Some of these points may sound simple, but you’d be amazed at how many people are cheated:

1. When you’re accessing any website where you’ll be providing any of you’re financial information, made sure the address starts with https instead of the regular http. This indicates the server is secure and it is safe for you to enter your private information.

2. Never send Western Union Transfers unless you know and trust the company you’re doing business with PayPal is best, with their Buyer Protection. Visit PayPal, click Help, and type “Buyer Protection” for details. 2. eBay’s Security Center also has a great deal of helpful information, including the eBay Toolbar that will tell you if you are not on an official eBay or PayPal website. Given the amount of fraud associated with PayPal in particular, the toolbar is very useful! (Note: Official PayPal emails will always begin “Dear [your full name].” When in doubt, log in to PayPal, making sure the URL begins with https, and ask whether the email was legitimate.)

3. Information on Phishing (getting you to enter your personal data thinking it’s legitimate when it’s not) is at the AWPG

4. The US Federal Trade Commission also has information about Phishing at

5. On the other side, Many times, emails that may look like viruses or scams are not real. There are a few great Websites that talk about these Urban Legends - you can look up the possible virus or scan and see whether they are real. The most famous is Urban Legends, and there’s Hoaxbusters, Scambusters.

6. Symantec also has a Hoax page to help you know to be scared of and what’s not

7. LifeLock is a company that specializes in preventing Identity Theft. Click Here to protect your Identity and Save 10% with LifeLock - the only company that prevents identity theft! [LIFELOCK BANNER?]

Unfortunately, some people either don’t know the warning signals or are scammed despite their best efforts (online con artists are getting smarter and smoother). If it does happen to you or someone you know - even if you think you’ve been defrauded (don’t wait for proof!) - there are a few things you can do:

1. If you do think you’ve been defrauded, visit The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC), a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). You can file a complaint right there on their Website.

2. The National Fraud Information Center (http://www.fraud.org/welcome.htm) has great information and applications to file complaints on their Website as well.

3. We can’t stress this enough! When you see https (that’s with an “s” at the end) at the beginning of a web address that means it’s a secure Website. Any ecommerce or financial Website should have https at the beginning. If it doesn’t, be suspicious! You should NEVER divulge your personal financial information to an unsecured Website!!! NEVER. Sometimes, the homepage addresses of Websites may not include the https, but any pages inside the Websites asking you for sensitive information always should.

The good news (and even when there’s bad news, we’re all about looking on the bright side) is that there are some really great security programs out there, and we strongly (strongly strongly!) suggest you buy and install at least one of the programs below. We can’t emphasize enough the importance of protecting your computer. [And if you're on a PC, skip the next paragraph and jump right to the programs].

Note to Mac users: Macs have long been considered safe from viruses and worms and all those icky things that cause the blue screen of death on PCs. While you still may have the less-susceptible OS, there are some viruses now attacking Macs. There are only a tiny handful of Mac antivirus programs. Go to Macupdate and search under “antivirus” to find the latest ones.

Here are a few helpful websites and programs to help with your online and home security:

Protect your PC from viruses with the Shield Antivirus from PCSecurity

Protect your PC from viruses with the Shield Antivirus from PCSecurity

Please don’t forget that along with a good email provider, Virus Protection and Spyware Software is vital. If you don’t have it, Please CLICK HERE for McAfee® Internet Security Suite for 3 PC for only $49.99 after
$40 instant Savings! (Reg. $89.99, No Rebate Fo

ISP email accounts are the best to use for online shopping because merchants know that, if anything goes wrong, these big companies have your information and know where to track you down. That makes sense. Understandably, not all retailers are keen on allowing registrations from people with free/public email addresses (Hotmail, Yahoo!, etc), because all you need is a name. Not even a real name. Make sure you can win before you begin: Pay for and use a unique email address.

Many ISPs will allow you to purchase email accounts without having to pay for Internet access. Verizon Wireless is one – CLICK HERE for a special rate.

SECRET SUGGESTION: The PRINT button is your friend – printing things out is your protection against Murphy (he of Murphy’s L-A-W) Having a hard copy of receipts, transactions and even the “last step before you buy” can be invaluable in a number of situations, including tracking your order or providing proof if a merchant makes an error in your order. Especially during peak shopping and holiday periods – when you’re busy buying and stores are swamped with customers, PRINT, PRINT, PRINT! You’ll be glad you did.

You should also make sure your system is optimized for your best shopping experience. We know it can be a pain when it’s time to buy software, especially if you’re upgrading your whole operating system (OS), like many people are doing right now, going from Windows XP to Windows Vista. You have to check if your computer’s hardware can handle the software you’re buying. Do you have enough RAM? ROM? (And if you don’t know, do you know how to check?).

We’ve got a simple way to make upgrading - not to mention trying and buying other fun software bundles - so simple and easy you’ll be up and running in a matter of minutes. Just go to Windows Marketplace (click here or on the banner below) and you’ll find everything you need

Now you can explore all the corners of the Internet and know that the world’s toughest virtual bodyguard is watching out for your computer.

You probably already have a Rewards credit card in your wallet - maybe a few - and you might not even know it. A Rewards card is one that gives you points or miles for every dollar your spend (online and off). You can redeem those points for airline upgrades, hotel rooms, gifts, electronics and much more. So why not use your Rewards card every time you shop online - and offline, for that matter? It’s a fast, easy way to generate thousands of miles or points just for making purchases on top of all the other secrets you’re discovering!

If you don’t already have a Rewards card, can you think of a good reason not to get one? Think of the amount you’ll be saving - and getting in CASH BACK. Now think of how much of that you’ll be able to spend again! And how many Rewards miles you’ll accumulate!

The three Rewards cards we know provide excellent returns for each dollar spent are American Express Blue Cash®, One from American Express® and Discover. Click on any of the banners below (or all of them!) to apply for that card.

One from American Express®. Add to your savings with virtually every purchase. Receive $50 cash after you make your first purchase, and pay no annual fee for the first year - a $35 savings! Click here to apply.

Okay, NOW you’re getting lined up to get the most out of every purchase - to pay the least, get the most cash back and get even more depending on what credit card you use to make your purchase!

Click here to learn about special offers you may not even know about that come with the credit cards you’ve got sitting in your wallet right now!

The final thing we want you to do before we send you out there to shop, shop, shop is to start making money!

Yes, you read that right. Making money. Before you start spending it.

Here are three great FREE programs that will give you Cash Back on your purchases - that’s right, Cash Back by check or PayPal!

These are the top three we’ve picked out of dozens online – we know you’ve seen those other ones, too. Based on our own shopping experience, the three below offer a fantastic selection of shopping options, have a great track record as businesses and we trust them to pay us on time. Trust is very important, because you want to be sure you’ll get your Cash Back! Some of those other programs have made us wait a year!

We average hundreds of dollars per quarter Cash Back just by using these links (and that doesn’t include free shipping and other discounts and perks like Stackable Couponsand Deal Layering that we talk about in other posts). If you want proof, we’re happy to supply information from our own accounts.

How does this work? Simple. Stores pay these sites to send you to them. The sites turns those commissions into cash back rewards by giving some of the commissions right back to you. In cash. No forms to fill out, no strings attached.

Make $5.00 instantly: CLICK HERE to Join Ebates!

Our favorite Cash Back site is Ebates. You can get Cash Back and coupon discounts at more than 800 big-name online stores. As long as you log into Ebates first, each time you make a purchase, you accumulate refunds – and they keep track of them for you. This is just an example, but if Nordstrom has 18% Cash Back one week, and you spend $200, Ebates will deposit $36 in your account! Just for shopping at one of your favorite stores!

Another Cash Back website that we use and trust is ShopAtHome.

Like Ebates, ShopAtHome also gives you $5.00 for signing up (isn’t free money great?!). They have 2,000+ stores and lots of services, including catalogs and discounted magazines

Both Ebates and ShopAtHome pay quarterly. As of May 2008, ShopAtHome only sends checks – Ebates sends PayPal payments and we like that better because it’s faster but that’s just our preference, they’re both good programs.

So now, you’ve got $10 just for signing up with Ebates and ShopAtHome, right? And soon you’ll have more money pouring into your account from your everyday shopping. Sweet.

Now, here’s a unique program because it saves you money on your eBay purchases!

It’s free to join, and like Ebates and ShopAtHome, they pay Cash Back on your online purchases; it’s an easy way to save a lot of money. Plus, on your eBay purchases, they pay you up to 36% of the Seller’s fees! Here’s the link to sign up and start saving on your eBay purchases.

Here’s how eBay Cash Back from BigCrumbs works:

Let’s say you buy a $100 item on eBay. Whoever sold you that item has paid several different Seller Fees – for this example, we’ll use a total of $27.84 (it can be expensive to sell on eBay!). Once you’re a BigCrumbs member, click through their website (that creates your tracking ticket), and Big Crumbs will give you back 36% of Seller Fees – in this example, that’s $10.02. You’ve gotten 10% Cash Back for clicking a link! Please read BigCrumbs’ FAQ to be sure you do everything correctly (and because the costs to eBay vendors change from time to time, make sure to check their Seller Fees page).

Shopping Secret about these Cash Back Websites: Make a list or look over your receipts to see the types of items you purchase and that will help you figure out which of the Cash Back Websites are best for you. They are all free to join and participate in, but since they pay once you’ve collected a certain amount of Cash Back it’s good to start out with one or two, just like with frequent flyer programs or Rewards credit cards.