The holidays are usually a time of joy and excitement, and that sort of cheerful atmosphere is even more important during this rollercoaster of a year.
However, many people don’t realize that the holiday season is also a prevalent time for digital theft and other dangers. With a massive swell in online shopping each year, especially this year when many folks will be doing most of their holiday shopping online – more and more consumers are at risk.
To help you be more secure and avoid some of these risks, we’ve prepared a short list of tips to help you be more vigilant when shopping online for the holidays.
Do you plan to shop online? Be on the lookout for these risks:
- Don’t conduct online transactions on public Wi-Fi (such as a café or restaurant).
- Avoid questionable or insecure sites. If you are unsure of a site’s credibility or security, do not shop there.
- Look for sites with “https” in the URL instead of “http”. The “s” indicates that the website is encrypted, which means it is more secure and safer to share your information with.
- Use caution when opening retail marketing emails. Do not open spam emails, phishing emails or other similar scams sent to trick you.
- Be wary of deals that seem “too good to be true”. This might indicate that the product has some sort of defect.
Keep these tips in mind and share them with friends and family to help them stay secure during this time of year.