If you know more about online fraud, you are less likely to fall victim to it. Always remember that reputable companies will rarely ask you to provide them personal information, so always be wary if someone asks this of you. When in doubt, contact the company using their contact details to find out if it is really them and if it isn’t then this needs to be reported as a fraud attempt.

You can take the following steps when using the internet to prevent yourself from failing victim to online fraud:

1. Never provide personal information for any unsolicited requests for information.
2. Only enter your personal information on to website which have “https” at the beginning of the web address or have a small icon of a padlock at the bottom of the browser – this means they are safe.
3. If you suspect that you have received a phishing email then contact the company which the email has supposedly come from and check with them that the message is legitimate and not online fraud.
4. Make sure that you use varied and complex passwords for all of your different online accounts.
5. Avoid any websites which look untrustworthy.
6. Do not open email messages from unknown senders.
7. Immediately delete any emails which you suspect may be spam.
8. Update your email operating system regularly.
9. Make sure that you regularly install security software on to your computer.
10. Use antivirus protection and a firewall when browsing the internet.

If you do not have adequate security on your computer then you will be an open target for online fraud scam artists. Make sure that you use a spam filter to scan all of the messages coming in to your inbox, so that these can be deleted straight away.