• Items have appeared on your bank or credit-card statements that you do not recognise.
  
• You applied for state benefits but are told that you are already claiming;
  
• You receive bills, invoices or receipts addressed to you for goods or services you haven't asked for.
  
• You have been refused a financial service, such as a credit card or a loan, despite having a good credit history.
  
• A mobile-phone contract has been set up in your name without your knowledge; or you have received letters from solicitors or debt collectors for debts that aren't yours.
  
• If you find your rubbish tampered with or missing.
  

Security tips

• Regularly get a copy of your personal credit file (this costs as little as £2) from a credit reference agency to see if it includes any entries you do not recognise.
  
• Royal Mail offers a redirection service to help prevent identity fraud when you move house. Consider asking Royal Mail to redirect any post from your old address to your new one for at least a year. You will have to pay a charge for this service.
  
• If you move house, also tell your bank, credit-card company and all other organisations that you deal with, as soon as possible. To check that your personal details are secure, get a copy of your credit file two to three months after moving.
  
• Always be careful if other people have access to your post. Contact Royal Mail if you think your post is being stolen. Check whether a mail redirection order has been made in your name without your knowledge.
  

Credit and debit cards

• Cancel any lost or stolen credit or debit cards immediately. Keep a note of the emergency numbers you should call.
  
• Be careful to keep your personal information secure when using your card over the phone, on the internet or in shops by making sure that other people cannot overhear you or see your personal information.
  
• When purchasing something with your credit/debit card, try and avoid your card leaving your sight as it could be cloned.
  

Look after your personal documents

• Keep your personal documents in a safe place, preferably in a lockable drawer or cabinet at home. Consider storing valuable financial documents (such as share certificates) with your bank.
  
• If your passport or driving licence has been lost or stolen, contact immediately the organisation that issued it.
  
• Don't casually throw away documents such as bills, receipts, credit or debit card slips, bank statements or even unwanted post in your name. Destroy unwanted documents, preferably by using a shredder.
  
• Check statements as soon as they arrive. If any unfamiliar transactions are listed, contact the bank or company concerned immediately.
  
  

• Be careful with your information: if you need to register for a site, fill in only the required fields so you don't give too much away. Keep an eye open for check boxes related to information sharing.
  
• Dangerous site: Some anti-spyware software will warn you about dangerous sites or actively stop you accessing them. There are also 'search safely add-ons' for web browsers that flag up dangerous web sites.
  
• Phishing: Some people may have received fraudulent emails asking them to confirm information such as Internet banking or telephone banking User IDs, Passwords and Memorable Information. These are not genuine emails and this activity is known as 'phishing'. Read more about 'phishing' below.
  
• Look for the lock: A lock in the browser's status bar and in the 'https' address field will inform you if you have a secure connection. It isn't a guarantee you information is safe, but its absence mean there is no security.
  
• Be careful with your information: Social networking sites such as (MySpace, Facebook, Bebo etc) are potential gold mines for identity thieves. Be careful of what personal information you share, and if the site has an option to keep your information private except to selected friends, make sure it is enabled.
  
• One time credit card number: You credit card company may be able offer you one-shot credit card numbers. The credit card number will be valid for a single transaction, making sure it won't be used maliciously.
  
• Educate your kids: Warn them of giving too much information out online to strangers. If they are too young, consider blocking sites that present a security risk.
  

Email 'phishing'?

If you receive suspected 'phishing' emails, please do not click on any links or provide any Internet banking or telephone banking log on details. While your bank may send you emails from time to time, they will never send emails asking for your Internet banking information. For a quick way to tell if an email is genuine, check for your name at the top of the email. Your bank knows who you are so they'll always greet you personally, but fraudsters are unlikely to know your name.
If you receive an email saying you need to re-activate an account, please send it directly to the bank the email is supposed to have come from, and then delete it from your Inbox.

Some 'phishing' emails will have a link to a site, which may look convincingly genuine. But when you enter your account information it will go to fraudsters. Both Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2 include built-in detection of fraudulent Web sites using a combination of blacklisting and actual Web-page analysis. Be sure this feature is turned on, and take it seriously.

Download the latest version of Explorer 7 or Firefox 2. When you use Internet Explorer 7 for the first time, you are asked whether you want the 'Phishing Filter' to check Web sites automatically. When it is on, your browser will warn you of suspected 'phishing' sites.

Some useful contact details to report "phishing" are:
Barclays Bank: internetsecurity@barclays.co.uk.

• Lloyds TSB
  
• HSBC: 0845 600 2290
  
• Nationwide
  
• NatWest
  

Personal firewall

In buildings, a firewall is a barrier that prevents a fire from spreading. In computers, the concept is similar. There are a variety of "fires" out there on the Internet: hacker activity, viruses, unwanted cookies and so forth. A firewall is a system that stops the "fire" from spreading to your computer.
A firewall guards the "doors" to your computer - the ports through which Internet traffic comes in and goes out. The firewall only lets traffic through the ports that you have specified to be used. Each port is specifically numbered. For example, Port 80 allows browsing on web pages, Port 1863 allows Instant Messaging, Port 443 allows access to secure web pages used by online merchants to encrypt purchases.

A firewall has three security benefits:

• No one can sneak into your computer through an unguarded port.
  
• Programs on your computer can't use unguarded ports to contact the outside world without your permission.
  
• Spam emailers can't "see" your computer so easily.
  

A firewall is a piece of software that monitors all incoming network traffic and allows in only the connections that are known and trusted. Firewall software also takes away the burden of granting or restricting access to the some 65,000 ports available on your computer. In general, it will restrict access to the majority and you have to grant permission to open the port. The fewer ports you have open, the more "invisible" your computer is on the Internet making it less at risk.
More advanced firewall software also monitors outgoing traffic. This is crucial as you may unknowingly pass on a virus to a contact.

How does a firewall work?

All Internet traffic - web pages, email, audio files and so on - are transmitted in bite-sized chunks called "packets". Each packet is addressed to a particular computer and to a particular port on that computer. The computer 'baddies' out there like to send malicious packets with destructive capabilities. A firewall examines every packet that arrives at your computer and asks four questions:

1. Where did it come from?
2. What port is it addressed to?
3. Does the rules allow traffic through that port?
4. Are there any other rules the packet violates?

If the firewall gets a wrong or unsatisfactory answer to any of these questions, the packet is blocked.

Why do I need program control?

Everything you do on the Internet - from browsing web pages to downloading MP3 files - is managed by specific applications (programs) on your computer. Hackers exploit this fact by planting 'malware' (literally, evil software) on your computer. Sometimes, malware is sent as an email attachment with an innocent name such as "screensaver.exe" and, if you open the attachment, the malware installs itself onto your computer without you even knowing it.

Another way malware can get onto your machine is via a message saying you need to upgrade a legitimate program on your computer.
Once on your computer, malware can cause havoc. It can access your address book and send itself to all your contacts, or wait for you to connect to the Internet again and send itself back out onto the web. You risk losing all your programs and stored data, and even making your computer un-redeemable.

Program control searches for malware and prevents it from being launched on your computer.

Why do I need cookie control?

Cookie control keeps advertisers from spying on your Internet habits. High security settings keep sensitive information (passwords, for example) from being stored in cookies, where they can be stolen if a hacker breaks into your computer.

• Persistent Cookies: a cookie that stays on your computer a long time and lets the web site remember who you are and what you look at so that the next time you visit that site, it can customise what you see. For example, this is how Amazon shows you books that you may be interested in each time you visit.
  
• Third-Party Cookies: are placed by someone other than the web site host and can be used to record information about your Internet habits. For example, which advertisements you click on.
  
• Session Cookies: a cookie stored in your browser's memory cache that disappears as soon as you close your browser. These are the safest cookies because of their short lifespan.
  Medium cookie control setting allows session cookies and persistent cookies but blocks third-party cookies. This protects you from information leaks while preserving the convenient function of cookies.

Why do I need advert control?

Ad blocking keeps unwanted advertisements from disrupting your Internet work. With a firewall you can block all types of adverts or only specific types.

• Banner and skyscraper adverts extend across the top or up the side of the web page itself. They are built into the web page so cannot be removed but it is possible to block the content. This is called performance ad blocking and keeps adverts from slowing down your Internet access.
  
• Pop-up and pop-under adverts appear in a new browser window that "pops" up in front of or under the screen you are looking at. A firewall can block pop-up and pop-under ads as if they don't exist.

The problem with email attachments

Attaching files to email messages is a convenient way of exchanging information. However, it also provides hackers with an easy way of spreading viruses, worms, Trojan horse programs and other malware.
It's never a good idea to open an email attachment you weren't expecting unless you know the person it came from and have confirmed (by telephone or separate email message) that that person actually sent it to you. Remember that hackers can alter a message to look like it came from a trusted source.

Where can I get a personal firewall?

As with all software, it's a matter of personal choice as to what product you use. Do your research on the Internet before buying a package but here are some of the more popular brands on the market:

• Zone Alarm
• McAfee Firewall
• Norton Personal Firewall
• AVG - offers free basic protection