Random Post of the Day

Hey Everyone – I just received a random email and I thought it might be a post worthy topic.  🙂  This actually doesn’t have to do with saving money so don’t get excited that I am posting about a new deal or hot coupon to print out.  That said, this is something I want all of you to be aware of.

I receive a ton of emails every day as I am sure you do as well.  Just now, I received an email from “Paypal” telling me that my account has been compromised and that I need to create a new login and password for it.  I have received similar emails to this regarding bank accounts, credit card accounts, etc etc.  I’ve gotten pretty savvy with being able to read through the emails and see that they are scams, but I want to make sure all of you know that when you receive emails like this, before you click their links and give them your personal information, call your bank account/credit card company/etc etc and find out if there has in fact been an issue.  I would imagine that 95% of the time, the email you have received is actually a scam trying to get your passwords and what not.  Once they get your passwords, they can hack into your accounts and potentially steal your identity.

Also – if you ever receive emails with random video links or email links with fun verbiage like “check this out”, DON’T open them.  They usually contain viruses and other things that are not good for your email account or personal computer.  If I ever receive emailed video links, I will double check with the sender that the link is legit before opening it.  Maybe that is overly cautious but I would rather do this than have my computer ruined.

See – I told you this post wouldn’t be about saving money!  🙂  Hopefully you already know the tips above.  But if you don’t, please be careful with the information you send out online.  And, when you sign up for freebies, coupons, online newsletters, etc etc, always give an email address that you have created for couponing.  That way, your primary email account (where you receive personal emails) is not bombarded with junk emails.  While I LOVE freebies and I know most of you do too, remember that nothing in life is truly free.  So, when companies ask for your email address when you request freebies, they will more often than not send you emails with advertisements.  They are trying to get your business.  If you keep a separate email account for couponing, you won’t get frustrated when you receive advertisement emails.

Does anyone else have any good tips on internet security?