- Know who you’re dealing with. In any electronic transaction, independently confirm the other party’s name, street address, and telephone number.
- Resist the urge to enter foreign lotteries. These solicitations are phony and illegal.
- Delete requests that claim to be from foreign nationals asking you to help transfer their money through your bank account. They’re fraudulent.
- Ignore unsolicited emails that request your money, credit card or account numbers, or other personal information.
- If you are selling something over the Internet, don’t accept a potential buyer’s offer to send you a check for more than the purchase price, no matter how tempting the plea or convincing the story. End the transaction immediately if someone insists that you wire back funds.