The Netgear Zone

Independently of the security on our websites, we want you to be safe and confident when using the Internet. To help protect yourself from fraud generally, we would suggest the following:

Only purchase from sites which provide contact information including a land line telephone number and an address.

Use hard to break passwords and have different passwords for different uses.

Do not divulge personal information to unknown parties such as telephone callers or e-mail requests unless you are able to verify their status. Even seemingly trivial information such as your mother's maiden name, where you were born, your pet's details or the type and colour of car you drive can be useful to fraudsters.

Use credit cards rather than debit cards when purchasing online.

Safeguard your identity - don't throw away documents containing personal information without shredding.

Do not respond to Spam e-mails. You have not won an overseas lottery, your bank is not updating its security information and you are not the only person who can help a widow get money into the UK. You also don't want free laptops, unlicensed pharmaceuticals or anatomical enhancements. Over 90% of all e-mail is Spam.

Do not publicise your movements - an automated mail response telling people your house is unoccupied for the next two weeks is not a good idea.

Do not discard old PCs, disks, memory cards/sticks, CDs or DVDs without ensuring that personal information has been removed.

Make sure your computer's operating system is current and updated with any security fixes as they are released.

Install a reputable anti-virus package on your computer and make sure it is kept up-to-date.

More information about identity theft and fraud can be found on the Home Office ID Fraud Website here.

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