That's why I conduct 99% of my business face to face, and leave the internet as an information resource. There's no online shopping allowed at my house...and, imagine that, nobody had stolen MY identity!! Brilliantly simple, yet elegant.

To avoid being victim of cybersquatting ... enter the name of the site you want to go into google or yahoo instead of directly into the browser address bar? LOLLLL ... Thats nuts ... you *want* to type it in directly into browser address bar ... but spell it correctly! In other words, pay attention to what you're typing.

I was robbed twice when doing business "face-to-face" so there is always a risk. I prefer the Internet and my ID has never been stolen.

I've been shopping online for a decade now without difficulty. An attentive person can avoid these pitfalls. There is risk in everything.

Your identity can easily be stolen whether you are doing any online shopping/banking, or dealing with "face to face" transactions. To assume otherwise is both naive and dangerous. In all cases where information about myself has been (potentially) compromised, *none* of it had a thing to do with my online activities. As Jerry says, the risk is always there, so don't get comfortable in your bubble of "I do everything face-to-face, therefore I'm not at risk"!

I have to agree with Jerry and Lori on this one. When my personal information was stolen I was not on line. I had simply served my country and thus had medical information on file with the VA.

Important article! I know plenty of people who can benefit from hearing about this.

People might consider saving Favorites links for sites where identity or financial information is involved. Then, click the favorite to ensure you arrive at the proper place every time.

The key to this approach, of course, is to have the correct site address saved in Favorites.

Good luck folks; it's a jungle out there!

i agree thats like saying

to not get raped you dont go outside

or to get mugged

or to get shot

or to get in a car accident for that matter

i shop online and have never had a problem

This is all President Bush's fault.

If you make a wrong turn off the turnpike and end up in the wrong shopping mall, but find a grocery store & shop there, you've done the same thing. How is this fraud? If you're dumb enough to spell the name wrong, your an idiot. Some of these companies are legit and do business just like the recognizable company.. This sounds like another instance of big business trying to squeeze out all the little guys, once and for all. LAME story, lame problem, effecting lame people.

This is not new. There is the anti-cybersquating Act of 2000 that allows these big companies to take legal action and get the domain names.

The only problem is the Act only works for companies with $ since you must hire a lawyer and the cost is too great for the small guy... and the other problem is these large companies can use the ACT to get domains that they want that are not violating the law from the smaller web businesses and private persons who don't have the $ to fight in court. Really a law for the big guys.

My final comment is you can't protect everyone from eveything. People have to take personal responsibility!

There are so many offers on line when I looked for the spybot softwar..Can you please tell me specifically which one.or send the link..
I appreciate your help. Peace..Lynne

I have accidentally run across many of these and it's confusing, frustrating, and hardly ever takes you to what you are looking for. More often than not they are search enjines or pages full of ads. They look profesional but aren't. Even if they are a company selling a similar thing, wouldn't you be ticked off if you though you were getting insurance from a certain company with known features that you wanted and you find out it was a different one because even though you spelled the name of the company right the website was at a different address?

well, gee...then we must hire more government security workers to keep us safe from the internet now. not only are the children unsafe from predators, now the adults are unsafe as well. please big brother protect me!!! i can't think and act properly on my own. Gimme a break.