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While you may not directly pay for the software or service with
money, the free software or service you asked for may have been
bundled with advertising software ("adware") that tracks your
behavior and displays unwanted advertisements. You may have to
divulge personal information or purchase something else in order to
claim your supposed content winnings. If an offer looks so good it's
hard to believe, ask for someone else's opinion, read the fine print, or
even better, simply ignore it.
Review bank and credit card statements regularly
The impact of identity theft and online crimes can be greatly reduced
if you can catch it shortly after your data is stolen or when the first use
of your information is attempted. One of the easiest ways to get the
tip-off that something has gone wrong is by reviewing the monthly
statements provided by your bank and credit card companies for
anything out of the ordinary.
Additionally, many banks and services use fraud prevention systems
that call out unusual purchasing behavior (i.e. if you live in Texas and
all of the sudden start buying refrigerators in Budapest). In order to
confirm these out of the ordinary purchases, they might call you and
ask you to confirm them. Don't take these calls lightly; this is your hint
that something bad may have happened and you should take
necessary action.
Protect your computer with Windows security tools
Windows provides a variety of protection applications.
