Protecting private information over the internet is more important than you might be aware of. If someone you don't know or do not want to have your personal or private information gets a hold of it, it can be very difficult to recover the damage.  If someone has information such as social-security numbers, they can ultimately commit identity theft at your cost. To avoid a situation such as this, be sure to log off of computers when you're done and don't leave any passwords or personal and private information written down (especially on public computers!). It is important not to trust anyone with information that could be used for fraud, such as credit card numbers and important passwords. Some scams will even try to make a website look official to collect personal information. Never enter this information unless you know it is legitimate.