File a Complaint/ Report a Crime
Source: iKeepSafe Internet Safety Coalition
Topics: Preteen Years (9-13), Keeping Your Child Safe on the Internet, more...
Video: Teaching Kids To Be Safe Online
Hacking or Computer Virus
If your computer gets hacked or infected by a virus:
- Immediately unplug the phone or cable line from your machine. Then scan your entire computer with fully updated anti-virus software, and update your firewall.
- Take steps to minimize the chances of another incident.
- Alert the appropriate authorities by contacting:
- your ISP and the hacker’s ISP (if you can tell what it is). You can usually find an ISP’s email address on its website. Include information on the incident from your firewall’s log file. By alerting the ISP to the problem on its system, you can help it prevent similar problems in the future.
- the FBI at www.ifccfbi.gov. To fight computer criminals, they need to hear from you.
Internet Fraud
If a scammer takes advantage of you through an Internet auction, when you’re shopping online, or in any other way, report it to the Federal Trade Commission, at ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
Deceptive Spam
If you get deceptive spam, including email phishing for your information, forward it to spam@uce.gov. Be sure to include the full header of the email, including all routing information. You also may report phishing email to reportphishing@antiphishing.org. The Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consortium of ISPs, security vendors, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies, uses these reports to fight phishing.
Divulged Personal Information
If you believe you have mistakenly given your personal information to a fraudster, file a complaint at ftc.gov, and then visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft website at www.consumer.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from a potential theft of your identity.
About the Author
OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.
Used with permission. Copyright © OnGuardOnline.gov
Reprinted with the permission of the iKeepSafe Coalition. © 2006 iKeepSafe Coalition. All Rights Reserved.
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