The human race is an imaginative bunch. If there is a problem that is in front of us, we do our best to solve it. The same goes for when we have an

Internet identity theft continues to be one of the fastest growing crimes world wide.

Its something that can not only steal your money, but ruin your reputation and leave you with months of work to restore your good name.

AVOIDING IDENTITY THEFT VIA EMAIL

The good news is that the every day computer user can substantially lower the risk of becoming a victim with a few tips and some diligence.

The easiest and most effective thing you can do is pay attention to your email.

Email phishing is a scam whereby identity thieves send out mass emails with the intent of stealing the reader’s vital information.

Its quite effective, largely because computer users simply don’t pay attention.

These emails are often written in HTML and made to look like they came from a financial institution, an on-line retailer, or even a government entity.

I’ve even seen them designed to look and feel like the IRS website!

The key here is to simply delete these emails immediately.

Any reputable company would never use an email to ask for sensitive information.

If you feel the email might be legitimate, move your mouse over the reply address, or the link that’s listed for you to “log in” to the website.

If its legit, the link will be clean and direct; something like http://www.yourbank.com.

If its a scam the address will not be so clean: http://xyiph.yourbank.com.imathief.cz, for example.

It’s also a good idea to never click a link that’s identified only by an IP address.

LIMIT ID THEFT WITH TEMPORARY CREDIT CARDS

Another good tip for avoiding internet identity theft is to use temporary credit cards for online shopping.

Almost all of the major credit card companies offer these including Visa, Mastercard, and Discover, and companies like PayPal are on board too.

Simply do an online search for “temporary credit cards” and you’ll find all the information.

The way this works is that the consumer signs up for a temporary credit card account, then purchases the card from the desired company.

Some are purchased with a one-time set amount, others are re-loadable.

Its best to use a card with an expiration date within a few weeks of purchase.

Anything longer and you’re right back to using a normal card.

The idea here is that even if a thief gets hold of your information, the card will expire before he can make good use of it.

This only works however, if you use the card as it’s intended to be: temporarily.

It might be an inconvenience to get a new card every few weeks or so, but it’s worth it.

PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY BY PROTECTING YOUR NETWORK

One last tip to help prevent internet identity theft is to protect your wireless network.

Every modern wireless router on the market has the ability built right in to secure your network with encryption.

WPA-PSK encryption is probably the best option.

It’s easy to set up right from your PC and your user manual should be able to guide you through.

If you run into trouble, your ISP provider might be able to help and there’s also the local computer geek who can do it for a small fee.

With all this said, be warned that any wireless security can be hacked if given enough time.

When you’re not using your computer SHUT IT OFF.

A thief cannot hack a system that’s not on.

You might also set up your wireless router to not broadcast the ESSID.

If a thief doesn’t know your network exists, he’ll have a much more difficult time finding it.

The keys to stopping internet identity theft are common sense and diligence.

Computer users who put forth the effort to learn a little and apply common sense solutions, are much less like to be victims.

Those who continue to live with their heads in the sand are asking for trouble.

How Are Online Ads Used To Scam People?

The human race is an imaginative bunch.

If there is a problem that is in front of us, we do our best to solve it.

The same goes for when we have an objective to achieve.

We will pull out our imaginations and come up with something very cunning.

This is what hackers and online scam artists do on a daily basis.

They see an objective, which is how to get the money that is in your wallet, and figure out a way to accomplish it.

Online Classified Ads Scam

The latest scam has been using online classified ads to find their victims.

There have always been scams when it came to classified ads, even online ones.

Craigslist, Ebay and all of the other types of classified web sites, have all had to increase their security over the years.

No one wants to visit these places, if all that happens is, them being scammed and their money taken.

So there are safe guards in place to help prevent this from happening.

But these safeguards deal with just the normal crooks.

These days, the online classified ads scams are being done by organized groups of individuals.

Organized Crime

The groups that are involved with the scams range from organized crime members in the US to criminals operating out of Nigeria.

There is just not one group of individuals who are committing these crimes, it has gone international.

People have found it lucrative and are taking advantage of it.

The range of scams are also great.

The different scams include fake electronics, bait and switch, robbery, and even real estate fraud.

Some of these scams might need a little bit of explanation so that you know how to avoid them.

The bait and switch is especially popular on EBay.

It involves someone advertising an item and showing a picture of it in a package.

In little letters at the bottom of the page, they say that they are selling the packaging and not the item itself.

So when you get only the packaging and you start to complain, they bring up that it is exactly what was advertised.

Robbery happens a lot on Craigslist.

People will pretend that they are selling something and they need you to pick it up.

When you go there with your money, they physically assault you and take the money out of your pocket.

This happens more often than people think.

Make sure you meet in a public place if possible, when purchasing items off of craigslist.

The real estate scam involves people claiming that they have a house for rent or sale.

They will tell you that they live there but are out of the country.

They then send you a key, and you send them the money.

When you get to the place, you find out that the key doesn’t work.

This is a relatively new crime that has been happening a lot.

Most traces claim that a lot of the real estate scams are originating from Nigeria.

Online classifieds are a great way to get a deal but they have their share of risk as well.

If you are careful and make sure that read the listing very thoroughly, you should be able to avoid the scams

Is Windows Defender The Best Choice Of Anti-spyware For Windows 7?

There are so many antispyware software programs out there to use that sometimes it is hard to know which one to pick.

Do you use the latest release from the established leader?

Or do you use the software that everyone in the security world is praising?

Yes, they are the experts but this software is brand new and untested on millions of machines like the other solutions are.

What does that say about the reliability of the product?

If you are having problems choosing an antispyware client to run on Windows 7, why not choose the one that has been highly rated since Windows 7 was released.

Yes, we are talking about Windows Defender.

It may not, perhaps, be the best piece of software ever but it is certainly known to get the job done.

Windows Defender

In this article I will give you several reasons why Windows Defender should be your first choice to get rid of spyware on the Windows 7 operating system.

The number one reason why you should have Windows Defender on your Windows 7 system is Microsoft’s familiarity with the problem.

That familiarity runs on two points:

The first point is that they have experience dealing with Browsers and the problems that happen behind the scenes – other spyware companies out there may be able to reverse engineer the browser to see where the problem may be but there is nothing like being able to look at the actual source code and see where the problem is located.

The Windows Defender team can do this with Internet Explorer.

The second point is that no-one knows how to deal with problems that may affect the operating system like Microsoft’s own team.

When it comes to Windows 7 the developers that make Windows Defender are deep in the trenches with the Microsoft team so they may be able to figure out a problem quicker than the other anti spyware developers out there.

It pays dividends to be able to work with the people who created the product as you are able to get some of their insights on how to fix the problem.

Another reason why you should use Windows Defender on your Windows 7 system is that the software comes highly regarded by the security community.

I said earlier in the article that you should avoid software that has been highly praised but not been tested in a consumer version.

Well, this software has been highly praised and has also been tested in millions of computers around the world.

There is a world of difference between the two.

If you are interested in making sure that you are running completely safe software then the tested version is the way to go.

Running Windows Defender is a great way to keep spyware off of your computer.

If you have any questions about which antispyware program that you should run, go with a proven winner.

Protect Your Cell Phone Number Because Mobile Spam Is On The Rise

Most people fail to realize how much money is actually made in the world of spam.

There are so many people that are now connected to the Internet in one way or another, that if you are only able to sell to a small percentage of these people, that can make you very rich.

This is why the incentive to create new and innovative ways to spam people is so high.

Companies that provide email services have tried many ways to be able to fight the onslaught of spam but they have only put a dent into the problem.

Those That Buy Via Spam Are The Root Cause Of The Problem

There are still a lot of people in the world that are becoming new customers to online services and, as long as they are naive about the dangers of spam, the people that create spam will always have a thriving business.

Now the spammers have found a new frontier to attack.

They are sending spam to people through their mobile phones.

With the influx of smart phones, spammers have seen a new opportunity to take advantage of.

Even normal cell phones have the ability to be able to connect to the Internet now.

Once your phone has the ability to connect to some sort of third party network outside of the cell phone company’s control then you have the potential to become a victim of spam.

The ways in which they will attempt to spam you are numerous.

SMS Spam

First they will try to use sms messages.

You will walk down the street and all of the sudden you hear a buzz sound.

This is the sound of you getting a text message.

Instead of a text message, you receive a text from some company trying to sell you something.

This can be infuriating since there are a lot of people that do not have unlimited texting plans.

They will have to pay for that useless text that they just received.

Mobile Email Spam

Also spammers will use your cell phone’s email address to try to sell you something.

This is the same technique as email spam attacks on a computer except now it has been released to the cell phone.

This again can be very annoying.

As a society we have gotten used to spam in our inbox on the computer.

We were hoping that we could avoid it on our cell phones.

There is software out there that will help prevent you from seeing spam in your cell phone messages but it is only marginally effective at best.

The most effective wau that you can avoid getting spam on your mobile device is to not give out your number to people that you don’t know.

Especially do not put your cell phone number in any place that is claiming to give you a prize or some other contest.

This is the main way that a spam company gets their email addresses or text numbers to spam.

Hopefully there is a solution that will be found to fight the large amount of spam that is starting to build up on our cell phones.

If not, we can then look forward to our sms box being similar to our web based email.

Hidden secret DANGERS of FACEBOOK....Hidden secret DANGERS of FACEBOOK....

An expert in online privacy has drawn attention to the five dangers of sharing information on social networking site Facebook.

Joan Goodchild, senior editor of CSO (Chief Security Officer) Online, claims marketing efforts by the company often results in a compromise on account holders' privacy, reports CBS News.

Goodchild noted five risks of using Facebook on 'The Early Show on Saturday Morning.' They are:

1.Your information is being shared with third parties

2. Privacy settings revert to a less safe default mode after each redesign

3. Facebook ads may contain malware

4. Your real friends unknowingly make you vulnerable

5. Scammers are creating fake profiles

Earlier this week, 15 privacy and consumer protection organizations filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that the site manipulates privacy settings to make users' personal information available for commercial use. (ANI).

Dear Facebook Users...please be careful...might be your personal identification may leakout...and chances are bright...that you will be end up in problems....