Tips to protect yourself from cybercrime

While holiday shopping can be fun and exciting, staying vigilant is vital to protect your personal information and finances from cyber criminals.

By following a few simple yet effective strategies, you can enjoy a safe and stress-free shopping experience while safeguarding yourself from fraud and identity theft.

Here are some tips to keep your holiday season merry and bright – without the cyber threats:

• Keep an eye on your bank statements

Keeping a careful eye on your financial records, such as bank statements and credit card activities, is your first defence against fraud and identity theft. Online, you might typically track this data up to the minute.

Report any questionable activities (like getting billed for a transaction you did not make) and immediately contact the organisation.

• Know how much items should cost

Know roughly how much the things you want to buy should cost before you go online to shop. You will become an expert at comparing pricing and will be able to tell if an internet retailer is offering too-good-to-be-true prices.

In these situations, you might pay less, but you might receive a counterfeit item which doesn’t match the description or nothing at all. You can protect yourself by doing a little research.

• Make a cybersecurity list and check it twice

Use a password manager and create a strong, one-of-a-kind password at least 12 characters long for every account.

Use multifactor authentication (MFA) for any account that allows it.

Install updates as soon as they are available or enable automatic programme updates.

Know how to identify phishing attempts and report phishing messages to your email program, work or other authorities.

• Shopping on public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi and computers are convenient and sometimes necessary to use. However, public Wi-Fi is not very secure, so you never shop online or access important accounts (like banking) while connected to public Wi-Fi.

When you must buy a few gifts online while away from your home or work network, use a VPN (virtual private network) or mobile hotspot.

• Grinch bots

A record number of so-called “Grinch bots” were discovered last year. These automated systems swiftly buy well-liked toys, trainers or other goods, then resell them to customers at a steep profit. Naturally, buying purportedly new items on a resale market puts you at a higher risk of fraud and fake goods.

Refusing to buy from Grinch bots and only buying from verified suppliers is the best approach to defanging them.

• Never share more than you feel comfortable with

While exchanging information is necessary to make an online purchase, be cautious of any shop that asks for more information than you feel comfortable providing. You usually do not have to fill out every field, so if you don’t want to, you shouldn’t. Look for another online or physical retailer if an online store asks for more information than you are comfortable sharing.

Source: Cybersecurity National Alliance