New federal law makes it easier for you to prevent identity theft.

While there is plenty of danger from fraud out there, it’s easy to protect yourself

Many people don't know they've been victimized until a collection agency comes knocking on their door. Don't let that happen to you.

The Red Cross has rolled out an awesome new online emergency message tool. And we know how to use it. Red Cross emergency messages are the only official way to get an urgent message about injury,…, How to use the Red Cross online emergency message system, 1. Set-up an account., The first thing they are going to do is ask you to set-up an account. They'll send you a confirmation email. Click the link in that to set-up a password. You'll need a …, 2. Make sure you have your ducks in a row. , To create an emergency message through the online tool you need the same information you would need if you did it over the phone -- the service member's name, branch, rank, unit and date of birth or…, 3. Update your information., Every time you start a new message you'll be asked to update your personal information. The fields you need to fill-out will become available as you go. For example, the "duty status" field will stay…, 4. Start a new report. , You can pick from a variety of emergency types. If you pick "other" or select that you are notifying a service member who is stateside you'll be promoted to call the hotline instead. That's because…, 5. Add details about the person getting the message. , pick-emergency-step-3  , 6. Add details about the emergency., For my test I chose my emergency as a "death." I was prompted to type in details about who died, how they were related to the service member, how they died, etc. I was also given options for types of…, 7. Add verification information., Next I was asked to provide details about the official who could verify that the person really had died. This is where, in a real emergency, you could run into some problems if you don't have names…, 8. Add the service member's information., This is the other sticky one. Hopefully you know your service member's unit number. But many spouses and parents don't -- and an emergency so dire that you're sending a Red Cross message isn't really…, 9. Hit submit!, As soon as you hit submit you'll receive an email confirming that a case has been open. That's where my testing stopped since mine was a fake emergency. However, Red Cross officials told me that in…

Keep your personal information safe with these seven ways to protect against phishing.

The Air Force has an online process for airmen to request Tuition Assistance. Learn about their "Virtual Education Center."