The rising trend of online Forex trading has brought a new level of financial freedom to people - but also some new struggles. The quest to earn more income has resulted in many victims of fraudulent money-making schemes. The general lack of knowledge on how they work and Internet safety has led to many unfortunate outcomes where people lose their savings.

But how do you keep your money safe from many scheming fraudsters eager to put their hands on your funds?

Here are some tips we have prepared for you.

1. Check the sender’s address. Most spam emails come from addresses that don’t make sense or appear as gibberish. If you’re not sure if an email address is legitimate or not, you can always google them to make sure they are what they appear to be. Pro tip: some fraudsters might trick you into replacing an uppercase ‘i’ with a lowercase ‘l’ - so make sure you don’t mix up those two.

2. Download apps from official stores. Otherwise, an unverified app can compromise your data - it especially concerns Android users. Google Play and App Store are your best friends in that case.

3. Never give confidential information over the phone or email. It includes credentials, PIN codes, CVVs, or confirmation messages from 2-step verification.

4. Never share passwords, even if it seems like a good idea or convenient to do so. Even if you want to share your password with a relative or a friend, you might want to reconsider.

5. Take your online privacy seriously. Don’t share or permit access to your data with other people. Who knows what they might do with it.

6. Keep your services and applications up-to-date. Always install the latest patches - of course, from the official app store.

7. Ensure you always check permission settings on the apps you use. 

8. iPhone users have some privacy controls provided by Apple, and users can block app access to photos, contacts and GPS features if they think these permissions are unnecessary. If you are not sure whether you selected those options, you can always adjust them in your settings.

9. Always be wary when something is "too good to be true". Nothing comes for free, and sometimes our desire to get easy money can lead to an incredible loss. 

10. Double-check the format of the URL or the spelling of the company name. Read reviews, and check the registration data of the domain - those details might help you understand whether the platform is credible enough to register.

11. Do not open attachments or click on links in emails from banks, e-payment apps, or shopping portals, especially if the sender insists on it. It is better to go to the official website directly and log in to your account from there.

12. Do not follow links in spam messages, nor open documents attached to them.

13. Avoid downloads of pirated software and other illegal content. Even if you are redirected to the webpage from a legitimate website.

14. Think before you post. Be accountable for what you share. Do not share information about your family relations or close connections on public social media accounts - you might put them at risk of being targeted by the same scammers. 

15. Some messengers are not safe. Always do your research before using them!

16. Use a basic VPN that fully encrypts the traffic from your device. Pro tip: free VPN services often leak your data to third parties, so it’s better to spend some money on a good VPN and make sure you stay safe.

The knowledge of Internet security comes with experience - often unpleasant, but you can always learn from others' mistakes and make your time online safer.