48% of people have been scammed while holiday shopping online - what to watch for Almost half of Americans will do most of their holiday shopping between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But that's also the busiest time of the year for scammers. Here's how to protect yourself. The holiday shopping season is almost upon us, and with all the great sales and promotions come the usual cyber scams. While generally quick and convenient, shopping online can leave you vulnerable to scammers if you're not cautious. Based on a consumer survey, a new report from Norton looks at how scams are a common concern among shoppers and how to protect yourself while holiday shopping online. To protect yourself against scams while holiday shopping online, Norton offers the following tips: Be careful when shopping at an unrecognized retailer. Make sure to check out the details, ratings, and reviews of unfamiliar online stores. Be skeptical if you see too many five-star reviews. Make sure the website for an online retailer uses the more secure "https" protocol. Also, check the payment page before purchasing an item to confirm that it uses https as well. Always watch out for deals that are too good to be true. Be skeptical of in-demand gift products being sold at extremely low prices. Remember the adage, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is." Use a VPN on a public network. If shopping online via a public Wi-Fi network, use and activate a VPN. This will better safeguard your online privacy and protect your personal and financial information. Use strong and complex passwords. Protect your activity at shopping and financial sites by creating strong and unique passwords that are more difficult to hack. For now, your best bet is to turn to a password manager to devise and keep track of your website and account passwords Use secure software that will alert you to scams. Beyond just hunting for viruses, certain security products will warn you of potential scams at suspicious or malicious websites. https://lnkd.in/gzBgJZSJ #cybersecurity #Holiday #scams
Bob Carver
2mo
80-90% of the hotels I stayed in the past year had insecure Wi-fi. If you must use it, please utilize a top tier VPN…especially if you are doing shopping. What can be a more secure way of doing this is to use your phone or turn on a hotspot on your phone and connect to that via your computer.
Marcel Velica
2mo
Bob Carver Such an important reminder! Staying vigilant while shopping online is crucial, especially during the holiday rush. What tips do you recommend for spotting scams?
"Among the respondents, 40% pointed to social media as the top scam hotspot, 35% cited third-party websites, 30% listed email, and 28% named text messaging." Everyone, please be cautious when using social media platforms, including professional ones like LinkedIn; they can be hot spots for scams. Stay extra vigilant! Great reminder! Excellent tips to prevent such scams, thank you, Bob! 😎👍🏾
How about supporting an independent brick & mortar retailer, instead of shopping online?
Dan S.
2mo
All great advice, not just for typical day to day internet 🛜 use, but especially around the holidays when online shopping is even more targeted.
Cyril Coste
2mo
Online shopping scams are a big concern, especially during the holiday rush when people might let their guard down. I often wonder: Are people more susceptible to specific types of scams during the holiday season, such as "too good to be true" deals, compared to other times of the year?
Beverley E.
2mo
Great tips, as always - thanks Bob Carver
Helen Yu
2mo
Important reminder. Setting up 2FA for your Amazon account is also critical.
CEO Cybersecurity Boardroom ™ | CISSP, CISM, M.S. Top Cybersecurity Voice
2moI remember several years back I was shopping for a certain gift near Christmas on Amazon that cost several hundred dollars. Most other vendors across the U.S. seemed to have a fixed price. This one vendor claimed to be selling it at about 30% off. I was considering purchasing through them until I did a check on the company. Several things seemed highly suspicious like they might be a scammer with no customer rating history. I decided not to purchase through them. A couple of weeks later they disappeared altogether. I decided it was probably a good thing I did some research to determine this deal was most likely to good to be true.