A big THANK YOU to all our supporters/visitors who have taken the time to congratulate us on our initiative in launching this Public Service. We were not expecting this level of interest so soon after launch.
Special thanks goes out to Tony B who has taken the time to write about the Do's and Dont's when posting CV's online.

Shopping Online at Christmas -

BEWARE of scammers

We must all be very vigilant when shopping online especially at this time of year when cyber criminals will target heavily trafficked websites, (but not limited to). Around 10 percent of us do more than 70 percent of our seasonal shopping online and this is a perfect time of year for the scammers to take advantage of us, stealing our personal information.

Our recommendations for a safer online shop are as follows:

• Ensure that security software is up to date (antivirus software, anti-spyware and firewall)
• Research the seller and return policies before ordering goods online
• Locate the padlock symbol on your browser before entering any personal details/information
• Turn off your computer when you have finished shopping
• Check your bank statements on receipt and report any irregularities to your bank
• Save records of all online transactions

Important: No legitimate company will send you unsolicited emails asking for password or log-in details
or financial information.

Congo Appeal

"The UK's leading aid charities have launched an appeal to help victims of the "increasing" humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Congo Appeal"
Source: BBC News 20th November 2008

Sites accepting contributions for this appeal will experience heavy traffic and as a consequence will be potential targets for cyber criminals. We want to avoid cyber carelessness so please use caution when visiting these sites.

Caroline Says....

 In Britain, there is one victim of cyber crime every 10 seconds.

Nine out of ten offences go unreported because victims believe the police will be unable or unwilling to investigate.

Although the Government promised to address the problem two years ago, a minister for e crime has been appointed as late as September this year with a budget of a mere £7m over 3 years. This is far too little and far too late to address this monumental problem. Furthermore, the complaints procedure is far too complex and financial service companies should be forced to report all cases of on line fraud".

So who is doing what in the fight against Cyber Crime?  – We recommend reading what Conservative MP and Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Brokenshire has to say.

___________________________________________

The battle against bogus emails

Caroline saw this story on the BBC News website and thought you should see it.

___________________________________________

Cyberfraud Launches Free of Charge Service for Schools

Cyberfraud.org.uk want to take online child safety initiatives a step further, and visit schools for open discussions on cyber crime.

• It is estimated that one in seven children and teenagers are at some stage approached
  by online predators.
• The world wide web is an exciting experience, and gives us the opportunity to increase our
  level of knowledge at a click!
• The social networking websites are a place to make friends and aid in the development
  of social skills.
• There is a dark and dangerous side of the web.
• We have to protect our children and teach them to protect themselves.
• Many websites are just not appropriate, be it for children, teenagers or even adults.
• Chatrooms and social networking websites pose a high level of THREAT for our children/teenagers.
• Adults do not exaggerate the level of THREAT.

___________________________________________