Scammers send emails imitating a legitimate website and ask for personal or financial information that they use to commit credit-card or bank fraud or other types of identity theft.

Generally, a phishing scam works like this – you receive an urgent email requests from a bank or other financial institution. The scammers may be using your bank’s or credit card’s name. The email note will ask you to click on a link provided to go to one of a scammer’s official looking websites. At their website you are ask to share or confirm some personal information. Though it looks like you are at your bank's website, you are at a scammer's website where any information that you share could be used to steal your identity,

These scams are increasingly common and difficult to detect but you can reduce likelihood of this type of online identity theft happening to you if you follow some simple rules.

~ Be suspicious of urgent requests for personal financial information sent to you by email. As a general rule -- never directly respond to email asking for personal information.

~ Don't give out more information than necessary for an online transaction. Legitimate businesses ask for more than they need for there own marketing purposes. You do not have to provide more information than you feel is necessary to complete transaction.

~ If asked for personal information online at a website or via email, never click on a link that goes to a new unfamiliar website. If needed, search for financial institution’s or company's website via your search engine and then navigate from there.

~ Do not click on program files or attachments in your email in-basket unless you are sure of their source. Why was it sent to you and do you know sender?

~ Never send personal financial information by return email. If your financial institution requests this information via email, go to institution's secure website and enter it there.

~ Be sure that you are using a secure website whenever you enter any personal financial data on web. If you are in doubt, when prompted for a password, give an incorrect one first. A scammer’s phishing site will accept it; a legitimate website will not.

~ Keep your computer anti-virus and anti-junk email prevention software up to date.

~ Use "anti-spyware" programs if you have a tendency to download a lot of free Internet programs, games, music, screen savers, etc.

The principal of abundance promotes belief that not only is there enough business to go around, and that universe has room for us all to benefit equally, but also commands us to give away what we have. This means giving referrals, ideas, assistance and any other thing you can think of to help others. It means that we build people, relationships and help others because we know and believe that somehow, some day it will all come back to us. It also promotes win-win situations.

The scarcity mentality advocates holding onto whatever it is you have for fear that someone else may take it. That means holding onto your cash, your ideas, your time and your clients as tightly as you can. It means that when you find a client you do everything within your power to hold onto that client for fear that ‘competition’ might take them away. In fact people who operate under scarcity mentality often base many of their decisions on what their competition and others do. And that is operating out of fear that someone will get more than you will or will succeed before you do.