Hello Friend,
We are in the midst of the December Holiday season. As they get closer, your online shopping may become frantic – leading to you falling for online scams. The holidays are a great time for scammers: They take advantage of the seasonal frenzy and hope you’re too distracted to notice when things feel a little fishy.
Here are our tips to keep yourself safe this holiday season:
1. Keep your software updated! Software updates bring new features but also security patches that boost overall security of the device or app you are using.
2. Use unique passwords, even if it’s hard to remember them. If you use the same login at Target, Amazon, on your email and your bank accounts, all a scammer needs is access to one site to get into all your other accounts. Use a secure password manager to keep them organized.
3. Verify before you act. Especially if anything on the email or website seems too good to be true. Is that popular gift really 80 percent off? Ensure you are on the right website or the sender is actually from the company.
4. Beware of urgency! Scammers will create a sense of urgency, making you panic and overlook that it’s a phishing email. If this happens to you, take a moment and do your research. If you are still concerned, call the company (search for the number, don’t use the one on the email).
While you need to know how to protect yourself, you also need to be aware of what scams are out there.
