RIP-OFF ALERT: Spear phishing is the latest, hottest criminal effort to crack the computer systems of wealthy individuals and businesses, including large corporations. Some of you may recall that Clark talked about this rip-off briefly several years ago. Now it's gained new legs in the criminal world.

As longtime listeners know, Clark often advises people to go guerrilla to get satisfaction when you have an unresolved problem with a corporation. That often means going to the company's website and identifying "C list" executives who are three rungs below the top brass. Then, you call the company headquarters and ask for that individual by name. You'll usually be able to speak to them or someone on their team who can resolve your problem.

Well, spear phishers are essentially using the same technique. They'll find a third-tier executive and send a direct targeted e-mail to that person, which usually masquerades as an official bank communication.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports spear phishing is becoming more and more sophisticated all the time. In another variation, the criminals will use a subject line that's directly related to a new product or specific issue at that company and bam! -- the executive loads malicious software on the computer when they open the e-mail.

You must have security software proactively loaded on your computer. See our list of spyware protection options.

In addition, there's a low-tech way to assess the danger of a link you're thinking about clicking on in an e-mail or on a web page. Simply run your mouse over the link and look at the bottom of your web browser to see what it says. If you're about to click on a link that purports to be "ClarkHoward.com" yet it points over to "StealYourIdentity.com/ImGonnaGetcha," well, you better not do it!

Finally, as one listener suggested, you should also be wary of seeing an "@" sign anywhere in the URL. It could potentially be a dangerous re-direct. To avoid danger, try right-clicking on a URL in an e-mail or on a website and selecting "copy." You can then paste it into Notepad and vet it carefully for the "@" character without ever having to click on it.

Cyber-criminals love to target small businesses because they usually have strong cash flow but no IT departments. That makes their financial accounts vulnerable to hacking. Today Clark wants to share an easy and cost-effective way to safeguard your online transactions.

USA TODAY suggests simply buying a dedicated computer that's only used for financial transactions. No surfing the web on your dedicated computer. No e-mailing. No visiting Facebook, MySpace or Twitter.

This will reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of a security breach. High net worth individuals may also want to consider using a dedicated computer for all financial transactions.

Computers have become so affordable that it's very possible to get a fully functional one for under $300. Owning more than one computer is no longer cost-prohibitive. Think of it like an ultra inexpensive insurance policy for small business owners and wealthy individuals.

Psst, want to break into someone's e-mail? The Washington Post reports you can hire a hacker for as little as $30 with no questions asked. Cheating spouses beware!

How do they do it? Very often through cute little e-cards that contain hidden keyloggers when you open them. Clark no longer opens or sends any e-cards as a preventative measure.

Several weeks ago, the consumer champ discussed the 10 most common passwords on the show. Make sure your password isn't too easy to crack or you're just giving yourself away to hackers.

Ultimately, if somebody wants in, they'll get in no matter what precautions you take. That's why communication of a sensitive nature should not be done by e-mail. Phone calls are still the safest way to communicate -- even with the federal government's ability to eavesdrop.

What happens to your accounts, usernames and passwords when you die? A recent Time article titled "How to Manage Your Online Life When You're Dead" addresses this thoroughly modern dilemma.

DeathSwitch.com is a service that repeatedly prompts you for your password to make sure you're still living. If you fail to reply to multiple prompts, the system will then e-blast out a message you've pre-composed (containing usernames, passwords, special messages to loved ones, etc.) to let others know of your untimely demise!

WeRemember.org is another similar service.

But what if you sign up with one of these services and they go bust? What becomes of your sensitive info? There is no clear law in the United States to govern this. In similar instances, user info has even been sold to make creditors whole!

Obviously, there's no perfect solution yet. If you're a braniac, there's a great business idea here, Clark promises you.

And how does the consumer champ handle this dilemma? He's chosen to go a very analog way. Clark has given one of his lifelong friends an envelope that has all his usernames and accounts in the event of his death. If his friend is not trustworthy, he could be broke in a minute!

Have you been "Tagged" lately? Clark recently became a victim of this annoying e-mail ploy that automatically signed him up for an expensive voicemail service.

The consumer champ and his wife recently had lunch with another talk show host and his significant other. After the meal, Clark got an e-mail from Tagged that said his friend had some pictures available online. Clark naturally assumed the pictures were taken during their meal together and wanted to see them.

The catch was that he had to register at Tagged.com in order to view the supposed pictures, according to the e-mail. Once he completed the registration, he got another e-mail saying he had been signed up for a voicemail service. The cost? $14.95/month automatically billed to his home phone number!

The penny-pinching guru immediately called to cancel the service and got a real runaround before he was able to do so.

Several days later, he got an e-mail from his friend explaining that Tagged is a virus-like program that goes through your address book and falsely blasts out notifications about photos online.

Snopes.com has a lengthy explanation about the dangers of Tagged.

Don't fall for it if you receive an e-mail asking you to register for Tagged. Be sure to let the sender know you received the message, and then direct them to read the Snopes briefing.

RIP-OFF ALERT: We've all been so browbeaten into watching for viruses on our computers that it was only a matter of time before crooks wised up and started creating viruses that actually mimic common anti-virus warnings.

That's the idea behind what's called "scareware," which are bogus virus warnings that actually load a virus on your computer when you click on them! You don't even have to download anything. You're caught from the minute you click on the impostor pop-up window that supposedly alerts you to an existing virus!

Executive producer Christa recently had her computer compromised by a pop-up that masqueraded as a virus warning from Norton Antivirus. It even displayed a virus count as many popular antivirus programs will do.

So if you see a pop-up window that seems to be from your antivirus program, don't click on it. Instead, go directly to the antivirus or spyware program on your desktop and run it from there so it can find any security threats.

Clark particularly likes SpyBot Search and Destroy for protecting his computer. It's a free download that asks for contributions, but they're not required.

Finally, Christa also recommends having multiple browsers like Firefox, Chrome and others. The idea is that you can still try navigating around the web even if scareware hits your usual browser.

For additional spyware and scareware protection, see our list of other free downloads.

Is your computer running slowly because of a virus or spyware?

ComputerWorld.com recently featured a list of 15 free downloads you can use to bring your computer back up to speed.

(Editor's note: Clark is not responsible for the content on ComputerWorld.com. He is merely presenting their list of PC fixes for information purposes only. See below for his free spyware protection options.)

Meanwhile, on a related note, Clark recently read a tech writer's review of the revisions of major browsers like IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and others.

Mind you, the consumer champ is not one of those anti-Microsoft guys. But let's just say the verdict wouldn't exactly please Bill Gates.

Firefox was named as tops and Chrome came in second best. And IE? Well, it was roundly panned.

Clark has a special warning you've got to hear if you use instant messenger programs to chat over the Internet. Hackers are now exploiting weaknesses in a variety of IM programs. The latest to be hit is Google Talk.

Criminals have figured out a way to load a virus onto your computer by getting you to click on a link that comes through your IM. People are so cavalier about clicking on hyperlinks when they're IMing. Apparently, they think it must be safe because it's from someone on their buddy list. But doing so allows hackers to hijack your e-mail account.

The only way to protect yourself is to be sure you know the sender before you click on any hyperlink in any IM.

In addition, Gmail is having a problem with freezing where the program just shuts down. That's why Clark always recommends having more than one e-mail account. For example, he has one with Gmail that's dedicated to e-commerce, and one for private correspondence from another free e-mail provider.

If you're like two-thirds of people, chances are you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer to surf the web. But right now, doing so could pose a serious threat to your computer's safety.

All versions of Internet Explorer have a security flaw that could allow hackers to gain access to your computer. Clark is advising people to stop using Internet Explorer until further notice. Try instead using Firefox or Google's Chrome browser. The consumer champ is particularly fond of the latter, which is designed to take advantage of the entire range of multimedia on today's websites.

Clark's initial warnings about this bug specified that you should not access your bank or brokerage house from Internet Explorer until further notice. But in addition, this flaw potentially allows hackers to take control of your computer and view sensitive e-mail data. So there are also concerns about corporate espionage now.

Is that free wifi you're surfing on at the airport or the coffee shop really secure? Forbes reports there's a nearly 75% chance that it's not.

The single worst location for wifi compromises was Newark Airport. Out of all the networks they scanned in that particular airport, only 9% of them were secure. See Forbes' complete tally of results for some of the nation's most popular airports.

So what can you do about it? Simple -- don't under any circumstances visit the website of your bank, credit union and brokerage house or mutual-fund company when using a free wifi connection while you're out and about. The risk is just too great.

Clark was recently disturbed to learn that your personal info can float out in cyberspace long after you think it has been removed. This is because of caching issues.

Search engines send spiders out across the web to find info that's stored on servers all over the world. Then they present that info to you during a web search.

But the spiders only crawl certain parts of the web every few days or weeks. So info can be stored or "cached" in cyberspace even after it's gone from the original server. In most cases, there will be a lag before it disappears completely.

When it comes to browser security, Clark uses a free tool available at Finjan.com. It prevents him from going to mistyped addresses where danger may lurk, and it goes beyond just looking at URLs to look at the actual code on a page.

Meanwhile, here's one low-tech suggestion to beat keyloggers. A keylogger is a program that gets secretly installed on your computer when you visit bogus websites. It can be used to track every keystroke you make and steal valuable passwords.

This trick involves typing passwords out of order or adding extra characters that you goes back and erases before logging on. Say for example your password is "jane." Instead of typing "j-a-n-e," try typing something like "j-a-x-n-x-e." Then go back and manually erase the extra characters (the x's) using your mouse, not the keyboard, and you just may trick someone who may be remotely monitoring your keystrokes!

RIP-OFF ALERT: Clark recently spoke about protecting yourself online against cyber-criminals. Now technology columnist Walt Mossberg has compiled a handy list that reinforces the message. Below are some excerpts:

• Never click on a link in an e-mail that appears to be from your bank, credit union or brokerage. Call the company if you are in doubt.
• Don't click on links in an e-mail offering free goods or services.
• Never download free software from unknown websites.
• Don't download video drivers from sites other than Microsoft, Adobe or Apple.

Clark also wants to add that you should be using a browser like Firefox, which is safer than Internet Explorer. Please note that it's OK to download new security patches from Firefox.

People have been asking Clark about that website he recently discussed that blocks suspect sites from loading in your browser. It's HauteSecure.com.

Finally, Mossberg also recommends a free service from McAfee called Site Advisor that alerts you when a web address could be dangerous.

Clark loves free services and has 2 new ones to share with you. The first comes from a company called HauteSecure.com, which protects your computer if you mistype a web address. Too often criminals will register bogus domains that may be just one letter off from a legitimate address. When you hit those fake sites, your computer may become infected with a keylogger program. So the free download at HauteSecure.com protects you by blocking sites that could threaten your computer.

The second service Clark has discovered is called ChaCha.com. This free mobile phone service allows you to ask a question by calling 800-2-CHA-CHA. You then receive a text with your answer. It's like Google for your cell phone. So far the results have been hit or miss. While it worked well during a pre-show meeting, it returned a wrong answer when Clark tried it out on air by asking, "Who won the 1964 World Series?" He received a dud answer via text message -- The New York Yankees -- in about half an hour. It was the St. Louis Cardinals who beat the Yanks in 7 games!

People often ask Clark when they should get rid of their electronics and/or when they should fix them. When it comes to digital cameras, camcorders, TVs and laptop computers, Consumer Reports says that it's OK to fix them during the first year of ownership. Some electronics come with a 1-year (or 90-day) warranty that allows for repair or replacement. So here's a tip: Don't use instant in-store financing when you initially purchase electronics. First, it will hurt your credit to do so. Second, you will miss out on the automatic doubling of manufacturer's warranties that your credit card may offer.

Let's return to the Consumer Reports advice: Fixing during the first year is a no-brainer, but the second year is a flip of the coin for most kinds of electronics -- except laptops. With laptops, the prices drop so rapidly and the technology advances so quickly that you'll be better off just buying a new one. So that brings us to Clark's final point: When should you buy an extended warranty on an electronics item? Never! Consumer Reports recently revealed that HDTVs are now so reliable that you never need to waste your money on warranties.

Have you been receiving phony e-greeting cards in your inbox lately? If you open these, you might get spyware and others kinds of malware on your computer. Clark is really upset about this trend because e-greeting cards should be a pleasant thing. Unfortunately, something so innocent has been corrupted. The latest incarnation in this rip-off scheme works in the following way: Criminals send out bogus e-greeting cards and if you open it, you download a program that steals e-mail addresses from your contacts list. Once the criminals have those e-mail addresses, they send out another fake e-greeting that appears to be coming from you, staring the cycle all over again. The worst part is that when you opened the initial e-greeting, you probably also unknowingly downloaded a key logger program. This program tracks every key you type, including usernames and passwords for your bank, brokerage or mutual fund accounts. Under the law, you are protected if money is stolen from your bank account, but not from your brokerage or mutual fund account. Some brokers have issued their own policies that allow for customer protection. But the bottom line is that you must run anti-virus and anti-spyware software on your computer. Clark likes Spybot - Search and Destroy, a free program that will eliminate key loggers and other spyware on your system. Hopefully the legitimate e-greeting businesses will find a way to regulate their industry so people can again have faith in their products.

The internet can be a difficult thing to navigate. You start to type in an address of the site you are looking for and you end up going to a site that you definitely did not want to go to. This can make things very scary for parents who don’t want their kids to go to adult content sites by mistake just because of a mistype. There are now fantastic services available that help parents monitor and control what their kids see when on the internet. Parentalcontrolbar.org and Kidrocket.org are several of the best tools out there for you to check out what your kids are viewing when on the internet. These sites are great for not allowing your kids to see things you don’t want them to see. So try them both for free.

Clark uses Spybot Search & Destroy to keep his computer free of spyware. But CNET recently ranked two others higher. Get the best programs and keep your computer safe. Remember to click only once and disable your pop-up blocker first.

Prices of computers and peripherals have just dropped again, so it’s a great time to take advantage of this. Clark saw a laptop advertised for $399 in the newspaper the other day, and desktops are around $200 in many stores. In the printer industry, Dell has decided to go full tilt against the competition, HP. The most profitable area in the printer industry is the printer cartridges, and HP has had the corner on this market for years. But with Dell coming on the scene, prices of cartridges and printers are going to go down. You can get laser printers for about $200 these days. If you’ve been using an ink jet printer, you may want to switch to laser. So, what about the ink for these printers? Retail stores that sell replacement cartridges are booming right now. You’ll cut the cost of ink by about 40 percent if you go to these third-party stores. There are also kits that allow you to fill your cartridge yourself. Kevin, one of Clark’s producers, says this is more of a pain than it’s worth.

---

If you want to network computers in your home, it used to be about $200. Now you can buy the equipment for about $40. So, If you have a DSL or cable network, just hook your computers into a wireless router and buy a network card and you’re set. You can make your whole house a wireless network if you want.

You may have heard that Paris Hilton’s cell phone got hacked recently. The hacker got into her phone list and e-mail list because she uses a data device known as a Sidekick II. He proceeded to make prank calls and send e-mails to people, which may seem like a nuisance. But this can be dangerous. Paris may not know it, but she did the country a big favor as the victim of hacking. It’s called attention to the low number of people who “password protect” their voicemail and e-mail. As more people buy these all-in-one devices like the Blackberry and the Treo, the hacking possibilities grow. So, protect your information by setting up passwords on it. If you are not sure how, call your cell phone provider and someone should walk you through it.

---

What about your brokerage account? What if someone could hack into that, and before you knew it your money was gone? e*Trade has come up with a product that will help protect your accounts. It’s a key chain that changes secret codes every couple minutes. You need the code from that key chain to log into your account. So it’s nearly impossible for anyone else to get in. Clark commends e*Trade for its efforts.

Clark has noticed that the cost of wireless networking systems for the home has gotten dirt cheap. More than 50 percent of us now use high-speed connections, and many more people now have more than one computer. So the need for wireless networks has increased. It’s neat and simple to do. The only problem is if you live in an apartment, condo or a neighborhood where home are close together, your neighbors can tap into your network and use your Internet access. They either use your network to get online for free, or they can burglarize the information on your computer. It might not be a big deal if you don’t have much on your computer. But if you have financial information or other confidential information on there, you don’t want people tapping into your network. It’s very easy to set up. All you have to do is set up a password on your wireless account. So, be careful!

Clark has talked excitedly about many companies and concepts, only to see them fail in the end. He likes the idea of innovation in technology and he over hypes a certain product. Today, he wants to talk about a product that he hopes outlasts the hype. It’s a mini laptop computer that weighs less than a pound and can fit in a pocket. Clark sees people lugging around laptops in airports that look like they weigh a ton. How nice would it be to pull one out of your pocket and access the Internet immediately? The OQO has good memory, a decent screen and operating system and is complete with Wi-Fi. It costs about $1,900 right now, so Clark won’t be buying it anytime soon. But you can find out more about it at oqo.com.

Most people access the Internet by dial-up today because high-speed access is still very expensive here in the States. The phone companies and cable companies that own the wiring are monopolies, and they choose to gouge customers for the service. But there are alternatives on the horizon that will crush these companies. Successful entrepreneur Craig McCaw is convinced that the lack of wisdom on behalf of the phone and cable companies has left them wide open to competition. He wants to wire entire cities so that residents can log onto wireless networks and access high-speed Internet service instead of subscribing individually. The first test will happen in Jacksonville, Fla. People there will be able to open a laptop anywhere and hop on the Internet in a snap. Intel is also experimenting with a wireless technology called “Wi Max.” It’s the same idea as McCaw’s and is a cousin of “Wi Fi,” which means wireless fidelity. With Wi Fi, the connection only stretches about a football field. But with citywide networks, people can go anywhere in that city and get connected. Verizon Wireless has it’s own plan as well, but its plan is much more expensive. Clark thinks this will be everywhere by Christmas 2005. So, we’ll see who gets the pricing and service right.

It’s phenomenal how cheap computers are right now. Computers are now less expensive than televisions. If you just want to surf the Web, you can find one for $200 to $350. And laptops start at $600. One of the reasons computers are so cheap is because of the price war between Hewlett Packard and Dell. They want the market share so badly that it seems as if they don’t care what they charge anymore. Digital camera prints are also getting much cheaper at about 30 cents a print. You just bring your disk or memory card and insert it into the printing machine. Out pops a pretty good picture, and you can choose the size you want.

You’ve probably heard of the company, Dell, which then college student Michael Dell started in his dorm room at the University of Texas at Austin years ago. He dropped out of school to continue building the company, and it’s now one of the most efficient computer manufacturers in the world. Because of its huge success, however, Dell has gotten a reputation for having lacking customer services. People are calling Dell over and over again, and they’re beating their heads against the wall. Complaints against Dell to the Better Business Bureau have tripled in the past year. And customers have even taken complaints to the state’s attorney general’s office. The company is outsourcing most of its customer service work, so the people answering questions have no connection to the company and don’t care. This company has done a fantastic job providing a great product to the public for a relatively low cost. But when the chips are down, Dell isn’t coming through. To it’s credit, Dell acknowledges the problem, and the company is working to correct the problem. They have started a new program called “Voice of the Customer,” which has several goals. They include, being courteous to customers, fixing problems faster, making it easier to talk to a human and making sure items are shipped on time. We’ll see if it happens.

Long ago, Clark talked about an opportunity to load a full office suite on your computer that is free. It works just like Microsoft Office’s suite of programs, but it doesn’t cost you a thing. It’s called Star Office, and Clark is using it right now. He loves it. Walt Mossberg also reviewed it recently and decided that he likes it too. He said it has vastly improved from the way it used to work and he says it’s easy. To get it for free, just go to openoffice.org.

Have you ever bought a season pass to an amusement park for yourself or your kids? You usually make your money back in about two visits. But the hassle is that you have to keep track of the annual pass. If you lose it, you don’t get another one. But Busch Gardens, which has parks in Tampa, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va., has created a solution. The amusement park has started scanning the hands of season pass holders as they enter the park. The technology, called biometrics, reads our unique fingerprints and hand patterns. Biometrics can also read your eye and even your ear print because they each have a unique mapping. Some people are pretty creeped out about this, but it is the wave of the future.

Clark saw some shocking statistics on the Dow Jones News Wires recently. The principal story explained why Dell has become such a monstrous force in the Internet market. It’s mostly because of the smart and cost-effective way the company does business. In contrast, Best Buy is suffering. The story mentioned rumors that Best Buy is about to lay off about 7,000 people because their administrative overhead is so high. They spend about 22 cents on each dollar sold on this overhead. That’s huge. Dell spends about eight cents of every dollar on administrative costs. That’s because most of the business is done online and there are very few retail stores. There is a human component to this, however. Recent stories have focused on Dell’s lack of customer service after the sale. So, the lack of humans on staff has hurt them, as well. The company has upgraded the quality of customer service given to big companies and corporations, while the service given to individual customers has dwindled. Dell needs to do something to fix that gap.

Wal-Mart is selling music online for a rock bottom price, and Clark wants you to know about it. The company is selling songs on its Web site for 88 cents, when the going rate on most sites is 99 cents. Wal-Mart’s prices also keep pressure on other music companies to stay at the 99-cent mark and not raise prices. Clark says the selection of music is pretty thorough, but songs with explicit lyrics are not available. He has bought music from this site and it’s very easy to do. In other music news, Apple is going to put on concerts in its music stores very soon. The idea is that people will come in to the stores to hear the show and will buy an iPod or other gadget while they are there. People want to be able to buy music legitimately but they want to pay a decent price. It’s finally happening.

Do you have a small business in your home? Maybe a computer network or a home theater system? People these days have very “wired” homes, and it can often get overwhelming trying to connect all of these gadgets and gizmos. There are network specialists, computer specialists and IT specialists to help, but which one do you need at your home? A hot new enterprise around the country is “geek squads.” Yes, there was an actual company named Geek Squad that was recently purchased by Best Buy. They hop in their cars and go to your house to help set up your systems correctly. And now these technical teams are popping up all over the country. They charge anywhere from $30 to $130 an hour. If you pay thousands of dollars for a computer network, making sure it works is very important. A hundred years ago, we didn’t even have refrigerators. But we needed an expert to install and replace them in the past. It was part of the deal. Now, “digititians” are becoming more commonplace and will soon be accepted just like a TV repairman once was.