Use Trusted Sites
It is wise to only use trusted sites when giving out personal information. Sites such as PayPal, EBay, utility companies, major banking institutions, and many online retailers can be considered trusted. It is generally best to buy from well known retailers online, as they are generally safe and authentic. The problem with buying from companies that are not well known, or just starting business, is that you can’t guarantee to get what you pay for – sometimes, you might even get a lot more than you pay for (by means of spam and harassment).
You might find http://www.resellerratings.com helpful in determining whether to trust a website or not, as you can see reviews and ratings from previous customers. Usually, if it is a fraudulent company, you will either not find any reviews or many negative reviews. Just one negative doesn’t necessarily mean the company is fraudulent, but when a large percentage of the reviews are negative, that is a pretty good indication that you should steer clear.
Attention to Detail
Another important aspect of security is attention to detail. Like reading the fine print on a contract, reading everything on a page before you agree to something is extremely important and can save you from serious problems. Although most users are guilty of the “hurry mode”, clicking “I Agree” without reading what they are agreeing to, it should be viewed as an extremely bad habit. You could be signing away your home without noticing a difference. Paying attention is extremely important – usually, you can put two plus two together and decide what is fraudulent and what is legitimate.
Also, if you have ever gotten an email from someone claiming to be Microsoft, or some other major company, prompting for an emergency update – if you look close enough, you will probably be able to tell if it is a fake or not. If people are dumb enough to commit fraud, they usually aren’t smart enough to use spell check. If you read it and notice spelling and grammar mistakes, that is a major hint to dump it into your trash folder. Remember, most companies will not collect personal information from you over e-mail – so if you get an e-mail asking you for your password to “their” site, it can generally be considered fraudulent. Be sure to check out the example at the end of this section for more details.
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“War Games” & “Hackers: The Movie” sure did motivate a few kids to become internet security specialists. Groups formed on mIRC and it became pretty big at that time.