|
E-mail this page to a friend!
FTC Launches Website to Help Seniors, Others Stay
Safe Online
OnGuardOnline.gov covers scams, shopping, viruses,
spam, spyware and more
Sept. 27, 2005 – A new Website was launched today
by The Federal Trade Commission that may become a “first stop” for
senior citizens and others concerned about using the Internet safely.
The comprehensive site -
OnGuardOnline.gov – uses multimedia for this interactive consumer
education campaign that can help seniors stay safe online.
Created by the FTC and a partnership including
cybersecurity experts, online marketers, consumer advocates, and other
federal officials addresses such topics as:
> How to recognize scams on the Internet;
>How to shop securely online;
>How to avoid hackers and viruses; and
>How to deal with spam, spyware, phishing, and
peer-to-peer file-sharing.
(Click this link to
OnGuardOnline.gov
)
The partnership also has developed an OnGuard
Online brochure.
Using straightforward, plain-language materials,
the initiative aims to help computer users be on guard against Internet
fraud, secure their computers, and protect their personal information.
“Consumer education is critical to our success in
securing the Web against hackers, viruses, spam, and spyware. Education
truly is the first line of defense for computer users against fraud and
deception online,” said Deborah Platt Majoras, Chairman of the FTC. “An
aware computer user is more likely to recognize a phishing e-mail, more
likely to download a spyware detector, and far less likely to disclose,
expose, or unwittingly share personal information,” she said.
Majoras said that partnership efforts to develop
and promote the OnGuard Online message include:
Microsoft helped develop the OnGuard Online
branding and contributed a series of security videos for the site. In
October, the company will place advertorials promoting OnGuard Online in
major newspapers. MSN also is going to run OnGuard Online banner ads.
i-SAFE, a congressionally chartered organization
that provides age-appropriate curricula to schools, is incorporating
OnGuard Online’s messages into its curricula and is distributing OnGuard
Online materials at its events.
In Oregon, U.S. Attorney Karen Immergut and State
Attorney General Hardy Myers have convened the Oregon Safe Cyberspace
Initiative. Comcast and Qwest, participants in the initiative, are
sending hundreds of thousands of bill stuffers to their customers in
Oregon with information on safe computing.
EBay is posting a letter to its members promoting
OnGuard Online, as well as buttons linking to the site.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will place
magazine ads asking consumers to “Stop, Think, Click.” People who call
the toll-free number in the ads will receive a copy of the “Seven
Practices for Safer Computing.”
The Direct Marketing Association is co-branding the
“Seven Practices” brochure and sharing copies with consumers and the
association’s members.
The OnGuard Online Web site is at
www.OnGuardOnline.gov.
Copies of OnGuard Online materials are available
from the FTC’s Web site at
http://www.onguardonline.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer
Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20580. OnGuard Online provides practical tips from the federal
government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against
Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal
information.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent,
deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to
provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To
file a complaint in English or Spanish (bilingual counselors are
available to take complaints), or to get free information on any of 150
consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use
the complaint form at
http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity
theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a
secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law
enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
