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.