Best Answer
I'm not sure if you can really check. Some hackers would go great lengths just to mimic a program to get you to do things you wouldn't do.
You just need to be aware of things...examples:
1) If you receive an email from your bank and asks you to log on. Don't use the link in the email. Instead, open up a browser and type in your bank's url. Normally, banks do not ask you to do things over email. Especially asking you for your social security number or birthdate.
2) If a program comes up asking you to download something. Make sure you know what program is asking you. If you're not sure, then don't do it. You can also do research over the internet to see if the software on your computer are who they say they are. For example, if a website is asking you to install a toolbar onto your IE browser, make sure they are the big companies like yahoo or google or msn. Any other claiming to do what google/msn/yahoo may be a spyware program.
3) You can always try to find a forum like this one to ask others what they think about a particular program. People will help you if you ask.