There's a lot of discussion about identity theft and credit card fraud and how one seems to be synonymous with the other. These are two of the most prevalent and serious threats that every Internet user needs to protect himself from. Without practicing proper precautions, anyone can end up with someone else making all sorts of transactions on his behalf. Credit card fraud is very rampant, indeed, and people may have actually been remiss in ensuring their own online security. But while we can't do something about black hats who'll always enjoy making people suffer with their nasty tricks, we can do something about how to best protect ourselves. But first, we need to define identity theft and credit card fraud and differentiate them to understand them in essence.

From their definitions, identity theft and credit card fraud are quite different. The former refers to the act of stealing another person's information and using it for one's own gain. Meanwhile, the latter refers to the particular act of using someone else's credit card information to make one's own purchases.

If you enjoy movies, you've probably come across some with plots involving cool computer whizzes remotely hacking into the most sophisticated computers in the farthest corners of the world. It does look cool when it happens in movies, but when it happens to you, that's when things get a little bit hot. So you wonder how your identity can possibly be stolen? The answers could be many but all are simple.

For example, one scenario could be your opening of an email that claims all sorts of things from your winning in a million-dollar lottery to your having been singled out by some king or head of state to be one of the random recipients of that country's specialized charity program. And then they're going to ask you for your personal information. If you haven't heard of these things before, you'll probably go ahead and do as they tell you. Of course, now that you know these things happen, it's best to ignore emails of this sort from now on.

When the sender of the email, however, asks you to enter your credit card information such your credit card number, your name and password, then this constitutes credit card fraud. Simply keep in mind just how sensitive this type of information is. You don't need any special training or seminar to realize that your credit card details should remain with you and only you at all times. Never should you give it out to any other person no matter who they claim to be. Just to be sure, use your credit card information only with websites you trust. Otherwise, you could just be courting disaster.

To get you into the consciousness of valuing your online security, you'll find installing protective software such as anti-virus, anti-malware and anti-spyware very useful. At the same time, you can also install an IP hiding software which can come in handy for anyone who wants to ensure safety from hackers.