As the number of online users grows, so do reports of scams and online identity theft.

You may not realize just how much information you're giving out to total strangers.

We've talked about how more adults are logging on to social networking sites, adults with banking accounts and children at home.

Many of them said for the longest time, the internet scared them and IT administrators say if they're not taking the right precautions, there's good reason to be scared.

“There are bad people out there, especially during this holiday season you know. They prey on really young people and older people and you really are your best advocate for safety, you have to protect yourself,” says Sarah heaters, the it administrator for SEARPDC.

So how do you do that?

First you want to make sure you're visiting a secure website.

An "https" before the web address indicates a secure website.

“Normally your secure websites will have a small lock at the top of your screen or bottom of your screen,” says Ken Long, with fraud protection at Army Aviation Federal Credit Union.

When it comes to selecting passwords, make sure yours is unusual and hard to guess.

“You want to use a password that has different characters in it, possibly, for instance you want to use a capital letter, lowercase, numbers, symbols. If you do that, you have a pretty secure password,” says Long.

Also, know that your anti-virus software can't protect you from the latest bugs, viruses and hackers if it's not updated. So don't ignore the security prompts saying "updates are available."

On social networking sites, don't post anything that you wouldn't tell a stranger walking down the street.

“I’d be hesitant to share anything identifying to you personally. You know telephone numbers, addresses,” says Hesters.

“Do not give out any personal information, account numbers, social security numbers, anything of this nature,” says Long.

Sometimes you may not even realize how much you're telling.

For example, if you tell all your friends on Facebook how excited you are about that upcoming beach trip and you have your address listed on your profile, you could be opening yourself up to get robbed.

“Inconspicuously we let more out of the bag than we should just trying to be friendly,” says Hesters.

Fortunately, a lot of these social networking sites do offer excellent security features.

“You can easily turn on and turn off the levels of access that people have when it comes to seeing your personal information,” says Social Media Consultant Mike Riddle.

Now these are only a few tips.

I've included some great websites below to help you set up some of those privacy settings and even block out unwanted applications.