'Jersey Shore': What's the real story? MTV, documentarian of the hot-tub culture and its in-heat denizens, recently released 'Jersey Shore,' featuring a household of summer beach bums and bumettes hopped up on hormones and Italian stallion blood. Interestingly, the new series did not offend promoters of oceanside family values but rather the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau. 'The show does not reflect the variety of destinations on the Jersey Shore or the variety of people in Seaside Heights,' said the bureau's executive director, Daniel Cappello, who saw the Dec. 3 debut and issued a press release expressing the group's discontent. The program follows the exploits of eight people holed up in a summer rental in Seaside Heights. Cappello's beef is that it misrepresents the coastal region, which also includes such Hallmark Channel towns as Cape May, VH1 cities as Asbury Park, and National Geographic Channel locales as Island Beach State Park. Seaside Heights, he claims, does not epitomize the Jersey Shore, nor do Pauly D, a hair gel fanatic, and Jenni 'Jwoww' represent its summer residents. 'A lot of young people are there to have a great time,' said Cappello, 'but that is a specific kind of visitor they are depicting. People need to take what they see on MTV with a grain of salt.' MTV's purpose is to stereotype, skew and shock, and the cable network wins an Emmy in all categories. In all honesty, the Jersey Shore is a faint backdrop to this unreal show. The real stars are the rooftop hot tub and the hair gel. The show airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. and can also been seen at www.mtv.com. For the real Jersey Shore: www.visitnj.org or www.seasideheightstourism.com. -- -- -- Megabus.com is offering 100,000 free seats in the new year on 28 bus routes, including 40,000 to New York being offered in partnership with NYC & Co., the city's tourism office. Travel Jan. 6 to March 20. Use promo code GETAWAY; subject to availability. Service charge of 50 cents still applies. Info: www.megabus.com. -- -- -- If you're not careful these days, a cyber thief can steal your identity as easily as a pickpocket can pinch your wallet. An unbelievable online airfare deal or hotel rate could cost you everything. For tips on keeping the e-crooks at bay, CoGo spoke with Ondrej Krehel, information security officer with Identity Theft 911, a company that works to combat this crime. Some pointers: -- Beware of phishing e-mails that direct you to fraudulent sites offering credit cards with frequent-flier miles or free gifts such as an exotic cruise or vacation. -- A common scam involves domestic and international timeshares that require you to fill out online forms to receive a limited-time discount. Also, always review two-for-one deals and frequent-flyer promotions. Read the fine print before you click 'buy.' -- Shop and provide your information on secure sites only; look for 'https' in the URL address bar and a small yellow padlock at the right of your browser address bar. If you double-click on the lock, a digital certificate will appear. -- Never provide passwords to your e-mail or bank accounts when purchasing something online. -- Use different passwords for online retailers and for personal accounts. -- It's safer to use credit cards than debit cards. Or use one-time-use credit card numbers from such payment processors as PayPal. Don't send your payment information via e-mail; it's not secure. Also, it's not a good idea to save your personal information on merchant Web sites. Keep your credit card numbers to yourself. -- Print invoices to an electronic document or keep a paper trail of transactions. 