Protecting you is a big job...

but somebody's gotta do it.

Be careful on Google Talk this week. There's a phishing scam spreading like wildfire out there. So if someone you haven't heard from in a long, long time starts chatting with you about checking out a link, think twice before you give out any emails and passwords.

Along the lines of protecting yourself, next week is National Consumer Protection Week. I must say, they have a pretty jazzy website this year.

The folks with NCPW are focusing on seven main ways to help consumers this year:
Banking
Credit
Consumer Rights
Identity Theft and Fraud
Investments
Money
and Mortgages

Each topic has information ranging from audio clips to websites to PDFs meant to educate today's consumers in an economically insane world. If any one of these things jumps out at you as an issue you struggle with, check it out. Your bank account will thank you.