A Guide to Safe CyberTreking - Part 2

• Do business only with companies you trust and know. Do you know where the company is physically located. Online businesses may be located in another part of the country or in another part of the world. Different laws and rules apply to disputes and the cost to resolve long-distance or cross-border transactions can be more expensive and difficult.

• If you are going to do business with a company that you are unfamiliar with, check our Complaint Database at this site and others to determine whether any prior complaints exist against the company. Conduct a search at other consumer agencies and the local better business bureau for any prior records. If your searches come up empty, it doesn't mean that the company is trustworthy since it may be a new company established by a fraudster who can easily shut down a site and start up a new one quickly under a new name at little expense.

• Don't be afraid to ask questions about any products you see offered. If there is a telephone number, call it to obtain more information about the product and the terms of sale. What are their delivery, return and guarantee policies? Refer to our article on Tips for Online Purchasing.

• Don't give your financial or other personal information such as your bank account numbers, credit card numbers, social security number, social insurance number or other personal information unless you know the company is legitimate and the information is necessary for the transaction. Like thieves of your credit card, fraudsters can make unauthorized charges and impersonate you to get credit in your name. Read Ways Your Privacy Could be Unprotected on the Internet and Protecting Your Privacy on the Internet.

• Beware of any touting of products or investment opportunities you learn about in chat rooms, newsgroups or bulletin boards. These sites are targets for many con artists. For more information read Techniques Promoters use to Promote Online Investments.

• If you are conducting online banking or you must register with any site that requires the use of a password, choose an appropriate password. Change your password frequently such as every month. As such, if your password is discovered, you can limit your damage by frequently changing it. Never let anyone know your password. The more people who know your password, the greater the chance that your password will be disclosed to a person you don't want to know. For other tips look at our article on Passwords.

• Share you experiences about the internet with your children. While you may have learned the rules of treking the net, your children may not know what you know which could result in their making those same mistakes that you are trying to avoid.