something over the Internet from someone you do not know, do NOT open it for any reason. Viruses or spying software is sent by identity thieves over instant messaging programs or through an attachment to your e-mail. This file may not only steal your personal information stored on your computer but can also cause severe damage to your computer.
4.) Properly log into susceptible accounts
To verify if the URL of an e-mail sender is actually the website it claims to be, go directly to your Address Bar and type in the URL. Do not click on any of their links.
5.) Use a disposable e-mail account
Any time you want to subscribe to a mailing list, make online purchases or join a newsgroup you should use a free, disposable e-mail account. Doing this allows you to delete the account in the future if you suspect identity theft. Use a separate account for your business and personal information so if you have to delete one account you don’t lose everything.
6.) Go undercover with your online ID
Use a disguised online ID that won’t give out any of your personal information. For example, don’t use your name in your e-mail address or user name.
7.) Use strong, high-level passwords
Use different passwords for each account. For your e-mail accounts you should have a different password for your business, personal and disposable. Don’t just add a sequential number to the end of your password to change it up. You can insure your passwords will be difficult to guess by using a combination of numbers and letters that only you can remember. If you must keep the information stored, due so with a secure program. Never make a text document to save your user names and passwords.
8.) Update and change your passwords
Regularly, about once a month, change your password to your accounts. This makes it more difficult for identity thieves to guess and it also helps motivate your creativity and memory!
9.) Check privacy policy of online company
Anytime you are going to conduct a business deal online, make sure you know about their privacy policy.
10.) Make online purchases with credit cards
Debit cards are not as secure for online purchases as a credit card. Credit cards have a security system used by the company of the card. Additionally, if credit theft does happen to you, disputing a fraudulent charge on a credit is easier than attempting to recover charges from a debit banking account. Furthermore, limit down to one card to use for online purposes, not several.
11.) Submit data through secure sites
This goes back to the first suggestion. Only purchase or provide information to a site that has https:// at the beginning of the URL. You can also tell a secure site by the padlock icon in the address bar.
12.) Security Software
Keep your computer up-to-date on the latest security patches and updates for your operating system and Internet browser. Get a good pop-up blocker to prevent harmful advertisements and other pop-ups from invading your computer. Lastly, keep your virus software updated so it can keep out the latest viruses, spyware and more.
Download a copy of ID Pro and prevent your identity from being stolen by securing your information that is on your PC.
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