Top Ten Ways to Avoid Losing Money & Your Identity Online

The internet is an amazing thing. It’s easy to get lost in a huge amount of information, articles, software & products. Then, before you know it you have your hand in your pocket reaching for that cold bit of plastic ready to purchase a shiny new ebook on how to “Supercharge your Traffic” or “Quadtriple your Adsense Earnings Overnight!”

So, put your card away for now, lets have a look at how to not lose your money or your personal details online:

Don’t Buy Get Rich Quick Books

Quite a simple one really. Most get rich quick ebooks don’t actually tell you how to get rich. Avoid these at all costs, there are many places that you can get the same information without paying anything:

• Digitalpoint Forums
• Earners Forum
• Problogger
• Link Building Blog
• Shoemoney’s Blog

If you want to spend your money on one decent book buy Aaron Wall’s SEO Book (aff).

Don’t Gamble Based on Probability

Gambling is a game of odds, what most people don’t realise is that the odds are against them. There is no likelihood that a certain event is going to happen, just because it hasn’t happened in a long period of time.

Never Pay for anything via Money Transfer

If you buy goods via Western Union or Bank Draft then you are asking for trouble. Unless you know the person or they are a recognised dealer then I would generally avoid it. Especially on eBay. If something happens and you are for whatever reason conned you have no comeback & nowhere to go for help.

Be careful of people Phishing in your Inbox

Phishing is a common form of online fraud. You will likely receive an email in your inbox from your bank or perhaps Paypal saying that they are updating their systems & you need to revalidate or reupdate your details. Instead of taking you to the required site you are redirected to a mirror of the site that will capture your username & password which the hacker can use to empty your accounts. Be careful not to enter your personal details into unauthorised websites.

Get Firefox 2.0

Firefox 2.0 is the best solution for Windows based PC’s in the fight against Spam, Phishing & Popups. It has built in systems to detect & alert you to potential scams & intrusions to your PC. My browser of choice

Remember to Set a CPC & Daily Budget when using PPC

This is a common mistake when starting your first PPC (Pay Per Click) Campaign. Make sure & set yourself a daily budget of what you can afford. Whether it’s $10, $20 or $2,000. If you forget to set this you’ll be continually charged for clicks & you could get a very nasty surprise when you next log in

Never Log into Non Secured Accounts when on a Public Wireless Network

With the rising popularity of Wifi & Wireless Laptops you can log onto Public Access Points almost anywhere these days. Every year at the Defcon Convention they run an interesting experiment called the Wall of Sheep. In a nutshell they scan the unencrypted wireless network for passwords & logins of people using it. They then name & shame the people live on a huge TV Screen.

This shows how easy it is to obtain personal information over a public network. So make sure to never log into personal accounts unless they have a secure login (begins with https://).

Never Buy links from High PR Sites without checking the True Pagerank First

Yep that’s right, unfortunately PR (Page Rank) can be faked. A common practice for people to make money off you by selling links on their site. If someone offers you a high page rank link for a price that’s too good to be true, it probably is. Check the domain with the Fake Page Rank Detection Tool.

Know the Expired Domains Process before placing Backorders

Expired Domains have a particular process they go through before deletion. Some people forget that generally you’ll have to place a backorder to secure the Domain. However you can be outbid & possibly lose your money or end up paying a small fortune. The above link outlines the expired domains process in great detail

Never Reply to Emails telling you that you’ve Inherited a small Fortune

One of the common types of email scams you’ve probably received is the 419. An email that explains to you (in poor english) that someone has died & left their fortune to you. You need to send money to release the funds into your bank account.

Yep, you guessed it. It’s a scam. But unfortunately some people do fall for these, otherwise no-one would do it. The above website is dedicated to this 419 Nigerian Scams, it will educate you on how to avoid them & also get some revenge