Are you ready for some good shopping this holiday season? Even though Thanksgiving is a holiday mostly celebrated in the United States, people from all over the world know what this time of year means… Great online deals!
Offers known as Single’s Day sales, Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday discounts will be filling up your inbox and blasted on your social media feeds and favorite websites. And that’s great, because you can get something you really need or want, at a great price. But it’s important to be smart when online shopping and use good cyber security habits. Keep reading for 9 essential cyber security tips for online shopping this holiday season.
It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year…
It’s also a time when we should be very vigilant. Some of those deals in our inbox and the ads on your social media feeds could be phishing scams. That means they were designed to get you to click on them and maybe give up your credit card information to the wrong people or open attachments that could infect your computer with malware. Yes, cyber security tips for online shopping do not just include avoiding fake shops and fake deals, but also, fake emails.
Everybody’s Shopping Online!
Online shopping has become the norm. Everybody’s doing it! And you can get great deals too. However, criminals will try to get you to visit fake websites by offering great deals. If you fall for it you might get some bad quality stuff (that looks nothing like the photo) in the mail or … you might get nothing at all. But someone will have your credit card number. Not really an even trade off! Did we mention that the hackers will have your email and home address too? To trick you even further, these hackers might send you fake delivery notices or tracking emails designed to get you to give up personal information or download malware. Read our Delivery Phishing Scams blog to find out how to stay cyber secure after you shop safely online.
Due to recent pandemics and other factors, more people than ever before will do their Black Friday and Holiday shopping online. It’s no longer just the die-hard online shoppers but your grandmother too. This means that even more people need to hear about our cyber security tips for online shopping. The Holiday season is upon us, no matter where in the world we are. There certainly are great deals to be had.
Giving Money to Hackers Is Not Charity
Cyber security tips for online shopping don’t just include buying gifts. People who are looking for good holiday shows or feeling charitable towards those less fortunate will also become a special target for hackers. Before you buy tickets to shows or give money to charities, you should check if they are legit. Even though hackers believe they really need the money, we wouldn’t consider them a worthy charity.
Seasonal and Secure Shopping Online
Because we are so used to getting great deals around this time of year, we might not realize that some of them are simply too good to be true. And because we are also likely to order something online, we might be expecting emails with tracking links and purchase information. Hackers know this so they will be sending out millions of delivery phishing scams, hoping to trick people into clicking the wrong one.
This is why AwareGO has made a checklist with 9 essential cyber security tips for online shopping. We also created a special security training program about this topic for our clients. It’s good for any season but especially now, since your inbox and social media are likely filling up with amazing deals. Our checklist with cyber security tips for online shopping is free for all who want it and can be shared at will. Now there’s a Holiday deal that you shouldn’t miss!
AwareGO’s 9 Essential Cyber Security Tips for Online Shopping
Happy cyber secure online shopping from all of us at AwareGO!
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