Every day we get emails and text messages, yet some of these messages could be masked as spam.Sometimes using a bit of common sense helps in identifying thing like winning a state lotto. However, that said here are a few tip that you can share with family friends and colleagues that can go a long way in keeping you safe online.Never Give Out your Email Password.Sometimes website ask you to join by entering an email address and password e.g. find your friends etc. This is something you should avoid. Some site will keep this information and continue to spam you as well as well as your friends.Password resets go to your email so if the wrong person gets your password they can access your entire life online.Ignore popups from Website saying you have a virusWhile browsing or trying to watch something online you may get a popup saying that your computer is infected.Unless this is coming from your installed antivirus you must ignore these messages and close the page. These message proceed to ask you to download their “recommended” antivirus and even ask you to pay for a subscription where you may end up giving your credit card details to the wrong people. I tend to use only Webroot or Eset. I’ d rather have Microsoft Essentials than any free antivirus.Links to your financial institutionNever click on email link or web links to your Financial institution e.g. PayPal or your Banks.You may be asked to click on a link to login and verify your account.A simple trick is to create a favorites or bookmark to your bank and login from there.Buying onlineSometimes scammers send out "to good to be true" cheap offers for products and ask you to click on the link and create an account and enter your credit card details. Beware of such scammers.A simple trick is to browse for the company online and read reviews before you commit to buying online. See if they have a physical address and google the address to verify if such a site exists.If it looks dodgy then it probably is dodgy.Secure Multiple PasswordI always recommend that you keep at least 3 passwords: One password for your bank.One password for your email and Facebook and Social media.One password for all other sites.Try to have a password of minimum 8 characters with 1 capital, number and a special character. Try not to keep the name of your dog or cat something that would be too easy to guess.Never ever give you password to anyone including the lovely person on the phone who claims to be from your bank.Fake EmailsWatch out for fake emails, Sometime you get an email from someone asking you to send money or they are lost in another country. Ignore these mails.If you’re worried or unsure pick the phone and speak to them personally.Some emails looks like they are coming from the genuine person however a simple trick is to read the senders email address if you suspect that it is not from their email then bin the message. E.g you have always been dealing with Tom Hardy at his email tom.h@abc123biz.co.nz and you may get an email from Tom Hardy tomh@outlook.com asking to transfer money.Please ignore these emails and send the email to the junk folder even if the user is your boss.Modern browsersModern browsers such as IE and Firefox have support for checking certificates from trusted websites. By clicking on the lock icon you can see all the issuing information about the certificate of that site.Browsers keep a list of phishing and malware sites and warn as a bad site.Now that you know how to stay safe online share this with someone to whom you know that this can be helpful too.

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