As you know, there has been a rise in identity theft in the past few years. As more and more people get hooked up through high speed Internet, criminals are finding a number of ways to get your information. Gaining access to your computer through the Internet is an often used way that thieves get access to your personal information. There are several ways that you protect your computer from thieves, including:
- Have virus protection software on your computer and check often to make sure all definitions are up to date.
- Install any security updates that are available for the software on your computer. You can set up Windows XP to automatically check for updates to insure that you are not vulnerable to thieves.
- Be wary of any files sent to you by strangers. By opening a file that is sent to you, you could be downloading a virus or spyware onto your computer that could collect your personal information.
- If you get an email from anyone asking for personal financial information, do not respond using any links or phone numbers in the email. This could be a ???phishing??? attempt, in which thieves hope to trick you into divulging your personal information. Instead, find the email address or phone number for the company who supposedly sent the email from an outside source and contact them directly to verify the email.
- Before you enter any personal information on a Web site, look for indicators that the Web site is secure. Though this is not a guarantee, one good indicator that a Web site is secure is if the site???s URL begins with ???https???.
For more tips about avoiding identity theft, both on the Internet and in your everyday life, you can read this article from the Federal Trade Commission.
