Identity theft is an issue that we all need to take seriously. There are thousands of people around the world who have been made a victim of this crime and have suffered greatly for it. It involves stealing, misrepresenting or hijacking the identity of another person.

Your personal computer is the most recent setting for identity theft to take place. A smart identity thief will have no problem accessing your personal information. He can use it to ruin your credit rating, which can take many years to fix even if you are a victim of this crime.

One of the easiest ways for someone to get a huge amount of your information is when you replace your old computer. People can be so excited about their new computer that they simply unplug the old one and set it aside until it’s time to dispose of it.

This is a very bad idea. The hard drive still contains your internet history, emails, bookmarks, and passwords. All anyone has to do is get hold of it to find out all your surfing and shopping information.

The internet itself is used to gain access to all kinds of personal information. College students are at very high risk because their personal information and grades are often posted on the internet so they can check it. All it takes is someone to figure out their password and they now have everything they need.

It’s not hard to stop this from happening in the first place. Use difficult passwords. Don’t use anything that is related to you. No numbers, no names, nothing like that. Choose a password that is eight to ten characters long with numbers and letters in it. That is very hard to crack.

Another way to prevent identity theft is by monitoring your credit report. Keep an eye on it by checking it at least every couple of months. You want to ensure that there is no activity going on that you were not aware of.

A good tip is to be highly careful about your credit card details when buying anything online. Be careful where you shop, sticking to only a few stores that you trust. Make sure that the websites you order from are safe and your privacy is protected.

As well, be careful which emails you answer. Oftentimes people will send out fake emails that are “phishing” for information. They might say that you were accepted for a job that you applied online for, or pretend to be banks or other financial institutions, in order to get your personal information.

Although you can’t guarantee that you will never be a victim of online identity theft, with this helpful advice you should be able to feel a lot safer.

Along with spam advertisements hawking prescription medicines, ‘cheap’ mortgage rates and online gambling sites, there are a number of common scams whose sole goal is to separate you from your money.

One well-known example, circulating for years now, is the Nigerian bank scam. The sender, allegedly the wife or relative of a former dictator or government official (usually in Nigeria, hence the name) tells the sad story of how millions were deposited in a bank account which is no longer accessible. In exchange for your help, they’re willing to share this wealth – for a few mere thousands from your bank account for ‘expenses’. As ludicrous as it seems, people fall for this every year. In one well-publicized case an elderly Czech man who had lost his life savings to this scam shot the Nigerian consul in Prague.

Another fairly common scam is investments with extraordinary returns. They’ll claim to be risk-free but this is obviously not the case. Once you send them your initial investment, it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever hear from them again, unless it’s to ask for more money.

These fake offers are particularly bad for legitimate businesses who use email for doing business. Because so much email is spam, the internet service providers and email hosting companies work hard to filter it out. But these filters can sometimes stop legitimate email from businesses you want to hear from.

How To Avoid Getting Stung

Never reply to spam. Doing so simply indicates to the spammer that your e-mail address is valid, and you’ll receive more spam than before. Some spam contains a message offering to remove your e-mail address from their mailing list. Don’t use even this service – it’s nothing but another method for verifying e-mail addresses.

Never send any private information like credit card numbers or username & passwords by email. Legitimate companies like Paypal or your bank will never ask for these things directly through email.

Spam isn’t an easy things to stop, but if you don’t recognize the person sending you the message, and it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Besides, how many dead Nigerian dictators with huge bank accounts can there really be?