One You Blog

How Do I Know if I Can Trust an Online Shopping Site?

It is almost the holiday, and that means shopping, both in store and online, but how do you know that you can trust a store?

1. Does the site look professional?
2. Do they have a better business bureau or verisign seal of good business practices?
3. Does the sites checkout begin with https.

If it does not meet these criteria, try another site.

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Keep Your Identity Safe While Searching For Jobs

Looking for a job can be stressful enough, without having your identity stolen in the process. If you want to minimize the chances of getting taken in by scams that are designed to ensrare your information then try out these tips.

• Know who you are giving information to. Never follow a link to an online job posting when you can find the comapnies job site through a search engine and get the listing that way.
• Be careful about where you post your resume. Remember that document has a wealth of personal information on it.
• Remember your general rules for spotting an online scam. The odds are that if a job looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Now, search safe.

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Beware Scammer Debt Counselors

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If in these hard times, you are one of the millions of people in financial trouble, then you may be considering the services of a debt counselor.  A competent and professional debt counselor can help you to:

• Consolidate debts
• Lower debt amounts
• Decide if bankruptcy in right for your situation

In the past, you had to worry about ending up with a less than competent counselor.  Now, you have to worry about a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  That’s right ID theft scammers are even prying on people with bad credit.  You may ask why, well here are a few reasons.

• They can max out your existing credit lines and the odds are that you will not even notice anything unusual.
• They can still get credit in your name.  Why should they care if it’s at 26% interest compounded every 10 seconds?
• The odds are that you got your free credit report at the beginning of the “process’ which means that it will be a whole year before you discover anything is wrong.
• They have a good shot of talking you into bankruptcy, so that you will never know your ID was stolen.

Before you get a counselor, vet them first.

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Passing Information Verbally

There are times in this world when telling someone information is the norm.  That doesn’t make it safe.  If you do it the wrong way, potential scammers can hear your personal information.  Think about it, these types of situations are an information buffet.  If you want to minimize your chances of being a victim there are some things you can do to reduce your risk.

* Curb your voice.  By keeping your voice low, you reduce the risk of being over heard.
* Don’t offer any extra information.  Sure, chatting up the clerk may be fun, but extraneous information about your life and family should be off limits.
* When in doubt, or a crowded area, ask to write it down instead of saying it aloud.  Just be sure to get that paper back.

Also, consider asking if there is a less invasive form of ID that you can use.  You may be able to simply pass over a drivers license instead of listing off your social security number.
(Image Credit)

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Beware Job Searches

Scammers look to prey on the most vulnerable people that they can find.  The reason for this is obvious, the more vulnerable and desperate the query, the more likely they are to take a chance, or to be blinded by desire.

Some of the most desperate people in this current economy are job searchers, and scammers know it.  You should be wary of any job offers that:

* Requires an up front investment.  Or deposit of any kind.
* Needs you to recruit others into your network or “sales force”
* Wants you to wire money to a 3rd party, even part of a check you receive.
* Wants you to work for free (unless it is a beneficial internship).

When in doubt check it out before you give up any information.  There are plenty of scam sites out there to help you out.
(Image Credits)

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