Protect Your Computer and Your Identity from Others 
So, you receive an e-mail from your best friend telling you to check out this cool site on Yahoo! This guy is always sending you links and stuff, so no biggie, you head on over to take a look. A very nice Yahoo! style layout loads up, but then asks you to "Log In" to Yahoo before continuing. So you do, but nothing happens. Nothing that is until the next time you try to access your My Yahoo and find that it has been hi-jacked and your user name/password no longer work.

This sound far fetched? Think identity theft can't happen to you? Guess again, it happens to THOUSANDS of people every day, but there are some simple things you can do to help prevent things like this from happening to you.

1.) In the case above, your "friend" sends you a link to a private home page on Yahoo designed to gather user names and passwords. If your in doubt about whether you should log in or not, simply go to www.yahoo.com and log in there. If the other page is STILL asking for your user name and password even though you are logged into Yahoo, it is most probably bogus.

2.) This may seem obvious, but a lot of people make this mistake every day: If your spam filter said it was spam, it probably is. Just because they say they want to sent you money or be your friend does not mean that they really will/do.

3.) Not as obvious: Just because your spam filter DID NOT say it was spam, doesn't mean it isn't. Never open any attachments that you are not 100% sure of what they are. Never respond to an e-mail from someone you are not 100% sure of. These will help cut down not only on your risk of identity theft but also on the amount of spam and virus' you get in the future.

4.) Most on-line mail programs offer a free or low cost spam filter. If you are using an off-line mail-reader, you may need to contact your mail host and find out how to set the filter up. Alternatively, you can begin to build your own spam filter on most off-line readers (Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, etc).

5.) Keep your Virus software and Spyware scanner up to date and scan on a daily basis. There are two great free products available out there that will prevent most of not all "no user input required" type incursions. The first is AVG Free Virus scanner available from www.grisoft.com, the second is Microsofts new AntiSpyware Beta (available at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/
spyware/software/default.mspx).

As always the best defense is just to be smart. Don't give out your passwords or other private information to anyone, always double check the address bar when logging into a new site, and new open any attachments unless your 100% sure you know what they contain. E-mail and the Internet are two very powerful tools both as our friend and as our worst nightmare, with a little bit of care you can make sure you stay friends for a long, long time. 

Tom Beauchamp is the owner of LAN’s Edge in Austin, TX. LAN’s Edge is a computer gaming center that offers PC and xbox gaming as well as a high speed internet connection and PC sales and repair.  He can be reached at daystar@lansedge.com. Visit http://www.lansedge.com for more information.

"No, son. When Little Bo Peep lost her sheep that wouldn't be tax deductible, but I like your thinking".

This newsletter is published monthly by Candy Beauchamp of OffAssist. (c) 2005
Much of the advice in this newsletter is based upon the research, professional and personal experiences of the authors. If the reader has any questions concerning any material or procedure mentioned, the publisher and authors strongly suggest seeking the advice of a qualified CPA.

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