Preventing Identity Theft and Other Cyber Crimes

October 18, 2011
by
Nicole Vincent
Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

During week three of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, the campaign focuses its attention on preventing identity theft and other cyber crimes.

To minimize your risk of identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission recommends that you:

  • protect your Social Security number
  • treat your trash and mail carefully
  • be on guard when using the internet
  • use complex passwords
  • verify sources before sharing information
  • safeguard your purse and wallet
  • store information in secure locations

For more details, visit ftc.gov/idtheft.

To help you prevent and report online fraud, OnGuardOnline.gov offers ten things you can do to avoid online scams, descriptions of common online scams, and information about how to deal with identity theft.

Tagged with: cybersecurity, Department of Homeland Security, NCSAM, identity theft
Blog Topic: Avoid Scams, Be Smart Online

Comments

david19481 | October 18, 2011
|

EVERYONE NEEDS TO PRACTICE THESE PREVENTIONS.

kaori03 | October 18, 2011
|

I need protect my idenity

Curtis R. Bell | October 18, 2011
|

your On Guard is great ! and has been a real blessing to me.

daniel | October 19, 2011
|

you are a wonderful company

amri | August 2, 2012
|

I am the victim of a scam and need to tell someone about it. If you're not the correct site for this, please let me know. The situation is: I got a call from "Windows Support" telling me there were viruses in my computer. Long story short, they wanted $400 to protect me. My credit card refused payment. When I called them, she said the calls were from Dumbai(sp?)in India. I did not lose any money

amri | August 2, 2012
|

(cont'd) but I could have. They even sent me mail saying the FBI has blocked my computer. They had sent me to child pornography sites. I'd love to talk to somebody about this.

Nicole Vincent | August 3, 2012
|

Thank you for sharing your experience with OnGuardOnline.gov readers. To file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, please visit ftc.gov/complaint.

gail fontana | August 16, 2012
|

I need to protet my idenety

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