Cyber Monday is Coming!

Published on: November 15th, 2017

Cyber Monday is Coming!

 

Retailers are expecting at least 30% of their holiday sales to take place online, with the biggest shopping day being Monday, November 27^th.   Are you ready to safely shop ‘til you drop? Here are some precautions to take before hopping online with your credit card information, and we cannot encourage you enough to take advantage of these recommendations because the hackers and fraudsters are already out there, waiting to grab your account information. Here’s how to stop them from succeeding:

 

Create Pesky Passwords

Create difficult-to-break passwords by not using English language words, or any words or names found in the dictionary. Instead, use short phrases substituting some of the letters with numbers and special characters. Create a scheme that you will remember.  Keep track of your passwords either the old-fashioned way, by writing them down and keeping the list in a secure place, or by using a password manager such as RoboForm (although some password managers have been hacked). If you choose to use a password manager, remember to write your master password down and keep it in a very secure location.
For each of your most sensitive financial accounts, create a unique username (using something more than a name) and password, so that if one account gets hacked, it doesn’t give the thief access to any of your other accounts. For your more casual accounts where no financial or sensitive information is stored, create a more generic approach to username and password.

 

No Debit Cards Online

Whenever shopping online, and especially on Cyber Monday, use only credit cards or store credit cards to complete your purchases. Why?

– Federal law allows consumers to dispute charges on their credit card bills, and credit card providers may not hold you responsible for fraudulent purchases if they offer a “zero liability” policy, but there is no such provision for payments made by debit card.
– Remember that debit cards are linked directly to your bank account, which could result in thieves having access to all the money in your account.
– Although you may report or dispute fraudulent charges on your debit card, the time it will take to resolve the issue will likely be longer than on a credit card.

 

Two-Step Authentication

Wherever and whenever possible, sign up for two-step authentication. Logins work as normal with a username and password, but then a verification code is sent to a separate device (ex. cell phone) for access. This additional layer of security ensures that you are the only person who can gain access to your account.

Look up which retailers, banks, etc. are offering 2-step authentication at Two Factor Auth (2FA)

 

Monitor Your Bank Account

In the flurry of finding just the right gifts, remember to go online and check your bank account for un-recognized charges. Do this often, so that you can catch any thefts before the goods or services have been delivered to the thief. The one caveat here is not to access your financial institutions from a public wireless network (outside your home) on a wireless device of any kind UNLESS you are using that institution’s app.

At least during the holiday shopping season, consider turning on ‘notifications’ (including mobile notifications) for all account activity. Take advantage of vendor sites like Amazon which may offer the option to receive text message notifications when purchases are made. Even though the influx of information may seem overwhelming, in this case, knowledge is confidence: confidence that no one has breached your account, and your money is safe.

 

Is That A Cell Phone You’re Holding, Or A Mobile-Buying-Device?

Even more caution is needed when shopping on your cell phone or tablet. We recommend that you download your favorite stores’ official app (in addition to your banks’ apps), as opposed to going through your internet browser to the stores’ mobile sites. The stores have more control over their apps, which will help to keep your information safe.  Tip: never download a 3^rd Party app from anywhere other than your device’s official app store, in order to avoid downloading apps that are highly likely to be malicious.

Alright, this is going to take a little discipline, but is worth doing: On this Cyber Monday, do not shop on any public Wi-Fi network. If you must shop on the fly, use your device’s data plan, purchase a stand-alone mobile hot spot, or implement a virtual Private Network (VPN) when shopping by laptop on public Wi-Fi. Remember that the fraudsters are trolling the Wi-Fi waves and will steal from you in a heartbeat.

 

Shop on Secure Sites

The Better Business Bureau recommends that you only complete online purchases via secure sites and that you enter credit card information only on web pages utilizing “Secure Sockets Layer” (SSL) security technology. SSL technology establishes an encrypted link between the web server and the browser, and websites that don’t use SSL should be suspect.

How can you verify that a site is secure?
Look for these indicators:
– “HTTPS” (the “s” stands for secure) at the beginning of the URL
– a lock icon to the left of the URL
– a lock icon on the bottom right-hand corner of the SSL certified webpage.

How to spot malicious or scam websites:
– the URL does not start with “HTTPS”
– the URL does not have a lock icon
– the website appears to be of poor design; words are misspelled; grammar is poor

 

How to spot scam emails touting great Christmas sales:

Look at the sender’s email address carefully to make sure that it routes back to the company’s website as opposed to a bogus site (ex. [email protected] or [email protected]). Do not click on any links unless you have verified that the email is from a legitimate source. And remember: if the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably IS – don’t fall for it.

 

Looking at that super deal and you’re still in doubt?

– check the vendor’s accreditation on the Better Business Bureau; or
– check on that deal by reviewing a list of actual Cyber Monday Deals at the National Retail Federation

 

 

Wishing you safe and successful shopping on Cyber Monday!

The staff at Computer Troubleshooters

 

Sources:
Kim Weinberger, Computer Troubleshooters
Kari Paul, MarketWatch