Don’t Become a Victim of Online Scammers

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We’ve all had our eye caught by the catchy banner or spam that sucks us in and sometimes keeps us there. The issue at hand is being able to identify the product or service being offered as being legitimate.

Because there is no single agency that polices the Internet to assure that everything is safe and truthful, the responsibility lies on our shoulders. You need to learn to distinguish scams from the truth so you don’t lose money, your identity or worse.

Here are a few valuable tips that can help you identify and avoid those online scams.

  • Do some homework and check up on the site or individual that is making the offer. Search engines can help you with this research. If it not legitimate, you will quickly find information about the scam. If it is a legitimate offer, you’ll find comments and information about that as well.
  • Make sure your spyware and antivirus programs are working and are up-to-date. Many scammers use emails to disseminate their viruses and stealth programs designed to steal your information or harm your computer.
  • Refer to the Federal Trade Commission and read up on the latest fraud information. You can also see if the company or individual you are researching is listed as being fraudulent. You can also see if there have been complaints filed again the company.
  • Do a quick WHOIS search to determine the owner of the domain name that has caught your eye. If the registration information for the domain seems shady, it’s a good idea just to stay away.

 

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How to Eliminate That Annoying Spam

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It’s a safe bet that no one out there likes email spam. We all hate those unwanted, sometimes offensive, email messages that seem to fill up our inboxes. Spam often occurs when users visit unsecure or unsafe sites and fill out forms with information. Those sites, in turn, then take that information and sell it to companies. Unfortunately, even some safe sites that say they won’t sell your information, often do. So what can we do to eliminate spam?

Use two different email accounts. Create a professional account first. This should generally be your name followed by the email service. The next one should be the one you will use when you will be submitting your information online.

Never open email messages from people and address you don’t recognize. Spammers have systems that can actually know when you’ve opened the message, and they will start sending you more emails.

Use an email spy filter. These systems let you create a contact list and keyword lists that will flag spam. Many email systems have these filters in place for your use.

Don’t use your professional address to register or purchase anything on line. This is where the secondary email comes into play. Check both address accounts daily.

Don’t send forwarded emails. Spammers will sometimes send out jokes and such to fish for more contacts. They send out these emails, you forward them and now the spammers not only have your email address, but those individuals to which you sent the message.

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Practical Ways to Keep Your Computer Free of Viruses

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There are so many products out there designed to save your backside from unexpected attacks on your computer. Those nasty gremlins come in the form of malware, viruses and spam. Some are really devastating to your computer hard drive and others are simply annoying and time consuming. Either way, you don’t have to spend the rent to prevent unwanted visitors from landing in your system.

How To Send Spam Visitors To the Neighbors

Send that unwanted email to visit someone else. No, no, no. Don’t forward it to the annoying guy next door. That’s just a little joke. Instead, set up an extra email account or two. Keep your primary account for friends, family, and maybe business. Then set up a few accounts, via a free email service, for online shopping and browsing. Seems like every website wants you to register. It’s hard to tell if they’ll protect your privacy or not. Assume they won’t. Never enter your primary email into any website. Use those others. Then remember to check them regularly for things you do need, and then purge them to get the junk out of there.

Let’s Talk About the Kids

It’s impossible to prevent kids from going to those sites that will infect you with a virus or malware. Kids love free stuff, but they’re usually to naive to realize anything that sounds too good to be true probably is too good to be true. Best, low cost solution? Buy them a cheap little netbook. Let them destroy their own computer. Explain that when they kill it, they buy the next one.

Minimal money spent. Invasion thwarted! Awesome!

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The Best Spam Filters For Personal Use

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When it comes to personal computing, ease of use is paramount. Most personal computer users are doing some pretty basic stuff, like checking email or Facebook. They may find their inbox full of unwanted spam, but there are some good free products that will rid your email of unwanted messages.

Block Spam For Free

The causual computer user prefers to use free software and services whenever possible, and there are some free anti-spam programs out there that work pretty good. Most reviewers recommend Mailwasher. It not only does a fairly good job of getting rid of the spam, it does it before it downloads into your mailbox. That means you download mail faster, and that stuff gets dumped before it gets to your computer. Spam often contains viruses and malware, so a free program that washes the mail before you get it will definitely show up on most reviewers “best of” lists. Other choices include XTerminator and SPAMfighter Standard.

The Best Anti-Spam Money Can Buy

Like anything in the world, you get what you pay for when it comes to a spam filter. Therefore, the easiest to use and most thorough programs will cost a little money. However, at less than $100 a year, their well worth it if they save your hard drive from overcrowding or some pesky virus or malware.  Cloudmark Desktop shows up on several reviewers’ lists, so for $40 or so, it would be a good buy. It uses the input of millions of users to constantly battle the spam masters. It also never blocks legitimate email.

What works today to filter spm might not work tomorrow, so keep anti-spam updated.

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How To Get Rid Of Spam

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The longer you have an email, the more spam you seem to get. Sometimes it can seem to take forever to sort through the important emails from the trash. However, there are ways to get rid of or avoid spam. One way to avoid spam is by creating two email accounts. Have one account for family, friends, and other important people and have the other one for when you need to sign up for an online service. This way, you only check your spam email when you sign up for something.

There should be a filter function in your email. When you get spam, you can “mark it as spam” and it will prevent you from getting any more emails from this place. There is some spam that isn’t really spam, but can flood your inbox like newsletters from services that you have signed up with. If you unsubscribe to these, they will stop appearing in your inbox.

Social networking sites such as facebook and myspace will tend to fill up your inbox quickly. You can turn the email setting off in the settings section of these sites. Do not open any emails from people or sites you do not recognize. There are a lot of spam emails that have viruses when you open them and should just be deleted. Also, some sites will start sending more spam once you open one of their emails. When you have two accounts, remember to check them both regularly so you do not miss any important emails.

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Computer Security for n00bs: Don’t Get Pwnd!

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The Internet can sometimes be a scary and intimidating experience to the new computer user. The potential hazards that can come with personal information or falling prey to hackers and scammers can often times be overwhelming. Luckily, there are many things that new computer users can do to avoid falling victim to these computer security concerns. Here is a look at the very basic rules everybody should know and understand before using the Internet for the first time.

The Essential Firewall and Anti-Virus/Spyware Program

Many computer users believe that since they only use the computer occasionally there is no need for firewall or antivirus software. The fact is if your computer is hooked up to the Internet you run the risk of downloading viruses, malware or worms onto your computer. A firewall or antivirus/spyware program is the first step to protecting your computer’s security. These programs can prevent a number of potential computer problems from happening in the first place as they will detect any problem before it reaches your computer.

Guard Your Password with Your Life

Your computer password can be compared to your social security number in that you never give out to anyone. This goes for all passwords, whether they are for your e-mail, bank account or computer. Should someone gain access to your security password they could potentially gain personal information such as bank account or credit card numbers and addresses that can be used for identity theft.

Basic E-Mail Concerns

To the new computer user e-mail might appear as if it is an electronic version of the snail mail. The problem is that there are potential risks that exist with e-mail that are not present old fashioned post. E-mails can contain harmful viruses and malicious software that can steal personal information or render a computer useless. This is why you should only open e-mails that come from trusted sources. You should also make sure that you do not download any unknown attachments as an attachment on e-mails is the number one way that computer users download viruses and spyware.

The Proper Way to Handle Sensitive Personal Information

The Internet and the world wide web can be filled with multiple websites that offer contests and giveaways. It is important to remember that your personal information needs to be protected online just as you would in any real life situation. This means if a contest or giveaway is asking for your bank account information, social security number and address then it is most likely a scam, and your details could fall into the wrong hands.

Authorized Sites Only

To protect your computer security and your personal information it is essential you only visit authorized and trusted websites. Viruses, worms and spyware can all be downloaded onto your computer when you visit an unauthorized or unknown website.

Following these basic computer security guidelines will allow you to use your computer and the Internet in a safe, secure way. By following these steps you will reduce your risk of downloading viruses and malicious software that could put the personal information in your computer at risk.

Don’t get pwned. (Owned, for those of you that don’t speak Warcraft-error speak.)

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Don’t Become the Victim of an Affiliate Program Scam

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Unfortunately, there is hardly anything on the Internet today that can’t be turned into some kind of scam. This is true of charity sites, information sites, and those that deal with affiliate review programs, just to name a few. How do you know if the affiliate review site you are looking at and possibly considering participating in is a legitimate one and not just one that someone put up as a scam? There are several factors you can look for.

Expect there to be some cost involved if you want to participate in a particular affiliate review program. While there are some free ones out there that are legitimate, the absence of cost in others may, unfortunately, should be the first sign of a scam.

Conduct thorough research on the top affiliate programs, which ones they are and how they earned the ranking of one of the top programs. If you see one in which an obvious attempt is being made to represent it as such, but there is little, if any information to prove this (and, if the information present tends to be conflicting), this can be an indicator of a scam.

Pay attention to reviews. You want to see more good than bad, but you also want all the affiliate reviews to sound authentic, and not like someone is simply “touting the company line” or worse, just trying to get revenge or commit industrial sabotage. Legitimate affiliate review sites will have a good balance to them.

If you suspect you have been the victim of an affiliate review program fraud, you may wish to consult an attorney. Provide him with any contracts or agreements that you entered into, any payment records, and other documentation pertaining to business between you and the suspicious program. He can help you determine precisely what has occurred.

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Make Sure Your GMAT Prep Course is not a Scam

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There are a lot of scams out there.  We have all heard of some of them.  For example, the prince in Nigeria that wants to send you money – all you have to do is send “him” your bank account information.  In almost every sector of our world today, there are ways to be scammed out of your money, time, etc.  The sad thing is that a lot of these work for people, because we think that there’s no way someone would try to steal from us.  Unfortunately, though, there is no guarantee.  Even something like a GMAT prep course can be used as a scam.  Before you put your money into it, you are going to want to make sure that it is legitimate.
One way to find out if something is a scam or not is to check the internet.  Try to find reviews.  When you are looking at reviews for something, though, you want to take everything you see with a grain of salt.  Some people will absolutely hate the product or service that is being advertised, and will not hesitate to say that it is a scam.  This does not necessarily mean that it is.  On the other hand, if you only find amazing reviews, it is possible that the company that you are looking at paid people to write good reviews.  Overall, you need to read through what people are saying and decide for yourself whether it seems legitimate or not.
Keeping yourself safe from people trying to steal your money or identity has become a constant process today.  Make sure that you don’t click on links that look suspicious in your email.  If you are unsure whether something is from the company that it states it is, look a little further into it.  Make sure that you have a good virus scanner on your computer.
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Gaming Online Safely and Securely

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When you game on a casino website that you can trust, you do not have to worry about the perils of spam, viruses, adware, bots, and other malware. Unfortunately there are casino websites out there that do not have your best interest at heart, and so should not be trusted. It is important that you take the time to research each casino website that you peruse so that you can keep yourself, and your computer, completely safe from these attacks.

Choosing an online casino website to sign up for should begin with thorough research. Read reviews that other people have posted so that you get a feel for what to expect. It is important that you only visit websites that you can trust; otherwise you may be susceptible to attacks from viruses, spam, and other nonsense. It is also important that you always have a virus blocking program installed on your computer just in case.

You need to make sure that your computer is safe so that you can worry less about viruses and malware and focus instead on enjoying your online casino games and making tons of extra money. If you want to generate cash online through online casinos, then you need to be willing to feel safe while gaming online. Keep in mind that your information and your computer’s health are both at stake when you are connecting to these websites, and so you should only ever sign up for websites that you know you can trust and rely on.

Legitimate casino websites online will work hard to gain your trust because they know that they deserve it. Choose accredited, secure, and safe casino websites when you are interested in gambling online so that you can focus on more important issues, like winning that next hand of poker.

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How does spam enter your inbox?

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Spam is a menace that anyone who has an email ID faces, in most cases on a daily basis. Every time you log into your email account, you find your inbox flooded with suspicious email from people you have never heard of. Often, such emails try and entice you to click on links that enable viruses to infect your system. Even if a spam mail does not carry virus threats, it does eat up a whole lot of bandwidth. They can be particularly annoying when they take up all your mailbox capacity so you have to clear them before you can access emails that actually matter to you. Although most people try and take measures to prevent spam from entering their inbox, it manages to finds it way. Here is a look at some of the ways through which spam enters your inbox:

1. Spammers use a massive data base of commonly used email IDs that dodge spam filters and send out spam by the millions to random domains. Chances are that users would think it is a mail from someone they know.

2. Such emails usually carry an ‘unsubscribe’ link that they ask you to click if you want to stop receiving mail from them. Clicking on it actually lets the spammer know that your account is active. Your email ID is then passed on to other mailing lists.

3. Several viruses are aimed at gathering email addresses by ‘Spoofing’. Should you have your pc infected by such a virus, it will send an email to all your contacts with your email ID mentioned as the center. Since your contacts know you, they are more likely to open the mail or click on a link, giving the virus access to their PC and contacts.

4. Spammers use and even sell email IDs used to register for online newsletters. You should only register after verifying the credibility of the website providing the newsletter.

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