PITTSBURGH -- More than 1 million people had to replace infected computers during the past two years, and one in seven lost money to a hacker or a scam artist, according to a Consumer Reports study.
Watch Aaron's ReportBrian and Stephanie Slavick told Call 4 Action reporter Aaron Saykin that they learned their lesson about Internet security after making a recent purchase online.
"They kept charging us -- our credit card -- after we had already bought it and paid for it," Stephanie Slavick said.
In 2008, the FBI said there was a 33 percent jump from 2007 in reported cyber crimes ranging from hacking to scams.
"It basically should tell us that there's a risk in every transaction," said Pradeep Khosla, director of
Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab, which patrols the Internet for viruses and scams.
Khosla said he worries that the economic crisis is putting people at greater risk, making them easy prey for thieves who dangle offers that are too good to be true.
"I think what we need to do is cause an awareness, and a strong sense of awareness, but not an alarm where people shy away from doing legitimate transactions," Khosla said.
First, Khosla said people should protect their computers from threats with updated anti-virus software.
Second, they should never enter financial information on a Web page that does not begin with "https." The "s" stands for secure. A page that begins with "http" -- without the "s" -- is public.
Third, people who buy something online should pay with a credit card instead of a debit card, which is tied to their bank account. A credit card typically offers an added layer of protection.
The Slavicks used a debit card for their purchase and said it took months to correct the charges.
"I will probably still shop online because it's easier, but with a credit card," Stephanie Slavick said.
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