I was prompted to write this post after a family member of mine experienced massive problems on their computer, after downloading a game from the internet.
Be wary of sites that ask for your personal information. Unless you trust a site completely, it is a very bad idea to give out your name, email address, phonu number, or your mailing address
Avoid sites with lots of pop-ups. These sites typically put stuff on your computer. . . .stuff you do not want. Make sure you install a pop-up blocker. The Google toolbar is a good one to use.
If the name of the site does not sound appropriate, chances are it is not.
Perform a search about the companies name in Google.com. Usually, there will be people commenting on this company. Also, put the company name or website URL into the search along with the word ‘scam’ beside it. This search will give you information on whether or not it is a scam.
Stay with what you know. Stay with famous websites such as Amazon or Ebay and stay away from ones that you have never heard of. This tactic will cut your chances of getting caught up in any scam.
If your computer does get infected with spyware, adware, trojans, etc due to unsafe downloading or web surfing, check out my next post on how to clean it up!