Identity Theft Articles

Stopping Online Fraud

By Jim Travers

©Jim Travers - All Rights Reserved

http://www.MyIDTheftHelp.com

Convenience is the primary advantage to be found from shopping online or engaging with other online commercial activities. The main disadvantage however is the lack of security and protection provided for both private buyers and sellers.

Read the various tips and suggestions below to ensure that you’re not going to be another case added to the growing statistics of online fraud.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL WHEN SHOPPING ONLINE
Although there are laws that do penalize anyone who is found guilty of online fraud or committing any other crime with the use of the Internet, these laws may prove to be useless if there is no trace to be found of the suspect. The Internet is so vast and powerful that it can keep the identity of a fraudulent seller or a hacker secret and consequently cause the victims to suffer injustice.

Don’t rely on the proper authorities to protect you from online fraud…why wait to be deceived? It’s important that you do something now that will help save you from being a victim.

USING SENSIBLE AND DIFFERENT PASSWORDS
Hackers and other Internet criminals are very knowledgeable about password statistics. Studies have also revealed that people usually use names of their favorite toys, events, places, persons and anything that is personally significant to them as their passwords. The word “god” and other superlative adjectives like “great” and “beautiful” also commonly figure in people’s passwords.

It’s important that you do not make yourself part of such statistics to prevent yourself from becoming more vulnerable to online fraud. Use passwords that have no direct connection to any aspect of your life but one which you have no problems remembering. Use a variety of passwords so that in the event of one of your accounts getting hacked, it will not affect the rest of your accounts as well. Avoid making a list of passwords as much as you can because it’s a very dangerous piece of information when it’s placed on the wrong pair of hands.

ONLY USE REPUTABLE SITES WITH SECURITY SEALS
Again, try to only conduct transactions in reputable and highly secured sites as much as possible. URLs in which you can change http to https are sites that provide adequate protection for their clients. Read the site’s policies regarding online fraud to see whether or not you’re placed in too vulnerable a position. At the very least, the site must promise to ban the user and his I.P. address from the site and report the case to the proper authorities immediately.

IF IT LOOKS TOO GOOD, IT PROBABLY IS
No doubt you’ve been recipient of unsolicited emails alomost every day. These emails frequently contain information regarding lottery winnings when you haven’t joined any or people who are so desperate to transfer money to your account due to special circumstances.

Who gives away money without any valid reason? Nobody! So if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

BEWARE OF E-BAY SELLERS WITH NO RATINGS
Even just one positive feedback would do. But E-bay sellers with no ratings?! They’re not to be trusted unless they’re willing to meet up in person or offer secure guarantees about the products they’re selling. Feedback is the best way to determine the trustworthiness of a buyer or seller; avoid transacting with anyone whose feedback sheet is a clean blank slate.

USE YOUR CREDIT CARD TO PROTECT YOUR CASH
Actual money – cash – lost is hard to recover once it has been handed over to fraudulent individuals or companies. But there’s still hope of redeeming your money if you use credit cards for online transactions. Standard shopper protection laws dictate the right of any individual to dispute any charges made to his account if the seller has misrepresented himself or his product in any way or the goods are damaged or haven’t been delivered at all.

CONSIDER USING AN ESCROW SERVICE
As some products may not be protected under your credit card policies or insurance, your purchases may still give you some sort of protection when you use an escrow service. For a negligible fee, an escrow service will forward your payment once you indicate that the goods have been safely delivered on the promised date and without any damage. The escrow service will act as referee for any possible disputes that would arise from the transaction.

Remember that the Internet is a place where anyone can adopt a completely new identity. Don't rely on first impressions; use facts and logic to know if it's the real deal...or not.

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Worried about Identity Theft or Online Fraud?

A complete information pack, together with self help action plans to stop ID thieves in their tracks can be found in the 'MY ID Theft Help' book package published by My Help Books. Visit => http://www.MyIDTheftHelp.com

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