Protect Yourself from Internet Identity Theft

Posted on August 8, 2008
Filed Under Criminal Law, Felonies, Fraud, Identity Theft, Law, Los Angeles, News, Theft |

Identity theft can turn your life into a nightmare. Just this week laptop thefts at brewing giant Anheuser-Busch has placed the personal data of 150,000 people nationwide and 55,000 Californians at risk. Unfortunately the risk of identity theft isn’t relegated to corporate and government computers. Computer phishing scams that solicit personal information through bogus emails are rampant on home computers (see our Aug. 6 post). A recent Computer Reports study said that over the past two years, 1 in 13 U.S. households have fallen victim to phishing scams, giving out personal information to identity thieves.

You can protect yourself from internet identity theft by following these tips from Consumer Reports:

  • Keep your security software subscription current and install all updates.
  • Don’t access accounts through email links. Type the complete account web address into the browser. Clicking an embedded link allows cyber criminals to access your account and steal your identity. Don’t cut and paste the link either. You may be pasting in a bogus link. Check your original account information for the correct web address.
  • Don’t use the same password for all online accounts. Doing so allows phishers to gain access to multiple accounts. If you have trouble remembering passwords, use variations of the same letter/number combination. The safest passwords are a combination of letters, numbers and symbols of at least 8 characters.
  • Only download free software from reputable sites like SnapFiles.com and Download.com. Spyware can be added to free software to phish for info and report it back to a scam site.
  • Don’t click on pop-up ads, particularly ones that say your computer is not secure. Click the close bottom or enable your computer’s pop-up blocker to get rid of pop-ups entirely.
  • Use a separate credit card for online purchases and only shop at trusted sites. Don’t use a debit card to prevent criminals from accessing your bank account.

-LegalPro

Written by LegalPro

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