How to Shop Online Safely This Cyber Monday

The holiday season is upon us! And with the season of joy, cheer, and giving also comes the season of shopping. This year, the average American will spend $700 on holiday shopping, and the total spent in America this season will reach $465 billion (National Retail Federation). Much of this shopping, $148.5 billion to be exact, will be spent between Black Friday and Cyber Monday alone (www.finder.com).

Covid has changed our world and our habits, and, as a result, people are more likely to shop online to buy gifts for those on their list. With this comes ease and comfort, but also the potential for cyber scams. If you’re one of those people wanting to get your holiday shopping from the comfort of your couch, how can you make sure you’re safe from these scams? At Tarrytech, we want to make sure you can go about your shopping without the fear of cyber scams, so we prepared some advice to help you out.

See below for our list of tips to keep your shopping experience worry-free:

● Stick with stores you trust! One of the best things you can do this holiday season to protect yourself from cyber threats is to shop at well-known stores. Bad actors and cyber criminals will set up fake stores and websites, full of items that will never ship. These sites may look legitimate and often have enticing deals. If you buy items from these sites, you’ll be providing cybercriminals with your credit card, address, and other contact information. Whenever possible, shop at stores you know, whether they’re national brands or local vendors. That way you know you’re buying from a legitimate store.

● Buyer beware of bad quality. Even if a store is legit, it’s important to check on its reputation for providing quality goods and services. One way to check this is to look at the reviews; although it’s no guarantee, a site with a lot of reviews lends credibility to the legitimacy of the products. The internet is full of scams that look great online but are completely different when they arrive. For a humorous recap of some bad purchases, check out the following BoredPanda link. Another way to check for quality and legitimacy make sure the store has a real address and test the customer service contact information before making a purchase.

● Avoid public WiFi. This is a rule you should live by: don’t connect to public WiFi when accessing or providing any confidential information, such as your credit card. Public WiFi is easily compromised, and even an unsophisticated cybercriminal can easily capture your private information from these free public networks. Some cyber criminals have even set up free public networks with the same or similar name to the one provided by your favorite coffee shop to trick you and steal your information. If you must use one of the available networks, it’s best to do so over a Virtual Private Network (VPN). With a VPN, you encrypt your data, and if it’s intercepted, it can’t be deciphered and read. A list of the best VPN services can be found here at CNET.

● Be password smart! When you set up purchases, make sure to use a strong password. The longer the better, and a mix of letters (upper and lower case), symbols, and numbers are strongly recommended. We suggest passwords of 12 characters or more to be sure they won’t be compromised. There is a huge difference between an 8-character password and a 12-character password! An 8-character complex password (numbers, upper- and lower-case letters, and symbols) can be cracked in 57 days. Comparatively, a complex password that is 11 characters long would take 71,000 years to compromise with today’s computing power. You should also use unique passwords for any account you create! If a site is compromised and a bad actor captures your password, it can be used at other sites where you have accounts with the same password. Use a password manager to keep your passwords complex, but securely available when you need them. Finally, you should sign up for dark web monitoring software, that will alert you if your credentials have been compromised and shared on the dark web.

● Use credit cards instead of debit cards. When it comes to shopping safely, it’s always better to use credit cards. The Fair Credit Billing Act gives consumers the right to dispute fraudulent and unfair credit charges. However, the law does not apply to debit cards. Although credit cards are typically costlier to use than debit cards, they offer more protection. Check with your credit card companies and bank to better understand what your risks are, and how and when to report fraud detected from the use of your credit cards. There may be a timeframe associated with reporting fraudulent use, and you don’t want to get stuck with the bill.

Keeping these tips in mind will help ensure safe, secure, and worry-free holiday shopping! We hope you have a fun and safe time shopping this holiday season! If you have any specific questions about cyber security and would like to discuss them further, call Tarrytech at 914-432-3056 or email us at [email protected].

Written by James Kudla, General Manager of Tarrytech: A CompassMSP Company, a premier technology partner located in Elmsford, NY that services businesses throughout the NY Metro region. For more information, please visit www.tarrytech.com.