The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes the annual rush of online shopping, deal-hunting, and digital gift-giving. As we search for the perfect gifts, cybercriminals are searching for their next target.
This year, don’t let a scammer steal your holiday cheer. The key to staying safe is to treat your personal information like cash and to approach “too good to be true” deals with skepticism.
Here are five of the most common risks to watch for and how to protect yourself.
1. The Fake Shipping Notification
The Risk: You receive a text message or email, supposedly from FedEx, UPS, or the Postal Service, claiming there’s a “problem with your delivery” or “a package is awaiting your signature.” The link provided leads to a fake website designed to steal your login credentials or personal information.
How to Stay Safe: Never click a tracking link in an unsolicited text or email. Instead, go directly to the official website of the shipping carrier or the retailer and enter your tracking number there.
2. The “Too Good to Be True” Deal
The Risk: You see an ad on social media or in an email for a high-demand item at a shockingly low price. These ads often lead to sophisticated, fake e-commerce sites that will either steal your credit card information, send you a counterfeit item, or simply take your money and deliver nothing.
How to Stay Safe: If a deal seems unbelievable, it probably is. Stick to reputable, well-known retailers. Before buying from an unfamiliar site, search for its name plus the word “reviews” or “scam” to see what others have experienced.
3. The Deceptive Phishing Email
The Risk: During the holidays, your inbox is flooded with legitimate sale notifications. Scammers use this noise to hide their phishing attempts. They send emails that look identical to those from major retailers, asking you to “verify your account,” “update your payment information,” or “confirm a recent purchase” you didn’t make.
How to Stay Safe: Look for the red flags: a sense of urgency, spelling mistakes, or a sender’s email address that doesn’t match the company’s official domain. When in doubt, do not click the link. Go to the retailer’s official website by typing the address directly into your browser.
4. The Dangers of Public Wi-Fi
The Risk: You’re at a coffee shop or airport and decide to get some shopping done. Using public, unsecured Wi-Fi can allow an attacker on the same network to “eavesdrop” on your activity and potentially intercept your passwords or credit card numbers.
How to Stay Safe: Avoid making any purchases or logging into sensitive accounts (like your bank) while on public Wi-Fi. It’s much safer to use your phone’s cellular data (LTE/5G) or wait until you are on a trusted, password-protected network, like your home Wi-Fi.
5. Insecure Payment Methods
The Risk: A seller on a marketplace site or an unfamiliar website insists that you pay using a gift card, a wire transfer, or a peer-to-peer cash app (like Zelle or Venmo). These payment methods are a major red flag, as they are virtually untraceable and non-refundable.
How to Stay Safe: Always use a credit card when shopping online. Credit cards offer the strongest fraud protection, allowing you to dispute unauthorized charges. Debit cards, in contrast, pull money directly from your bank account, making it much more difficult to recover stolen funds.
A Final Checklist for a Secure Season
- Look for the Lock: Only enter payment information on sites that use
https://(the “s” stands for secure) and show a padlock icon in the browser’s address bar. - Use Strong Passwords: Don’t reuse the same password on multiple shopping sites. Use a password manager to create and store unique, strong passwords for each account.
- Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Turn on MFA (also called two-step verification) on your important accounts (email, Amazon, bank) for the best possible protection.
Collaboration
What’s the #1 security tip you share with your friends and family during the holidays? Let’s share our best advice in the comments below.
Leave a Reply