What can people do to stay safe on the internet? What can we do to avoid scams?

Question

Also, what things can we do to improve safety and security here at Yahoo Answers? How can we avoid scams, fraud, etc?

Give us your best answers. You can help other peole to avoid scams, fraud, phishing, etc. We are doing a new series of YouTube videos about internet safety and security. The best answers here will be included in future videos. The first YouTube video is "Internet Scam Artist at Yahoo Answers" is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBjGladwCOs

Since this question is related to the safety and security of the Yahoo Answers Community, answers that give helpful ideas are appreciated. Malicious or derogatory comments will be marked as abusive.

Answer 1

First you should create a line between what's private and what's not? Suppose you are on yahoo, and you want to keep yourself anonymous, or on youtube and you want to keep yourself anonymous. NEVER share your name, even if you feel sympathetic or could be any reason. If you know the person you are talking to on that site, best to contact with him through some other means.



Second) Your credit card number is NOT to be shared. Whatsoever! Your password, every kind, your windows, all emails passwords. Remember these golden words: NEVER EVER WILL ANY COMPANY ASK THE USERS FOR THERE PASSWORDS.



Third) Always keep check whether you are being key logged. Check it with Spy Bot Search And Destroy



Fourth) if you have even a tad bit of doubt that your email is being accessed, change your password immediately.



Fifth) You can easily judge in daily life whether a shop keeper is duping you. Net is NOT different. If you think the deal is a little too good, of course it is not true.



SIXTH) ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS!! CHECK THAT THE WEBSITE YOU ARE GOING TO IS IN FACT YAHOO AND NOT ANY UNKNOWN DERIVATIVE OR SOME OTHER SITE LOOKING LIKE IT.

Answer 2

Be careful and use your sense as others have suggested.

Understand that there's no such thing as a free lunch. If it sounds too good to be true - it's not true.



People do not send you as an individual emails to "undisclosed recipients."



Look at the actual address of any website in an email. No bank, government organization and such will eve ask for your account number, password and such information. If you get an email asking for information type the website address in your browser or go to that site from your bookmarked link.



Use a good firewall and virus scanner.



Use firefox browser with appropriate defensive addons.



Of course the only way to be one hundred percent safe is to disconnect from internet and become a hermit. So the real issue is to be careful and use precautions.

Answer 3

As a well rehearshed programmer and "Grey Hat". I would tell you that the easiest way to stay safe on the web with your important information is simply not to have it there. Aka do not plug a computer with valuable information on it into the web. Simple. And especialy for youngster's, "they" and the "general public" just arnt aware what is out there or who is watching them, regardless of thousands of dollars of security equiptment and software trying to protect you....A single zeroday exploit will always get through, the world is not perfect and neither are computer's and never will be. The crazy **** I've come accross that is capable of being done is just unbelievable even if I told it to you or proved it(Which I can). And its things that just cannot be fixed. Simply you want to be safe on the web. Buy a new computer....a fresh compy of windows/linux...and plug your empty computer onto the web and do things that do not require personal information or anything of value from you entered into the PC. Then you will be safe.

Answer 4

Safety and security is of paramount importance on the web no matter where users go.



Use the Web of Trust addon - it's free and works on IE and Firefox and is also soon to be added to Google Chrome:

http://www.mywot.com



There are many users who openly abuse Y!Q&A with links to known malicious / dangerous sites, but there are free tools that users can use to check these links:

Web of Trust as has been mentioned, if using Firefox right click the link and select 'View WOT Scorecard'



http://unmaskparasites.com - This will show if sites have hidden links.



http://www.siteadvisor.com/analysis - Site Advisor, paste the link and also read the comments.



http://www.phishtank.com/index.php - enter the url and see if it is known as a phishing link.



Make use of Hosts files:

http://hosts-file.net - enter the url and search

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm - Hosts Blacklist



When users DO click a link, it is important to CHECK that the site is valid, many scams are increasing so users must have updated antivirus and antispyware as well as a good firewall installed.



Here is a link, quite safe, but what will users do with it?



http://www.freepcsecurity.co.uk/cotojo/ClickMe.jpg



Will you check it or will you click it?



Scam links on Yahoo should be reported and the sources identified and blocked and users removed. Far too many are slipping through with links to SkyDrive and other free sites to host malware.



Links that require Personally Identifiable Information (PII) should be avoided at all times, giving that information leads to spam emails, Identity Theft and in some cases Fraud. The criminals behind many phishing scams and fake programs are very well organised....they want your money and personal information.....THINK TWICE!



Like many others, I take security seriously, and spend many hours helping others to remove the mess from their PC's caused by clicking a bad link and downloading what looks like a great program, but isn't.



Use a program such as KeyScrambler to defeat keyloggers:

http://download.cnet.com/KeyScrambler-Personal/3000-2144_4-10571274.html?part=dl-KeyScramb&subj=uo&tag=button



SnoopFree which monitors for dangerous activities and alerts you to them but uses extremely low resources:

http://www.snoopfree.com



So in a nutshell, check, recheck and check again, update your Operating System with available patches, update security programs regularly and don't be too quick to click a link.



Edit: Have ONE email account to sign up on websites which is with a different username and password, genuine sites will allow you to edit your details and email address.

Plenty of free ones around, use them as 'disposable email' accounts.



If using Firefox use the NoScript addon, if using IE use IE7Pro:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

http://www.ie7pro.com

These will help to enhance your protection against clickjacking and other fraudulent activities.



Also remember that 'Trust Seals' can easily be copied and pasted into web pages, and some can be purchased very cheaply, therefore meaning that not all seals are legitimate even when using an encrypted 'https' site.

Answer 5

Remember that nothing is temporary online

Mark your profiles as private. Anyone who accesses your profile on a social networking site can copy or screen-capture information and photos that you may not want the world to see.

Safeguard your passwords and change them frequently.

Don't post inappropriate or sexually provocative pictures or comments. Things that seem funny or cool to you right now might not seem so cool years from now

Don't respond to inappropriate requests

Answer 6

Use your common sense first and foremost!

Don't include email addresses in questions or replies,

If it looks to good to be true it probably is to good to be true!

Report answers that are asking you to click on a link but that have no relation to the question.

Answer 7

Note --- The advice below is general advice to help you spot malicious users/websites easier. There are many legitimate users/websites, and the legit percentage outweighs the non-legit, but I think this is one case where you should see everything in the light of "guilty until proven innocent".



My advice may seem very straight towards Web Of Trust, but that is only because I believe in the massive potential of such a simple and easy-to-use service. Even as an experienced internet user, the Web Of Trust has saved me from trouble many times.



ADVICE FOR YAHOO! ANSWERS



> Don't download anything a Yahoo! Answers user has suggested without first checking the vendors' website safety rating on the Web Of Trust. If the Web Of Trust has no information, do some research on Google (and be extra cautious). http://www.mywot.com/

> If a Yahoo! Answers user answers your question in a very vague and indirect manner, and does not even answer your question, then they are likely spamming (particularly if they are describing, in detail, the features of one piece of software). Spamming is against Yahoo! Answers terms of use.

> If someone suggests a website such as "virus-remover-software.com" for removing a virus from your computer, do not even visit the link. Most legit companies would not use a name like that, for the simple fact that most people associate URL's similar to the one I have mentioned as malicious.

> Check all links suggested to you on Yahoo! Answers on the Web Of Trust website before going any further. http://www.mywot.com/



GENERAL ADVICE



> Download & install the Web Of Trust browser add-on. This software is revolutionary and saves you allot of bother (such as manually checking a websites reputation through Google). Also, by actively rating and commenting on websites you are helping other users to stay safe on the internet. http://www.mywot.com/

> Never make a financial transaction without checking both the URL of the transaction page and the protocol being used (only https://). For example; when using PayPal, check for "https://www.paypal.com/___". As a further precaution, click on the padlock on your browsers status bar and check the security certificate of the page. Then cross-check all this information with its rating on Web Of Trust.

> Use common sense. If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is. That's not to say that all free websites/software are/is a scam, it's just that you should check the rating of the website/software by conducting research on both Google and the Web Of Trust website.

> If you are unsure about the safety of a file you have downloaded, even though your own security software has turned up nothing malicious, try scanning it with VirusTotal. VirusTotal is an online service that checks your chosen file against many anti-virus programs. So you get the benefit of detections from several companies/programs. http://www.virustotal.com/



..................................................................................................

The tips I have provided above are only one small piece of the "cake" of internet safety. The best piece of advice I can give any user, both beginner and advanced, is to download the Web Of Trust browser add-on. http://www.mywot.com/

..................................................................................................



[edit] VirusTotal in general advice section.

Answer 8

Use common sense and think through your actions before proceeding.

Answer 9

just read the article posted at below link.

http://techsavy24.com/ComputerfreefromViruses.aspx