I lost money and my identity!

Will had been a casual poker player since high school, but he had since lost touch with all his poker buddies. While surfing the Internet one night, he came across an online poker site and decided to give it a try. Soon he was playing nearly every night and winning good money. This went on for about a year, until a promotion at work led to long hours at the office. Will never had time to play anymore, so he withdrew his money and closed his accounts. "I figured I was lucky to be getting out while I was ahead."

A few weeks later though, Will got a notice from his bank that his checking account was overdrawn. When he checked his account statement, there were thousands of dollars worth of purchases from Web sites for items he had never ordered. It turned out that somebody had stolen Will's bank account details from one of the gambling sites he frequented. Even after clearing up those charges, Will continued to have trouble. Credit card accounts had been opened in his name and left delinquent, which seriously damaged his credit.

"I guess I should have checked out the sites I was using to make sure they had good security," Will tells us. "I always knew I could lose money gambling, but I didn't think I would lose it like this!"

To learn how to protect your personal information when playing games, see Games