Just like the phrase “open sesame” gave Ali Baba access to the thieves’ cave full of treasure, there are certain search terms that provide surfers with malware designed to commit identity theft.

New research by antivirus software company McAfee reveals search categories and search terms will take the user to malware infested web pages at least 20% of the time.

The arrived at their conclusions by analyzing the search results of 2,600 often-used terms on search engines Google, Yahoo, Live, AOL and Ask. After examining the 413,000 pages, they found some pages came with a much higher likelihood of cyber attacks.

Generally, searches within the categories of screensavers, free games, work from home, Olympics, videos, celebrities, music and new were most likely to end badly.

Specifically, the most dangerous search terms on the Internet are:

• Word unscrambler
• Lyrics
• Myspace
• Free music downloads
• Phelps
• Game cheats
• Printable fill-in puzzles
• Free ringtones
• Solitaire

(I don’t know about you, but I’ve used at least four of those terms in the last 6 months.)

So, how do you protect your computer and, ultimately, your personal and financial information? To protect your computer, install a firewall, keep your anti-virus software up to date and stay aware of any newly released patches for your operating system. You might even consider trading in your PC for a Mac, as far fewer malware programs are written for them.

To protect your personal and financial information, consider enrolling in LifeLock’s identity theft protection services. Enroll using the LifeLock promo code DEFENSE to get the deepest discount available.

It’s usually a good thing when jobseekers’ interviewers says they’re excited about a prospective candidate’s resume, and want to move forward with background and credit checks. Most desperate jobseekers would happily give out any information the interviewer asked for at that point.

Fortunately Denise Crawford was a little paranoid when she got the request for her Social Security number. Instead of sending her information on, she contacted her state’s attorney general’s office and talked to them about the request.

“That shows a lot of red flags,” said Hugh Williams, the identity theft administrator in the Office of the Attorney General. “Most businesses that are going to run a credit report are going to do that on their own,” he said.

Crawford’s reaction to all this was predictable: she’s afraid now to apply for any other jobs over the Internet, but at the same time she knows that’s nearly the only way to find a job these days. Worse yet, the scammer has her resume and email address.

Other tips to jobseekers:

• Don’t give out personal information over the Internet unless you initiated the contact.
• Research any companies that you’re applying to. If they’re not on the Internet, steer clear.
• Be sure the hiring company is emailing from a their company’s URL. Example: humanresources@hiringcompanysname.com.
• Misspellings and poor grammar aren’t usually found in email messages sent by hiring managers.

It’s a brutal market for jobseekers, not just because of a dearth of jobs, but because there are so many scammer taking advantage of jobseekers.

Having to move to a nursing home, or having to place a loved one in a nursing home, is surely one of the hardest things anyone can go through. No matter how well we research, how clean the place seems, or how nice the staff seems to be, it’s the horror stories we’ve all heard that keep us awake at night.

I hate to do it, but here’s another of those horror stories. Tamara Smith, a certified nursing assistant who worked in several Savannah, GA area nursing homes, has been charged with stealing the identities of more than 40 of the nursing home residents that she was supposed to be caring for.

She used that information to open credit card accounts, and to buy computers and cell phones.

Smith’s victims were as young as 60 and as old as 100. Along with the 43 identity theft charges against her, Smith will also receive an elder abuse charge for each victim over 65. More than half of her victims are, or were, residents at Tara Nursing Home in Thunderbolt, GA.

Irene Pennington, Thunderbolt police chief said they’re still investigating the identity thefts, and expect to discover more victims. She also said they expect to arrest others suspected of being involved in the crimes.

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333,000 current and former dental patients of University of Florida had their information accessed in early October. The data breach was noticed on October third, but the college waited till now to release the information until they knew what the damage was and who would be affected by it. When the data breach was found the server was immediately disconnected from the network to prevent the intruder from accessing the data any further.

The Dean of the college of dentistry does not know why the intruder would want the files. So far there is not evidence that suggests the information has been used to steal anyone’s identity. Even though there is not evidence that the information has been used the college has sent out letters to the people affected by the data breach. The letter was meant to inform the victims of what happened and give them information on how to protect themselves from a possible identity theft.

The college of course takes this data breach very seriously and has taken steps to further strengthen their security measure to the server. The college said that there were 8,248 more patients on the server but they did not have recent addresses. By releasing the data beach to the public they hope it will track down the other potential victims.

An Ohio appeals court ruling makes it possible for Cynthia Lambert to sue an elected official. Lambert tried – and failed—to sue Greg Hartmann, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, when her identity was stolen, and her credit and finances were left in ruins.

Cynthia Lambert’s identity theft nightmare started with a speeding ticket she received in 2003. The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts posted her speeding ticket on their website, according to county policy. Anyone viewing the website had access to her name, address, Social Security number, birth date and other personal information.

Lambert’s ID theft led to her being billed for $20,000 in fraudulent purchases, 4% of the $500,000 in total purchases made by Traci Sutherland. Sutherland admitted that she was part of a crime ring that used the website to steal more than 100 identities, and was convicted for her crimes.

Hartmann has since shut down the website that was such a pot of gold for identity thieves. However, the Clerk of Courts’ office continues to post other documents that expose personal information. Hartmann said that to block that information would cost millions of dollars.

The appeals court decision is good news for people whose identities have already been stolen, but wouldn’t you rather avoid it altogether? If you think that you may become a victim of identity theft then Visit LifeLock.com to see how they can help to protect you even when government offices put you at risk. Sign up for their award-winning identity theft protection using promo code Defense for the best price.