In an era where identify theft has risen exponentially over the last few years, it is always a good idea to keep close track of your credit card charge receipts. The same is true with a debit card, since they are also the subject of identity theft of your banking account. Having the receipts available for you allows you to check and make sure you were charged the right amount when you receive the bill or statement, and could save you a whole lot of hassle in the long run.

Keeping track of your charges can be difficult or it can be easy, it really is up to you. If you choose to not keep every single receipt from the purchases you make it will be next to impossible to go back and find the proof of your purchase. On the other hand if you do keep every single receipt you will find it easy to keep a close eye on each month’s bill or statement. Probably the best method of keeping track of these receipts is to have a designated folder or envelope where your receipts go as soon as you get home. It is definitely advisable to keep them in the same place each time so there is no confusion as to where this important information is. By keeping this information when you receive the statement you are able to go down and check each and every purchase you made one by one. Mark off the purchase as you go and after you have paid the bill or verified your debit card statement you can throw away these receipts and start the process over for the next month.

While keeping track of every receipt can be a little bit time consuming it is more than worth your time, and in the long run it takes much less time than trying to track down a fraudulent purchase on your card if you haven’t kept close records of your purchases.

Global economic crisis triggered massive layoffs all over the world. It also triggered spurt in cyber crimes, especially online theft, according to the report by McAfee.

In its report, McAfee has predicted that malicious cyber activity will further strain the already suffering global economy by impacting consumer confidence, which could further delay global recovery in 2009.

The report also said the volatile economic environment is diverting political attention worldwide and cyber security is not much of a priority around the globe for real headway to be made against the perpetrators of online crime.

“Cyber criminals are exploiting the global recession by luring in susceptible victims through the promise of easy money. While governments and law enforcement bodies’ attentions are diverted by the current economic crisis, the door is left open for cyber criminals to continue to target bank balances worldwide and to potentially damage the consumer trust needed to aid rapid recovery,” McAfee chief executive and president Dave DeWalt said in a statement.

If you don’t have anti-virus in your computer, install one. If you are already spending $40 per month for high speed Internet, spending $20 per year for anti-virus is a wise thing to do. If you don’t want to spend money on anti-virus software, you should get free firewall software like Zone Alarm. You can also have free virus check at Trend Micro.

As a rule of thumb, do not open any attachments in the email unless you really know the sender. Cyber crooks infect your computer by sending virus thru file attachment or image attachment in the email. Your computer can be infected just by clicking a link in the email sent by crooks.

If you see any email that promises to pay you $1,000,000 from defense ministry in Nigeria, hit the delete button quick! Any email that asks you to come to Dublin to collect $2,000,000 from a rich widow can wipe out your bank account, if you respond with your bank account number. Any email from your bank should be handled with care. Many crooks send phishing emails that appear to come from your bank; if you click on the links in those emails it will take you to fake bank website that is set up by cyber thieves who can steal your bank password in a matter of seconds.

In general, do not click the links on any email if you don’t know the sender. Just clicking the link alone can open the path for virus to get inside your computer and steal your personal information.