Beware of online spies

Lurking in the dark corners of the Internet are scammers looking to steal the information stored on your computer to rob you of your money and identity. These scammers are called spies, and the tool with which they steal information is called spyware.

Spyware is a computer program that monitors your online activities or installs programs on your computer without your consent to steal your information. Spyware often inserts itself on computers when people download files from the Internet, but you can also be infected with spyware simply by accidentally visiting an unknown Web site.

Although the damage spyware can inflict can be very costly, you can protect yourself from it by installing anti-spyware software on your computer and by avoiding Web sites with questionable content.