SECURITY and SCAM Prevention 

Onlinescams are increasing at an alarming pace and are real menaces against Internet users!  It is now more important than ever to be cautious about the individuals you meet, the sites you visit, and the information you disclose over the Internet. For your financial safety, before spending your e-currency to anyone, do your Due Diligence research to verify the person's or company's references, because most e-currencies spending are "non-repudiable", that is to say that once you spend your e-currency, the transaction cannot be reversed.

Security and Scam Prevention Guidelines:

• Ask for a verifiable phone number and physical address then ensure they are valid. Be wary of non-working numbers or no number at all, voicemails, and forwarding services.
• Contact another person who has done business with that person or company. Ensure this person is an actual customer of the person who gave you their information and not just a friend or family member.
• Consider the use of an escrow service for payment upon delivery of goods. However ensure that the escrow service you choose is not a scam because there are many unfortunately. For more info:www.fraudwarning.net
• Useful web addresses and references:
  • e-gold Security Alerts:
    http://www.e-gold.com/unsecure/alert.html
  • Worldwide Credit Agencies :
    http://www.creditworthy.com/providers/agency.asp?ID=15
  • Fraud report and complain (Canada)
    http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams/scams.htm
    http://www.canadiancouncilbbb.ca/cancouncil.html
  • Fraud report and complain (USA)
    http://www.fraud.org/info/links.htm
    www.consumer.gov/idtheft 
    http://www.quatloos.com/
    http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp
    
• NEVER open email attachments that you are not expecting.Call itsoriginator or send (do not reply) him/her an email to verify ifhe/shereally sent you that  unexpected email.   Emailattachmentsare probably the most common way viruses arrive at your computer.somefirewall appliances or software will strip dangerous attachments only enter sensitive information at verified SSL protectedsites. 
• Sensitive datais exposed to third parties if not entered at SSL protected sites.
• use a software firewall
  - firewallsprevent most outsider traffic from reaching your computer
  - use a hardware firewall. This site http://www.practicallynetworked.com/ has reviews and notes on various models.
• keep your OS up-to-date/patched
  - unpatched OS'sexpose exploitable vulnerabilities
• use a virus scanner
  - a virus scannermay detect and allow you to remove infections from your computer
  - set up these tools in their highest security mode and thenonly loosen the rules for things you need.
• if you use an 802.11b wireless laptop/lan, assume all yourtraffic is being seen by third parties.
  - WEP encryptionused by 802.11b networks is breakable, do not depend on it for data contentprotection
• keep your computer physically secure from third party use
  - preventmalicious individual from walking up to your machine and infecting it from afloppy/cd
• have a plan for the day when you do get compromised,practice your plan.

Below are some security sites, have a look, they're an important way to protect your personal info & your e-currency accounts.

A good place to start is the red link on e-gold's front page:
http://www.e-gold.com/unsecure/alert.html

And this essay:
http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0105.html#8

CERN Recommendations:
http://security.web.cern.ch/security/Recommendations/Default.htm

Symantec (good but not enough) Anti-Virus site:
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/

CERT advisories:
http://www.cert.org/advisories/

windows 95/98 computer security:
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/win-95-info.html

home network security:
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/home_networks.html

CERN Passwords:
http://security.web.cern.ch/security/passwords/

CERN PC Virus Info:
http://pcvirus2000.web.cern.ch/pcvirus2000/

alt.comp.virus faq:
http://www.bocklabs.wisc.edu/~janda/acv_faq.html

McAfee Virus Database:
http://www.avertlabs.com

Really good FAQ on Internet worms:
http://www.networm.org/faq/

Viruses & the MAC FAQ if you use an Apple:
http://www.sherpasoft.org.uk/

Gibson Research. Study ALL these pages, especially the ones on Spyware, & Shields-UP/port scan!:
http://grc.com/default.htm

"If the source isn't open, it isn't secure"
http://www.openlysecure.com/

The BUGTRAQ archive is usually the first to report possible breaches of security.
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1

Info on exploiting Windows Messaging systems.
http://security.tombom.co.uk/shatter.html

Deepfreeze helps to protect Windows PCs
http://www.deepfreeze.net/index.asp and
http://www.pyzzo.com/ provides similar functionality + ablility to clone machines, push updates etc.

The best security tool of all is between your ears, though.