You know the Christmas season is well and truly upon us when the scammers target and donors. That is what happened earlier this month, when email addresses and passwords of thousands of donors to 92 charities were copied or compromised.

These charities had been using software and services from Convio Inc. of Austin, Texas. Among the charities are and The American Museum of Natural History, which are two of just four charities who warned their of the breach.

No fraud has been committed yet with the supposedly stolen data, as far as is known. As more and more givers use the Internet, more hackers are attracted to the charities. Security vulnerabilities in the charities’ software may then be found and exploited.

If you live in Canada or are giving to a supposedly Canadian , check here http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/donors/ to see if the organization is indeed a real, registered charity. No matter where you live, verify that you will get a tax receipt.

If you are giving online, use a , not an echeck or debit card. The last two give access to your bank account, while the first does not. In addition, some credit card companies offer their customers various fraud protection measures.

Watch for signs of fraud, such as promises of a receipt or tax savings for more than you gave, or undue pressure to give right now. Be on your guard generally, both online and off, during the holiday season. Oh, and by the way, Merry Christmas!

Syd Tash is a noted computer security consultant and author of How to Protect Your Computer Online. He has been keeping Internet surfers safe and secure since the last century. Find out how he does it; protect your own computer with five layers of protection right here:
=> http://MyPCSecuritySite.com

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