We are heavy into the holiday shopping season. Here are a few reminders of what to watch for to avoid being scammed.
Scammers use several techniques to collect your money and/or your personal information while you are shopping online. Some of the techniques include,
· Creating
fake websites and sending out fraudulent emails. They can spoof a real company’s
website. They may make offers that are “too good to be true.” You might make an
order, give the information to pay them, then not receive what you ordered.
· Intercepting
insecure transactions. With an unsecure link they can collect your personal and
account information to sell to other criminals or to purchase items for
themselves.
· Targeting
computers that are not up to date with their anti-virus or anti-malware
software. Scammers will download malware to collect your personal information,
collect the information in your address book, or insert ransomware.
You can avoid fraudulent
online shopping by,
·
Be
sure your operating system and your anti-virus and anti-malware software is up
to date.
· Know
who you are doing business with. Only shop with reputable businesses that you
know. If you are thinking about do business on a website that you do not know, check
it out with a web search and include the words “who is” or “scam” in your
search. Look for customer reviews of the seller.
· Don’t
use websites that make you download anything.
· Be
sure that the website is secure with “https://” in the
URL. Also, do not shop online over an unsecure public Wi-Fi.
· Don’t
over share your information. Online vendors should only need your shipping
address, name, your email and your credit card number.
· When
making a purchase use your credit card, not your debit card, a gift card, or
wire transfer. If the vendor does not live up the transaction you have
protection through your credit card. Debit cards gives vendors direct access to
your bank account and gift cards or wire transfers are like cash, once the vendor
receives the funds, your money is gone.
https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/tips/ST07-001
Yahoo Finance:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/technology/how-to-avoid-holiday-shopping-scams-in-2020/ar-BB1bG3WH
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