Burlington, Ont. is the riskiest place to live in Canada when it comes to identity theft and cybercrime.

But don't think moving west will keep you safe from cybercriminals.

British Columbia is close behind, accounting for four of the 10 Canadian cities most vulnerable to cybercrime, according to a Symantec study released Monday by Norton in conjunction with Sperling's Best Places.

The suburban municipalities of Port Coquitlam and Langley are No. 2 and No. 3 on the top-10 list, followed by the City of Vancouver, with Kelowna squeaking into the top 10 at No. 9. At No. 12 on the list, Victoria was edged out by Kitchener, Ont., ranked the 10th riskiest Canadian city and by Ottawa at No. 11.

"The overarching message of the survey is that cybercrime is happening in your backyard, not in somebody else's," Lynn Hargrove, Symantec's director of consumer solutions, said in an interview.

Hargrove said while people outside of major cities such as Vancouver and Toronto (No. 8 on the list) may think they are safer from cybercrime, they're not. In fact, many of the suburban neighbourhoods on the top-10 list may have homes with several PCs, making them more vulnerable to cyber attacks.

"A lot of homes in these affluent neighbourhoods may have one, two, three PCs in their home; perhaps the one they are doing their banking on is very secure, but the one their kids are using is not," Hargrove said. "They could be inviting infected things into their network. I think it is a wake-up call for everyone to say cybercrime is happening in your neighbourhood."

Hargrove said cybercrime could occur when people don't have security software on their computers or they don't keep it updated. Computer users also give away personal information, either being tricked by bogus e-mails into revealing passwords and other information or they reveal too much on social networking sites.

"Identities are being bought and sold online for as little as $10," said Hargrove. "Cybercriminals will sell partial identities and full identities. "A couple of pieces of information is still worth money; a name, birthday, SIN (social insurance number) is better, with an address. It may only be a name, address, SIN and mother's maiden name."

No one is immune.

Recently in Vancouver, a priest took the unusual step of warning his parishioners from the pulpit not to fall for an e-mail purporting to be from him, claiming that he was stranded in some country with his wallet and passport stolen. The e-mail, a common scam making the rounds, calls on the recipient to send money; it appears to come from someone they know, as was the case with the letter that appeared to come from the priest.

Vancouver house painter Lesley Csere was awakened at 7 a.m. recently by a client who was worried after receiving an e-mail saying he was in trouble in London and needed $1,650. "She said, 'I got a serious e-mail from you saying you are in trouble, I am in London, I can help you out," Csere said.

He said he was tricked into giving out the password for his Yahoo account by a spam e-mail calling on him to update his information.

"They sent me a form that looked like it was from Yahoo," he said. "Of course you have to put your password in to give identification."

Csere said he is still getting calls from people on his contact list who received the e-mail that was sent out under his name.

"I feel betrayed," he said.

No cities in Quebec make the top-10 cybercrime risk list and the only other province represented outside B.C. and Ontario is Alberta, with Calgary ranking as Canada's fifth-riskiest city.

The complete list includes:

1. Burlington

2. Port Coquitlam

3. Langley

4. Vancouver

5. Calgary

6. Oakville

7. Markham

8. Toronto

9. Kelowna

10. Kitchener

The study looked at 50 Canadian cities, with Quebec's Longueuil ranking lowest across the board, in categories that include cybercrime, Internet use, consumer expenditures on computer equipment and Wi-Fi access.

In the United States, Seattle topped the list of cities at greatest risk for cybercrime. America's top 10 list includes:

1. Seattle

2. Boston

3. Washington, D.C.

4. San Francisco

5. Raleigh, N.C.

6. Atlanta

7. Minneapolis

8. Denver

9. Austin, Tex.

10. Portland, Ore.

gshaw@vancouversun.com

Read Gillian Shaw's blog at www.vancouversun.com/digitallife

FIVE WAYS TO ® YOURSELF FROM CYBERCRIME

1. Use security software on your computer and ensure it is updated with the latest upgrades and virus definitions.

2. Update the operating system on all your computers. Security fixes are issued regularly and ignoring them could leave your system vulnerable to cyberattacks.

3. Don't fall for e-mails asking for personal information, even if they appear to come from your bank, Internet service provider or another legitimate company.

4. Don't open attachments if you don't know the sender and ensure you have security software that scans your e-mail for viruses and other cyber-attacks.

5. Don't share personal information such as your birthdate on personal networking sites.