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By Krysti Wood, CNET Editor
Filed in: Internet Access
Level: Beginner | 50 out of 53 users found this tip helpful
ATTACK OF THE PHISHERS
You open your in-box and find e-mail from eBay or PayPal, warning that your account has been compromised by identity thieves and that you must log on immediately to verify your information. Sounds scary, right? But here's the really terrifying part: that e-mail is a fake, and so is the Web site it's sending you to. If you follow the instructions and provide your account info, so-called phishers will steal your identity. You may soon find that these scammers have used your data to purchase all kinds of things on eBay you've never heard of, and the sellers are demanding payment. Your eBay reputation and your credit rating will be in tatters. And that's just for starters.
Fortunately, there are ways to fight the phishers:
1. Spot phony e-mail.
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This e-mail may looks genuine, it even sports the right logos and live links to eBay, but it's really a phishing scam designed to steal your identity. |
Neither eBay nor its PayPal subsidiary will ever send you e-mail with live links inside it, says eBay's Jim Griffith, dean of eBay Education. So no matter how real they may look, be aware that any PayPal or eBay e-mail containing live links is an outright fake (also known as spoof e-mail).
2. Think before you click. Never click the live link inside such e-mail; if you want to check your account status, manually type eBay or PayPal's address into your browser and log on normally.
3. Make sure the site is secure. eBay and PayPal use SSL encryption to secure your login info. That means the Web address should start with https: (the s stands for secure), and there should be a tiny, locked icon in the lower-right corner of your browser.
4. Double-check the URL. Some phishers use foreign character sets to create URLs close enough to fool users into thinking they're on the real site. Make sure the site you're logging on to is really www.paypal.com and not www.paypäl.com.
5. Rat out the bad guys. Identity theft is a serious crime, and the FBI is actively investigating phishing scams and other activities related to ID theft. eBay is also investigating spoof e-mail. If you get phisher e-mail that claims to be from eBay or PayPal, forward it to spoof@ebay.com and file a complaint with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center.
Access IE7 history by clicking the Favorites (icon) in IE7 or (with IE7 open) press the CTRL+H keys.
, here's another thing that AOL users should be aware of. AOL 9 (Free version) is now considered "badware" by www.stopbadware.org .
"...In our preliminary findings, we find that AOL 9.0 (free version) is currently badware because it installs additional software without telling the user, it forces the user to take certain actions, it adds various components to Internet Explorer and the taskbar without disclosure, and it may automatically update without the user's consent.
We currently recommend that users do not install the version of AOL software that we tested, unless the user is comfortable with the level of risk we identify or until the application is updated consistent with the recommendations in this report. ..." ( See the full report at http://www.stopbadware.org/reports/reportdisplay?reportname=aol082706 ).
Display the Start menu Ctrl + Esc or press the Windows Key
Highlight Everything in a document or Web page Ctrl + A
To copy selected item or text click Ctrl + C
Did you know you can paste what you've copied to the Windows Clipboard by using CTRL + V or SHIFT+INSERT
For Windows 2000/XP users it simply adds the convenience of not losing the first window when you open the second one. Handy, when you want to move files between folders, don't you think?
This tip is easy to do. Click "My Computer", click on "Tools" select "Folder Options" from the dropdown menu, and tick "Open each folder in its own window". Click "Apply" "OK".
Spaced Out
You can highlight a word, a sentence, a paragraph or a page and delete the entire block of selected text by pressing the "Space" bar. Yes you can, and now you know!
Feeling Tabby?
Pressing the "Alt" "Tab" keys in sequence allows you to browse through your open windows.
New Message In Outlook Express - The shortcut way!
In Outlook Express (Windows Mail in
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