Important Internet Safety Tips
  1. Always be careful giving out personal information !  
2. Get an anonymous e-mail address ( like through Yahoo, Hotmail etc. ). Create a pen-name or nicname for yourself that you will use online, and don't use your real name.  
3. Only give out your primary e-mail address to people you know very well, and have known for a long time. Never post your ISP e-mail address on message boards or in public places. (ISP e-mail address is the one provided by your internet service provider, like AOL, MSN, Juno, Webtv, etc)  
4. Be very careful opening e-mail attachments, especially from people you don't know. E-mail attachments can often carry viruses. If someone gets a virus in their computer, it can forward itself to you without their knowledge so even someone you know can send you a virus without meaning to or even knowing about it.  
5. Have a Reputable antivirus program in your computer and keep it updated and your computer maintained. ( they cost a little but are well worth it compared to the cost of fixing your computer )  
6. If you decide to meet someone from the net meet on your home turf, and in a public place. And be very sure before you go forward in the relationship..  
7. Money scams abound on the internet, NEVER give out bank account info or credit card numbers or any of your credit info online unless it is to an established business that you know, or have checked out. ( Go to www.bbb.org to check a business out, that is the website of the Better Business Bureau )  
8. Never use your real name on message boards etc, always wait to get to know a person well before giving them your real name ( I usually wait a minimum of three to six months ). Using only your last name and first initial online, I can find out your address, phone number, age, and even get a nice little map to your house ! And for only a small fee I can access your...
-Current Address and up to 10 year history & available listed phone numbers
-Relatives, roommates, and neighbors
-Bankruptcies, Tax liens, Small Claims Civil Judgments
-Marriage and Divorces
-Real property ownership and value
-Full name and possible aliases
And for a slightly larger fee I can even access your criminal record!  
9. Some e-mail sites and programs have a very handy spam blocking feature you can use that sets your e-mail settings to 'exclusive'. This means that everyone who you don't add to your address book or to a special safe list will be blocked and either be immediately deleted or sent to special junk mail folder. I do advise using the exclusivity setting on your primary e-mail address because it can kill a lot of junk mail, but it is unadvisable to do so with any e-mail address that you add to a site, or message board, or perhaps the Church e-mail list, because you will miss out on a lot of important e-mails that way.  
10. No matter how good junk mail looks, NEVER respond to it. The FTC reports that over 2/3rd of all junk mail is bogus or contains false information.

Last Updated 7-24-2004
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