November kicks off the holiday shopping season, beginning with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While the spirit of the season is giving, it's also a time of year when criminals aim to steal identities, banking information and money. According to a 2018 Gallup poll, 71 percent of Americans fear having their personal, credit card or financial information stolen online and 67 percent fear having their identity stolen. Those fears are well-founded. It's been estimated there were more than 700 million worldwide victims of cyber-crime in 2017, and those victims collectively lost $172 billion. Here are a few steps the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends consumers take to protect themselves from online fraud.
Update your software
While updating the operating systems, web browsers and apps on computers and smartphones may seem like an inconvenience at times, those updates play an important role in keeping your personal information secure. Updates usually contain security upgrades that protect you from specific viruses and vulnerabilities.
Don't reuse passwords
Your personal and financial information is only as safe as your password hygiene. It goes without saying that the stronger your password is, the less likely it is to be brute-force hacked, but remember passwords should not be reused across multiple sites. When one account is compromised, every site on which you use the password is also compromised. Your passwords should include upper- and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. Enable two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security. If you have trouble remembering complex passwords for multiple sites, consider using a password manager.
Only shop on encrypted websites
Have you ever noticed some websites begin with "http" while others begin with "https?" That "s" stands for "secure," meaning that "https" websites are encrypted to protect your personal and payment information. Web security experts recommend users avoid entering any personal or payment information into websites that are not secure.
Beware of wire, electronic transfer payments
There is a major increase in the number of scams perpetrated during the holiday season via wire transfer and electronic funds transfers. Wires are a dangerous form of payment because once they're sent, they cannot be retrieved or refunded. Never perform a bank-to-bank or person-to-person transfer to or from someone you don't know in real life.
Review your statements
Knowing is half the battle. Too often, people make the mistake of ignoring their monthly account statements. Credit score reporting company FICO recommends regularly checking your account activity to spot potentially fraudulent charges. If you find one you're unsure about, contact your bank as soon as possible to prevent any further risk.
Use a credit card to make online purchases
No one wants to pay interest charges, but it makes sense to use a credit card to make online purchases due to credit card companies' robust fraud resolution services. Credit card issuers proactively monitor spending habits to quickly identify potential fraud and resolve the fraudulent purchase(s).
Don't click that link!
Recent analysis by ProofPoint, a cybersecurity company, found 99 percent of the online attacks they reviewed required participation from the fraud victim. In other words, scammers are very good at encouraging their targets to download malware, disclose their passwords and hand over banking and credit card information. Never click a link or download an attachment contained in an email from an unknown sender, even if the attachment is a Word document or PDF. Always check the URL to determine whether you're on the correct website. When in doubt about an email or website, close it out.
For more information about online security, visit www.consumer.ftc.gov.
