Personal Safety

It is a good idea to never give out any sensitive personal information, especially Social Security numbers or credit card numbers, to unsolicited advertisements. The same goes for e-mail. You might receive an e-mail message that looks completely legitimate and asks for your bank account or credit card number. Legitimate financial institutions do not ask for this sort of sensitive information over e-mail. These types of schemes are often referred to as phishing. This term generally refers to e-mail scams in which millions of e-mails are sent out by a person or group of people mimicking financial institutions and soliciting sensitive information.

There are times when you will have to enter personal information, including credit card numbers and contact information. If you're shopping on the web, for instance, you'll usually need to enter a credit card or bank account number before you can complete your order. Before you do so, it's a good idea to check to make sure the site is secure. Secure sites encrypt this sensitive information so that it is not freely floating on the web. If a site is secure, it will usually have a small image of a lock in the bottom right of the browser window (see example below), and the web address will begin with https instead of http.

If you are in doubt, or if you feel uncomfortable providing your personal information on the web, you can always try to contact the company or organization by phone.

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