How to Protect Personal Information on the Internet - Avoiding Scams

During these tough economic times as people become desperate for ways to make money many people are turning to Internet scamming to obtain information for identity theft. In turn, many people are looking to the Internet for money making or money saving strategies that can help them ride out the loss of a job and decreasing value in their home. Keeping in mind a few key facts can help you avoid these scams and save you thousands of dollars and months of headaches. Protecting your personal information should always be in the back of your mind when you are using the Internet.

You should always maintain at least two email addresses. One email address that you can use for family and friends, casual online shopping, social networking sites, and any Internet money making activities such as survey or shopping reward sites. The other email address should be for more important web activity such as banking and online bill paying, investment activities, job searches, interaction with your physician or other medical issues, and government interaction. Anything that involves your social security number or banking information should be kept separate from your more casual Internet activities.

Avoid giving out your real personal information whenever possible. If a website asks for address, birth date, or other personal information but states that the information is optional, leave it blank. Never give out more information than you have to. If the website insists on full information and you really want to register, consider using false information. There is no real reason for most sites to have your home address or birth date. Choose alternatives that are easy to remember such as January 1 of a year ending in zero and a generic address such as "1200 Tenth Street". The only sites that need real information are if you are actually having something sent to you in the mail, like for shopping or banking, or if it is an official government site such as for unemployment or social security.

When you shop on the web it is better to stick to large well-known sites you can trust. If you do a lot of shopping on the Internet, you may wish to find a credit card that will allow you to generate one use unique numbers. You can go the credit card website and obtain a number linked to your regular credit card number that is good for only one transaction. If the site you use is hacked or your information is somehow compromised the thieves will only get a useless number and not you real credit card information.

As an alternative you could have one credit card you use only for Internet shopping. It should have a fairly low credit line and you should monitor it online at least twice a week. Take advantage of the fact that you can get one free credit report from each of the three main credit-reporting agencies. Experian, Eqifax, and Transunion are required to provide one free credit report per year. If you request a credit report from one of them about every four months you can guard against for identity theft throughout the year.

Adopt a few basic computer security measures. You should have virus protection software running on your computer. A free virus protection program such as Avast or AVG that will warn you about unsafe sites and downloads is a great tool to protect your computer and personal information. Also consider a free spyware program such as Spybot or Ad-Aware that will get rid of tracking cookies and malicious software. Downloading these programs can save your computer from a lot of damage and hacking activities.

When choosing a password consider the importance of the information being protected. For more casual activities, you might want to consider always using the same password. If you are not giving out real information and there is no personal information worth stealing, then the chance of getting hacked is very small. Using a common password can be easier to remember and you won't have to write it down.

For sites with more important information you need to use a secure password. It should consist of letters and numbers that you can easily remember without being too obvious. Do not use your birth date, name, social security number, address, or telephone number. Consider something like with family middle initials, the last four digits of a friend's phone number, and the initials of a favorite movie or book. It should not contain any recognizable word and should be something you can remember without writing down. If you choose something like this, then you can write down a hint that you can decipher instead of the actual password.

Avoid email scams by remembering these rules. Sites will never send you an email asking for your password. Sites also do not send out emails threatening to close your account unless you immediately log in with your information. If you do receive an email like that and you want to check it out, do not click on any links in the email or download any attachments. Instead close the email program, and use your web browser to go to the company website by clicking on a saved bookmark or typing the company name into a search engine. If the company is really having a hacking problem or accounts are in danger than there should be an announcement on the website. You might also check any company forums or message boards for any buzz about scams, chances are you were not the only one targeted.

One last important thing to remember is that old saying; "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Trust your instincts and ask yourself how likely is it that this is legitimate. There are no quick and easy ways to legitimately make hundreds or thousands of dollars a month on the Internet. Yes, some people with popular blogs, the right website, or particular web skills may have built up their web presence to the point that they are making a living at it, but it was likely not a get rich quick scheme. It took months if not years of work to build a substantial web presence. Any site that promises hundreds of dollars a month for minutes a day is likely a scam. Some legitimate web sites may allow you to supplement your monthly income with as much as a few hundred dollars, but it usually takes a lot of luck and a real time commitment. Not everyone will be successful.

Keep in mind that recovering from identity theft can be a long and difficult process. Given the pervasive nature of the Internet it can be extremely difficult to prove that you are not responsible for Internet activities. It is better to use these strategies protect your personal information than have to try and recover from the devastation that can result if you are a victim of identity theft.