Look Both Ways

Assessing the Risks

Welcome to the brave new world of electronic finance, where there are fantastic opportunities to shop and transact business from wherever you are, whenever it is convenient. But just as carrying a wallet around in the real world puts you at risk for having your money or ID stolen, spending money online and using electronic account access has its own pitfalls.

You have probably become immune to paper junk mail that touts get-rich-quick schemes or telemarketers who ask you to provide a credit card number to buy something or contribute money to a worthy cause over the phone. You have learned not to respond to these scams or hand over your credit card number to a stranger, and for the most part you probably successfully avoid telephone ...