It’s safe to access online accounts and make purchases online, as long as you verify that you are dealing directly with the right company.

Here are six tips on how to know what to trust and what to avoid:

1. Be suspicious of any email with extremely urgent requests for personal financial information.
2. If you suspect that an email from a company is not legitimate, don’t click on any links within the email.
3. Avoid filling out forms embedded in email messages that ask for personal information.
4. Make sure you are on a secure website by looking for “https” in the beginning of the website address.
5. Security software should be installed and up-to-date on your computer(s).
6. If you come across a suspicious email, report it to the company it is impersonating.

For more information, visit www.cox.com/takecharge.