Internet Security

The internet is great. People like to email, chat and have fun online. We also use it to buy and sell things, do our taxes or bank online. Unfortunately, online criminals want a piece of the action. They’re in it to make money. Internet fraud is one of the fastest growing areas of illegal activity in the UK. If you shop online, take a few easy steps to ensure that your personal information is protected.

For many years the intense security that protected most internet-based transactions arguably made shopping online safer than shopping in the high street.

But over the last few years, clever hackers have succeeded in a number of internet scams - convincing those who bank online to give over their account details, for example, and creating false credit card encryption screens.

So these days, you need to take extra steps to ensure that your information is protected. The information useful to criminals includes your name, date of birth, address, National Insurance number, and any bank and credit card details.

Take care when using social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo or MySpace. People often put a lot of personal details onto such sites and identity thieves have been known to use them.