Avoiding Identity Theft

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. Even though it is not only through the Internet that identity theft occurs, it is an often-used way that thieves get access to your personal information. Although you and your family can never be completely invulnerable to identity theft, there are several ways that you can protect your computer from thieves, including:

• Make sure you have virus protection software on your computer and check often that all the definitions are current.
• Install any security updates that are available for the software on your computer. So that you don't have to be worrying about this constantly, 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 one of these files, you could be downloading a virus or spyware onto your computer that could collect your personal information.
• Do not respond using any links or phone numbers in e-mails you get from strangers, even if they claim to be a well-known company. This could be a "phishing" attempt, in which thieves hope to trick you into divulging personal information. Instead, find the e-mail address or phone number for the company from a past bill or other outside source and contact them directly to verify the e-mail.

Before you enter any personal information on an Internet 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.