Top 10 Fraud Tips

It's the holiday season again and another opportunity for the bad guys to try and have a great Christmas! Cyber crooks never seem to sleep, pulling all-nighters and going into scam-overdrive mode to take advantage of online shoppers looking for a “steal of a deal” (no pun intended). Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the busiest online shopping days and the bad guys are planning to get rich with your money. So, here are the Top 10 Fraud Alert Tips to help avoid scams:

1. Never click on links in emails. If you want to shop on a website, enter the website address in your browser. There are thousands of fake websites that look almost identical to the real thing. Don't fall for evil-twin shopping websites.
2. Don't open attachments with special offers. It's a classic scam. The offer should be in the email and you should be able to see it right away. 
3. Watch for malicious ads and popups. Do not click on ads that sound too good to be true, and ignore popups that might propose the "best deal ever". 
4. Beware of e-skimmers. This is a new one. Do you know that bad guys sometimes skim your credit card at gas stations or ATMs? Well, there is a new flavor of that, the shopping website you order from might be infected with an "e-skimmer" and they steal your card data when you check out. You can prevent that by using PayPal or Amazon. 
5. Use a credit card to buy stuff online if possible. NEVER use a debit card to make online purchases (they can drain your bank account impacting your normal expenses and budgeting). 
6. Do not shop over a public Wi-Fi. You simply do not know if it's secure and who is listening. Only shop using a secure, trusted network. If you have no other way to shop, use a VPN which encrypts your traffic or use the mobile hotspot feature if available on your cell phone.  
7. Be very careful when you see a free offer during the holidays. There is an explosion of all kinds of survey fraud and gift card scams. 
8. Do not re-use any of your passwords. Instead, use a password manager to create hard-to-break passwords. Re-using any password is literally an invitation to get hacked. 
9. Keep a close eye on your credit cards and bank accounts. During this season, unexpected and strange charges might appear which could very well be the first sign that your card or even your whole identity has been stolen. If you think you might have been scammed, stay calm and call your credit card company, nix that card and get a new one.
10. Be especially suspicious of gift card scams. They can be a perfect holiday gift, but gift card scams are skyrocketing. Only buy gift cards from trusted sources.

As always, think before you click and stick with purchasing only from retail merchants you know.