With the holiday season approaching and gift-buying ramping up, you might run across fraudulent sites and situations during your search online for the perfect presents. This opens you up to scammers who have a variety of tricks up their sleeves to get your money and personal information. During your online shopping, make sure to keep these tips in mind.
Avoid social media ads sending you to fake online stores. While the site may look legit, you will most likely be handing over your banking information and personal info to a scammer. Research the site outside of the ad and read up on reviews.
Fake delivery issue notifications. Keep a log of all tracking numbers when sending packages to friends and family and view tracking by going directly to the shipping site. Scammers often impersonate services like the USPS, UPS, and FedEx to have you click a link that installs viruses on your device.
Deals that are too good to be true. Everyone is on the hunt for a great deal right now, but if the price tag is unreasonably low, it’s most likely a false listing. Make sure to read everything in the item’s listing and double-check the site’s validity before moving forward.
Verify donation requests. While it’s a season of giving and charitable donations are always welcome, ensure that the person or organization to which you’re donating is legitimate and not a pop-up scheme or a scammer impersonating an organization.
Don’t shop on public wifi. Public wifi networks are often unsecured, meaning they’re targeted by hackers to find easy victims. These hackers can set up signals with realistic names, tricking you into joining when their intention is to steal any information on your device while you’re connected.