My Top 5 Internet Warnings

According to a recent article by Kim Komando, large parts of our lives are moving online. That's especially true of our entertainment options. Unfortunately, that opens the door to criminals and most of these sites should be avoided. They may be offering pirated movies. Some sites charge customers a fee, but all you get are links to legitimate, free sites. The worst offense of all, though, is that many of these sites are selling your credit card information to criminals. That's just asking for identity theft! It would be nice if the Internet police could shut them down. Unfortunately, there is no such organization. These crooks are often foreign and pretty much operate with impunity. So, it's up to us, the customer, to steer clear.

My Top 5 Internet warnings:

1. Always keep this thought in your mind, "If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is." If your gut is telling you to beware - LISTEN!

2. Use caution before clicking on a flashing advertisement; make sure you trust the company.

3. Do not give your credit card number to a company on the Internet that you do not know. They could be criminals and now they have your credit card number.

4. Do not purchase software for $25 when the retail cost is $200 (i.e., Microsoft products, Adobe products, etc.) Not only did you give a criminal your credit card number, the software more than likely will not work properly.

5. Never open a zipped/compressed or executable (.zip or .exe) file unless you are EXPECTING the email. Zip files can contain an executable file that infect your computer with a virus.

Bonus Tip: Never, and I mean never ever, give your password to anyone requesting it via email or enter a password into a link sent to you in an email.

Rumor Has It . . .

Hi everyone, it's Casey. Have you ever received an email from a friend alerting you about some issue and you aren't sure if it is fact or an urban legend? I seem to receive several of these often urgent emails. For example, I've been forwarded an email by a friend letting me know that "Cell phone users must register their numbers with the National 'Do Not Call' directory by a given deadline to prevent your cell phone numbers from being released to telemarketers." So now what? Should I begin to find out how to register my cell number? Do I brush it off hoping it is not true? Well now I can find out if there is any truth to the rumor by visiting Snopes.com!

Snopes.com is an easy-to-use website which allows you to search almost any topic including business information, computers, crime, politics, fraud/scams, legal, horror stories, religion, movies, etc. For this topic, I typed in "Register Cell Number" and multiple postings appear. The first one is "Cell Phone Numbers Given to Telemarketers" so I clicked to learn more. The first title in the post describes the "Claim" to outline what is being said by people. The second title is the "Status" and informs me if the claim is true or false. The third title gives me several examples of the type emails that are being circulated around. Surprisingly, I stumble on the exact same email that I received in my inbox! The fourth title describes the "Origins" to explain how the statement began to circulate. For this cell phone rumor, the panic-induced emails grew out of a misunderstanding about the proposed creation of a wireless directory assistance service. Learn more about this cell phone urban legend.

Remember to keep your knowledgeable reputation intact and check out the next "popular topic" first before forwarding to a friend!

Quick Links... Here are a few other websites you can use to check out information:Hoax-Slayer: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/ UrbanLegends.com: http://www.urbanlegends.com/ TruthorFiction.com: http://www.truthorfiction.com/

~ Casey Green
Minutes Matter Solutions, Inc.