How to protect yourself from the scammers

Protecting yourself from the scammers is a simple matter of common sense and a little bit of computer maintenance.

The next time you see an offer for a free phone, or free laptop, think to yourself "What are they getting from this? How can they just give away these expensive items?" In most cases, you'll find that somewhere in the offer you're going to need to buy or subscribe to something. Suddenly, your 'free' item is no longer free. In many cases, not only do you have to sign up, you also need to persuade other people to sign up as well - does this begin to sound like a pyramid scheme to you?
Also, if you read their "Terms and Conditions", you'll generally find a clause that allows them to close your account and not send the item due to 'abuse' (and not have to tell you why they closed your account, either!) This is extremely convenient - just wait for someone to be on the verge of qualifying for their 'free' item, then close their account, pocketing any fees they may have earned from them and their friends.

Keeping your computer well maintained is also essential. You wouldn't drive a car with no brakes or seatbelts, so why should you allow your computer on the 'Information Superhighway' without basic protection? Protection is provided by three basic types of software - a firewall, a virus scanner, and adware/spyware blocker. See the dictionary for more details about what these pieces of software do, and the 'Essential Tools' page for links to get them.

Although these pieces of software can help protect your system, the black hats can still trick you into installing their malware on your computer by convincing you to open email attachments or install 'free' programs.
Even though an email may appear to come from somebody you know, this information is easy to fake, and any attachments may contain something unpleasant. If you're not expecting anything from the sender, send them an email asking if they did send you an email, and what the contents were. If they tell you they never sent you an email, delete it without opening it!
Some 'free' programs also come with extra baggage - the people writing the software may try to make some money by including adware/spyware along with their programs. Make sure you read all of the license agreement when you install a program - the use of the program may depend on you accepting the malware as well!