Internet Threats - Distinguishing Between Credit Card Fraud and Identity Theft

There's a lot of discussion about identity theft andFor example, one scenario could be your opening of
credit card fraud and how one seems to bean email that claims all sorts of things from your
synonymous with the other. These are two of thewinning in a million-dollar lottery to your having been
most prevalent and serious threats that every Internetsingled out by some king or head of state to be one
user needs to protect himself from. Without practicingof the random recipients of that country's specialized
proper precautions, anyone can end up with someonecharity program. And then they're going to ask you for
else making all sorts of transactions on his behalf.your personal information. If you haven't heard of
Credit card fraud is very rampant, indeed, and peoplethese things before, you'll probably go ahead and do
may have actually been remiss in ensuring their ownas they tell you. Of course, now that you know these
online security. But while we can't do something aboutthings happen, it's best to ignore emails of this sort
black hats who'll always enjoy making people sufferfrom now on.
with their nasty tricks, we can do something aboutWhen the sender of the email, however, asks you to
how to best protect ourselves. But first, we need toenter your credit card information such your credit
define identity theft and credit card fraud andcard number, your name and password, then this
differentiate them to understand them in essence.constitutes credit card fraud. Simply keep in mind just
From their definitions, identity theft and credit cardhow sensitive this type of information is. You don't
fraud are quite different. The former refers to the actneed any special training or seminar to realize that
of stealing another person's information and using it foryour credit card details should remain with you and
one's own gain. Meanwhile, the latter refers to theonly you at all times. Never should you give it out to
particular act of using someone else's credit cardany other person no matter who they claim to be. Just
information to make one's own purchases.to be sure, use your credit card information only with
If you enjoy movies, you've probably come acrosswebsites you trust. Otherwise, you could just be
some with plots involving cool computer whizzescourting disaster.
remotely hacking into the most sophisticatedTo get you into the consciousness of valuing your
computers in the farthest corners of the world. It doesonline security, you'll find installing protective software
look cool when it happens in movies, but when itsuch as anti-virus, anti-malware and anti-spyware very
happens to you, that's when things get a little bit hot.useful. At the same time, you can also install an IP
So you wonder how your identity can possibly behiding software which can come in handy for anyone
stolen? The answers could be many but all are simple.who wants to ensure safety from hackers.