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With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, online shopping is fast, easy, and convenient. While it’s quickly becoming the norm to do your shopping online, it’s not always the safest way. Check out our tips to help you keep your hard-earned cash safe this holiday season and all year round:
- Keep an eye on your bank statements. Pay close attention to your financial records, like bank statements and credit card transactions, so you can flag suspicious activity and notify your bank or financial institution immediately.
- Protect Your Online Accounts.
- Use a complex password that is at least 12 characters long. Strong passwords are reasonably long, contain upper and lowercase letters as well as numbers and symbols, and have no significance to your personal information.
- Use multifactor authentication for any account that allows it.
- Don’t shop on public wi-fi. It can sometimes be necessary to use public wi-fi, however, it’s not very secure. Never connect to important accounts (like banking) while connected to public wi-fi. Snoopers can also look over your shoulder as you input your personal information, so beware of your surroundings.
- Only shop through trusted sources. When shopping online, verify that the website you’re using is legitimate. Scammers will sometimes create fake websites to steal your information. When shopping on a website, make sure the web address begins with “https:”, which means your information is being encrypted. You can also tell a site is safe by the locked padlock icon next to the address, which identifies an encrypted website.
- Use safe methods for purchasing. If you are using a debit card, consider using our Contactless Card or Mobile Wallet for secure, touch-free purchases or utilize the CGB Smart Card app, to set spending limits, monitor for fraud, and more.
- If you do get scammed, file a complaint immediately. Start off by contacting the seller, and if that doesn’t work, go to your credit card. You can also report scams to the FTC or your state’s attorney general. It’s important to report scams as it helps identify and protect consumers from fraud attempts.
While these are great tips for staying on the safe list while shopping online during the holiday season, they are also great habits to maintain all year round.
