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Posted: Saturday, March 9, 2013 12:30 am
From phishing emails to unsecure websites to hackers stealing personal information from social media pages, technology can be a scary thing. In fact, according to recent statistics, 16 million households have had serious virus problems in the past two years, and 1 million households have lost money or had accounts missed because of phishing.
Here are a few tips from your BBB, to help protect yourself from online troubles:
- Protect your computer. A computer should always have the most recent updates installed for spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software and a secure firewall.
- Shop on trustworthy websites. Check a seller’s reputation and record for customer satisfaction at bbb.org. And look for the “s” in https:// in the address box to ensure you’re shopping on a secure website.
- Beware of phishing. A basic phishing scams consists of some form of fraudulent electronic communication, sent out on a massive scale, attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords and credit card numbers. Avoid clicking on links sent in an email from someone you do not know, or if the emails appears suspicious.
- Set strict privacy settings. Most social networking sites let users determine who they want to share information with. Consider restricting access on social network profiles to only friends or family, or people you know. Avoid becoming friends with anyone you do not know.
- Strong passwords. Make sure all passwords, including your passwords for online banking, your social media accounts, your email, etc. are strong and hard to guess. Consider changing your passwords every six months.
- Additionally, as children are becoming familiar with computer and the Internet at a younger age, it’s important that children have a good understanding of the possible dangers that could come from the Internet. BBB advises parents:
- Explain the difference between sharing and over sharing. Children should know that they should never share personal information such as their phone number, address and where they go to school. Parents should talk about what constitutes inappropriate photos or language and stress the fact that, once something is posted, it can never fully be taken back, even if deleted.
- Keep computers in an open location. This can help parents monitor who theire children are talking to and what websites or chat rooms they are visiting.
- Join them online. Parents can set up their own account in the same social networks as their children. This will help better understand what social networking is all about. Parents can also “Friend” their child and keep an unobtrusive eye on what they are doing.
- Keep the channels of communication open. Let kids know that you are always ready to talk if they are ever threatened, bullied or feel uncomfortable about an experience they had online. Report concerns about data collection from children under 13 to the Children’s Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus at www.caru.org/complaint.
More about Phishing
- ARTICLE: BBB: Top 10 scams of 2012
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