Are You Watching the Internet? It Can Use You Too

Introduction

It’s a sad reality that we live in a world where people are out to get you, and the internet is no exception. Be safe online by knowing what to look for, how to spot fake websites and how to protect your personal information.

Pick the Right Password and Use It Wisely

When it comes to choosing a password, don’t make it too hard to remember. Also, don’t choose something that’s too easy for someone else to guess.

Here are some tips for making your passwords strong enough:

Use a combination of numbers and letters — no dates or special characters
Avoid using the same password on multiple sites
Don’t use short passwords that can be guessed easily (e.g., your birthday) or long ones that are difficult to remember (e.g., “sleepytime” may be difficult but also easy if someone knows you have a love of napping)

Check Your Privacy Settings, Regularly

Remember: your privacy settings are not set in stone. These things change constantly. You should check them regularly and make sure they’re still working as they should, even if you’ve set them up correctly in the past.

If you want to keep track of these changes and make sure your settings are fine all the time, try using a tool like PrivacyFix or BrowserLeaks (you can download these tools for free) to test whether all of your apps are behaving properly when it comes to your privacy settings.

Never Hand Over Your Personal Information to Someone You Don’t Know

Never give out your credit card number

Never give out your social security number

Never give out your bank account number

Never hand over your address or phone number (unless it’s to someone you know)

If someone wants your personal information, ask why they need it first and then make sure that they’re trustworthy before you reveal any information.

Know the Scams

If you want to stay safe, it’s important to know what scams look like. Here are some of the most common ones.

The “I got a great deal on this car” scam: You get an email from someone who tells you about a super-cheap car they’re selling—often something really expensive like a Mercedes Benz or Land Rover. You might be asked to send money via Western Union or MoneyGram, so they can pay for shipping costs. Or maybe they’ll ask that you wire the money through Western Union or MoneyGram instead of sending them cash through PayPal because that way it’s harder for you to reverse the transaction later if there’s any problem with your order (and there will be). This is very likely just an elaborate scheme designed to trick people into sending cash overseas and having no way to get it back again once their order arrives and turns out not actually exist at all!
The “I found your wallet/phone” scam: You get an email from someone who says he has found your wallet/phone/purse/whatever item that holds all of your personal information (like credit cards) on it and wants help returning them back safely. In reality, this is usually just an elaborate scheme designed by hackers trying take over people’s online accounts after stealing all their passwords so they can use those accounts without permission! Don’t fall for it!

Learn to Spot a Fake Website

Look for misspellings.
Look for grammatical errors.
Look for broken links, especially on a site that appears to be very new (like the one you’re looking at).
Don’t be fooled by the domain name; even if it’s only one letter off from an official site, it may not be safe to use. For example, if you’re trying to log into your bank and get directed to a fake website that looks like your real bank’s homepage, but has different colors or fonts—or if you see anything else that looks suspiciously different—don’t enter any personal information on that page! It could lead you straight into trouble! This is because cybercriminals know how easily we fall prey to these kinds of tricks: after all, when someone types “www.bankingnameherebanknamehere” into their browser bar and gets sent somewhere else instead? They might think they typed something wrong; maybe they’ll try again with just “www” before realizing their mistake…but by then they’ve already given away their username and password (which can then be harvested by malicious hackers).
Make sure there are contact details available on the site where necessary—whether via email address(es) or phone number(s), depending upon what form of communication would make sense given what kind of service/product being offered

Don’t Rush to Click on Links, Even From People You Know

You might think you are safe from phishing scams if you know the person who sent you a message. The truth is that can be an even greater risk! Scammers may pretend to be someone they are not and use your trust in them against you. If a family member sends you an email asking for money or personal information, they could be using this as an opportunity to steal your identity and money by compromising your computer with malware or other spyware. Remember: never give out personal information over email unless it comes directly from a trusted source like financial institutions, banks, or government offices—and even then it’s best to call them and speak with someone directly before responding via email.

Do Your Research Before You Click, Like or Download Anything

Doing your research is one of the best ways to avoid being scammed online. Here are some tips for checking out a new website before you click, like or download anything:

Check where the information is coming from. Is it a reliable source? If not, is it possible that someone has copied someone else’s work and used it without permission?
Check if there’s a privacy policy on the website—and read it! You’ll need to know how they use cookies and other tools in order to better understand when they’re collecting data about you.
Check for terms and conditions as well as general policies (these may be part of the same document). These can often be found at the bottom of an article or product listing page. Terms might include things like how long advertisements will appear on social media channels before disappearing again; whereas policies might detail what kinds of content are prohibited from being published by users within different communities on those same social media channels (also known as ‘terms’ but listed under ‘community guidelines’). It’s worth noting here that while these two types of documents seem quite similar at first glance, there could actually be some important differences between them depending on which type we’re talking about specifically–and what kind of person owns/operates said business/website/blog etc..

The internet can be a wonderful place filled with all sorts of inspiration, encouragement and helpful, free information if you know how to use it.

There are some dangers to be aware of:

The internet is filled with fake news stories designed to get you to click on something that will either take your money or compromise your computer security.
You should always be careful about what you click on because many sites contain viruses and other types of malware that increase their exposure when they’re shared with others via email or social media accounts.
You should also never download anything from an unknown source (or one not approved by the manufacturer) because there’s no way to know what kind of files might have been attached in addition to those expected by legitimate software developers who want users to have fun playing games or watching videos online.

Conclusion

The internet is a wonderful place. It is filled with wonderous things to explore, and many of these things are free for us to use. However, there are also many people out there who will try and take advantage of you by scamming your money or stealing your personal information. The best way to protect yourself from these people is by being aware of what they’re trying to do first hand. Taking the proper precautions before handing over any information online can help ensure that you’re always safe when browsing the web!