Jayne Hitchcock Celebrity Guru

Jayne A. Hitchcock is an author and an internationally recognized cyber crime expert. She volunteers with the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime, the National Center for Victims of Crime, and numerous law enforcement agencies worldwide. Jayne is a valued resource to these agencies in the solving of Internet related crimes. Additionally, she has worked tirelessly with our legislators in the drafting and passing of many of this country's Internet laws. As president of two all-volunteer organizations, WHOA (Working to Halt Online Abuse) and WHOA-KTD (Kids/Teens Division), Jayne continues a mission to educate adults and children in safety online. WHOA is the oldest online safety organization that helps adult cyberstalking victims. Jayne's speaking schedule on cybercrime and cybersafety has included many high schools and colleges. She also lectures at libraries, for staff and the public, and presents many law enforcement training seminars for local, county, state, military and federal agencies. She has traveled throughout the United States and Canada and as far as Sookmyong University in Seoul, Korea, for speaking engagements and workshops. She has been featured on CNN, 48 Hrs., Primetime, Good Morning America, The Montel Williams Show, and numerous local, national and international newscasts, and was selected by Lifetime TV as their "Champion For Change.” Jayne has worked for the University of Maryland University College since 1996. She writes regularly for several magazines including "Laptop", "Naval History", and "Link-UP". Jayne's eighth book is Net Crimes & Misdemeanors, 2nd edition (May 2006). She is also on the editorial board of the International Journal of Cyber Crimes and Criminal Justice (IJCCCJ).

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Don't forward all those emails that are forwarded to you

You know the ones I mean: Someone forwards an email to you claiming it's urgent, you forward it to more people or to warn you about something. Before you take it seriously or begin forwarding it to other people, take a minute and go to snopes.com to see if it's really true or not. More than likely, it's just another online urban legend that your friend or family member has sent to you. They mean well, but those not as well-versed in netiquette or the knowledge about online urban legends can just perpetuate them. Educate your friends and family and have them visit snopes.com as well.

Shopping online is safe. . .really!

Just follow some simple safety rules: Shop well-known web sites or sites that have a known name. Don't shop a web site hosted by a free service such as Geocities unless you personally know the person you are buying from. Honestly, if they can't afford their own domain name and a professional-looking web site to sell their goods or services, don't buy from them. Try to use one credit card when making online purchases. This way, it's much easier to deal with one credit card company than several of them. A better idea is to get one of the prepaid debit/credit cards where you can set the limit on how much money is available on that card. So if it's compromised, there will only be so much money the thief can try to use. If you've found a site you want to buy something from, make sure it has proper security and encryption. In your web browser, a lock or plug at the bottom of the screen should be locked or plugged in when the site is secure and the URL or address of the web page should change so that it reads (for example) https://www.paypal.com instead of http://www.paypal.com - the "s" means it's secure. Follow these simple steps and you'll shop safer!

Antivirus and firewall software is a MUST!

It doesn't matter if you have dial-up, DSL, cable or a high-speed connection - EVERYONE needs to have antivirus *and* firewall software installed on any computer that connects to the Internet. And you need to make sure it is updated frequently, either automatically (which most software have in their preferences/options section) or manually. Keep your computer safe and healthy!

Don't fall for the Nigerian phishing scam!

If you get an email from anyone claiming to have selected you personally to help them move/transfer a huge amount of money from their country to the USA and give you a good percentage of it, do NOT fall for it. This is called the Nigerian spam scam. They entice you with promises of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars as your "cut" if you help them, but instead they will scam you out of your hard-earned money by requesting you to pay the wire transfer fees, customs fees, etc, etc, while they keep stringing you along that your payout is "around the corner." Instead of replying to them, just delete the email. It is technically spam - it's only a scam if you fall for it and actually pay them money.

No, you didn't win a lottery

I can't tell you how many times I get emails from people asking me if it's true they won the lottery and forward me the "winning" email they received. I always ask them: Did you enter this lottery? (the answer is no). The lottery email claims the "winner" can get their winnings by paying the taxes or other fees associated with it. Okay, if I won your lottery, why can't you take those fees out of my winnings and send me the balance? Aha! See? That's how they get you! Hardly anyone asks that question. Most people are so happy they "won" that they scramble to pay the fees within the deadline given (usually 10-15 days) so that they'll get their money. But all they get is. . .nothing. They've been scammed. Again, delete this - it's spam. It's only a scam if you fall for it.

An eBay user has sent you a message about an item you know nothing about

If you are an eBay member and you get a message from a bidder or seller claiming a dispute on an item you don't remember anything about, you're right. It's not an item you had anything to do with because it doesn't exist. They'll claim they either paid for an item you supposedly sold them and they never received it; or they'll claim you never paid for an item you supposedly won. Don't fall for it! If it was a legitimate message from eBay, all you have to do is go to www.ebay.com, log into your account, go to My eBay, then My Messages. Only emails that are in My Messages are legit - a copy is put there when it's sent to your email Inbox. So if you get an email that claims to be from eBay and go to My Messages and it isn't there, it's spam. Remember - it's not a scam until you fall for it!

Online Dating Safety

If you are interested in online dating, follow some simple safety rules:
1) Join a dating web site where you have to pay a membership fee. Sure, the free sites are enticing because they are free, but scam artists, felons and other bad people populate those places.
2) Consider joining a web site that does criminal background checks of all its members, such as true.com. This means that anyone with a felony record will not be allowed to join. True.com also notes on its main page that if you are married when you join and they find out, they will take you to court. They do not tolerate people who are not single or legally divorced/widowed. So you'll be safer on a site like that.
3) Make sure you use a recent photo, not too revealing/suggestive, no sunglasses and be honest in your profile. Don't put that you like walks on the beach if you don't. Don't say you're 125 pounds, ladies, when you're 150. Don't say you're 6 feet tall, gentlemen, if you're really 5'7". Your date will know you were lying when they meet you and they'll wonder what else you are lying about.
4) When you arrange that first meeting, make sure it's in a public place and arrive separately. Get separate tabs and see how things go. If you aren't too sure about your date, arrange to have a friend or family member call you on your cell phone. If you give them the code word, then they'll know it's going badly and you can say you have an emergency at home and get out of there. Or arrange to have a friend go with you and your date come with a friend for a group outing.
5) Don't be afraid to do a search on Google or Yahoo on your prospective date, but for heaven's sake, don't tell them you "googled" them. Unless they have something really nasty in their past (and if they do, you should say no to the date in the first place), then see how your first date or two go.