How well do you recognize email scams?

The first type of email scam belongs to the ‘something for nothing’ category. This is the most common of all email scams and unfortunately, it shows no sign of stopping, simply because these types of emails offer instant wealth for practically nothing. It usually involves someone unknown to you emailing you from another country, offering to hand you a huge sum of money for simply cashing a check they send you, and then sending some of that money back to them.

So….anytime you get a mail like the one described above, you know what to do – delete it immediately!

Another way to identify an email scam is when you get a ‘lottery winning notice.’ Do not get caught into the scammer’s trap. Because, the reality is that you haven’t won anything. If you go ahead and cash a ‘lottery check’ from these guys and then send back their share, and the bank discovers it was a fake….well, you’ll be in hot water, because you owe the bank the entire amount.

That’s why you need to avoid all ‘lottery winning notice’ emails like the plague!

Yet another way of recognizing an email scam, is 1) if the sender requests your private information, such as credit card and bank account numbers, or 2) if they ask you to click on a link in the email that’ll lead you to their website. Often times, the info what the link displays and the info you find on the website is totally different. This is because the website is actually a fake one designed with purpose in mind – to steal your personal information.

HINT: 98% of email scams contain an awful lot of grammatical errors. This is often a dead giveaway, so if you receive emails that seem suspicious, and are filled with spelling errors, it might be a good idea to hit that delete button!

How can I report an email scam?
Well, for starters, you can get in touch with the FBI’s IC3, otherwise known as the Internet Crime Complaint Center. You could easily fill out a form to report all sorts of online-related crimes, and you can also sign up to receive updates when new scams are reported, on the FBI’s website.

Another way to report an email scam is to directly contact companies that may have been entangled in the scam. To elaborate, if you happen to receive a suspicious email from a person claiming to be Best Buy, you can log onto their website and file in a report.

There are also special email addresses where you can forward all of the suspicious emails you receive. One of them is the FTC’s email address, which is spam@uce.gov.

How do I protect myself from an email scam?

• Never ever give out personal information via email to strangers.
• Do not click on any links inside an email if you’re not sure of the identity of the sender.
• Don’t event think about replying to an email that seems suspicious.
• Finally, you might want to sign up for an identity theft service, for eg. LifeLock.

OK, that’s a wrap for this article! Keep in mind all of the above tips and you’ll be safe from unscrupulous email scams!

Fraud Alert defined
Now the question comes- What is fraud alert? Fraud alerts are those red-flags installed to your credit reports, so that as soon as any probable fraud is detected involving your account you will be notified.

How does a fraud alert protect my credit
After the beginning the fraud alert, if anyone tries applying for a new credit card or try to take a bank loan, or any other activity falling in the credit category, you will be asked to confirm whether the request is authorized. To know more about the entire procedure relating to a fraud alert read on.

How do I place a fraud alert
Firstly, place a call to each of the credit bureaus for activating the fraud alert. It is recommended that you call using your cell phone, as this will insure a constant communication and the creditors can reach you anytime. There you request them to activate the fraud alert service and this will be done within the next 24 hours. Following, you will receive a confirmation mail about the successful activation. Additionally, for the protection of your account, services like credit and insurance offers that come in your junk mail, with be terminated for the next two years after you request fraud alert.

Be sure to renew every three months
The fraud alerts on your account will then be turned on for the next three months. It does not possess the nature of getting renewed by itself, so it will be turned into off mode automatically after the completion of three months. Furthermore, if you find yourself wanting to apply it for another three months, you will need to request the credit bureaus again for activation. Bear in mind that this needs to be done after every three months, so that the fraud alert remains flagged.

Credit protection services offer even more protection
If all this sounds like more than you want to tackle or keep up with, then you may wish to try one of the  protection services like TrustedID, Lifelock, or Debix- the three top rated identity protection companies. Being their clients, you not only gain advantage from the automatic renewal of fraud alerts, but you will also have the 24/7 monitoring services. They monitor individual credit reports, and notify of any dubious acts, as well as if unnatural activity is undergoing your account.

Fraud alerts do not protect all accounts
Fraud alerts definitely sound like an incredible idea, but wait there are a few cons involved.

Fraud alerts are solely applicable to new account, meaning that accounts opened before the fraud alert are unprotected. This also means that your bank information and other credit cards also need to be monitored.

While there are some negatives to renewing the fraud alerts every three months, a bad account may stay on your credit report for up to seven years.  Be sure to inform the credit bureau that you are placing the fraud alert for protection.  This will inform them that you are monitoring your credit situation. Identity theft protection must be practice and fraud alert is just one of the few steps you can take.

The first factor to keep in mind when it comes passwords you are using online is to make sure you create effective passwords in the first instance.  In other words, you need to make certain that you craft passwords in the first instance that will do the job.  You need to make sure that passwords you create are appropriately complex to prevent easy cracking by someone intent on identity theft.

The next factor that you need to pay attention to when it comes to identity protection and passwords is to make sure that you do not actually store your passwords on your computer itself.  This is the case whether you use a desktop computer or a laptop.  The fact is that a person intent on identity theft (including people in the workplace) can lift password information off of your computer.

You do not want to use the same password for all of your accounts.  This is precisely what many people do, however.  If you take this approach and use the same password for everything you really are giving a person intent on committing identity theft the “key to the kingdom.”  By not using different passwords for all of your accounts you will permit a person intent on stealing your identity the ability to access all of your accounts easily.

Another factor to keep in mind in regard to password protection, identity theft and the Internet is to change your passwords with a considerable degree of regularity.  Of course, many people never bother to change their passwords.  However, you are best protected by changing your passwords with regularity in order to ensure that you are developing the best line of protection for these codes.

By paying attention to these factors you will be in best position to have effective passwords.  With effective passwords you will be able to better protect yourself against the threat of identity theft.  You will be able to use and access accounts online in a much safer and secure fashion.

One way on which many people fall victim to identity theft is through what is known in online parlance as “phishing.”  With this understood, it is very important that you have a basic understanding of what phishing is all about.

The term phishing actually is derived from the word fishing.  And, the derivation actually is very illustrative.  In simple terms, when it comes to phishing and identity theft, a scoundrel actually uses the Internet as a means of “fishing” for your personal or financial information or both.

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An example of phishing as part of an identity theft scheme would involve the use of email.  A target would receive an email purporting to be from a bank or financial institution.  (There are many other types of phishing schemes; the banking one is merely being used as an example.)

Through this sort of phishing email scam, you will be asked to click on a link which will take you to a sham website – that very well may look quite like the real thing.  At such a site, you will be asked to input your personal or financial information for one reason or another.  In the alternative, the email itself may contain a form for you to fill out, to complete with your personal and financial information.  In the end, all you are doing is handing your personal and financial information to an identity thief on the proverbial Golden Platter.

There are also some other phishing techniques that are utilized in the furtherance of identity theft schemes.  Nonetheless, the tactics that have been set forth in this article really are the most common types of phishing being used to further identity theft schemes and scams in this day and age.  In the end, it is very important that you stay on guard for phishing when you are online.  By being alert and vigilent you will be able to reduce your risk of becoming the victim of identity theft. You may also want to look at hiring an identity protection service company.

It’s almost Valentine’s Day once again but before opening up that  E-Valentine’s Card, you may want to think again.  It may not be coming from cupid but instead from someone ready to spread the so called Storm Worm virus.

The Storm Worm virus have used the various holidays in the previous year to send out millions of emails and electronic cards such as Valentine’s E-Cards.  It is a malicious software (malware) and it does infect computer machines and made it become a part of of the Storm Worm botnet.  A botnet is a network of compromised machines but under the control of a single user.  Botnets are known to be to be set up to facilitate criminal activity such as phishing, spam emails, identity theft and other servcice attacks to spread malware to other computers online.  When a user clicks on the email link, he automatically downloaded the malware and his computer system is infected.

It is very important to be extra careful in opening up any e-card emails. Make sure that you know the sender before opening e-cards.  Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and if you accidentally opened them, never click on any links provided.