The following are some common advise to protect yourself against scams, frauds and cheats. As there are many types of scams, the guidelines below are not exhaustive and should only serve as a reference. We will update them as needed.

Anti-Scam Guidelines
  • All foreign lottery mails are fake.
  • All foreign money transfer for "inheritance" (someone died) are fake.
  • Do not pay or transfer any money/fees to a stranger who sent you an email.
  • Never give out personal information over the telephone or email, to a stranger who approach or email you.
  • Do not believe in deals that is too good to be true, including investment, ridiculous pricing with "no strings" attached, one-price-get-all, etc. Find out the details of the deal, get second opinion from someone reliable, check out the web for similar scams. There is no free lunch!
  • Check the small print of any document before you sign.
  • Check the background of the company before you engage in any business. Is it a reputable, registered business?
  • Do NOT rush to sign any contract or agreement when the other party uses tactics like "last chance", "once in a lifetime deal", "last one left", "offer ending today", etc.
If still in doubt, what should you do?

JUST WALK AWAY and/or DELETE THAT MAIL.

If someone is going to get rich in any of the above, let them be and make sure that they are not accomplice of the scammer trying to fake "success" story. So far no one became rich because of them, and you will not be the first one.

Anti-Phishing
Guidelines
  • Always type the URL directly on the browser software.
  • Never click the link from the email to a website to update your login, personal or financial information.
  • Protect your Free Email account even if its free but used to communicate with friends, business and login into sensitive account. Apply similiar anti-phishing rules and do not lose the password.
  • Always install and update your anti-virus software to prevent hijacking of your browser software.
  • Never let anyone know your computer password. You will never know how the keylogger software can get into your system. Poor password management, accidents or eavesdropping by the social engineers will get your PC setup for key logging.
  • Never open any attachment from strangers, including extensions such as PDF, PNG, JPG, DOC,XLS, etc.
Some sites will tell you how to check the URL, check the grammar, or not to believe in the email address used in the email, etc.

But if you have the time to do the above, wouldn't it be more convenient and less strenuous to simply Type in the URL of the site you wish to go?

Which is easier (1 or 2)?
(1) Open your eyes and check closely if this is a phishing URL:
http://58.185.59.188/.signin.ebay.com/SingInUssingISSAPIfromeBayVerifyaccountfromISPnotSSLactiveMethodePostnatunerHuas.html

(2) Type in the URL:
ebay.com              (Tada...)

You don't need rocket science to counter phishing. All you need is to type in correctly.

(This article is updated periodically)