Cyber Monday Is a Critical Identity Theft Day

In the past few years, retailers have seen a trend in how their customers shopped for the holidays. More and more people have grown weary of standing in the cold or elbowing through thousands of shoppers to buy this year’s hot toy. Savvy shoppers have increasingly opted to stay home in their pajamas and find great deals online. That’s led to the rise in Cyber Monday. Once the holiday chaos of Black Friday is out of the way, the following Monday is a time to pop over to the internet and see what sales are taking place to finish (or start!) your shopping. Unfortunately, just like Black Friday, Cyber Monday is a favorite holiday for identity thieves, scammers and hackers. In order to reduce your risk of falling victim to the crime, you have to take some steps to secure your identity. 1. Know your antivirus software – Antivirus software has come a long way since the early days of trying to block malicious computer threats. Unfortunately, so have the tools that cybercriminals use to steal your money, your identity, your computer and more. A comprehensive security suite can now offer you protection from ransomware, trojans, worms, phishing scams, keyloggers and so much more. Many of them now include parental control tools, which is great if you have kids, as well as VPNs and tracking blockers for private browsing online. Make sure your security suite is installed, updated and ready to protect you before you start entering your credit card details and your shipping address online. 2. Know your payment methods – Whether you’re using credit cards, debit cards, online payment platforms like PayPal, or gift cards, it’s important to keep up with which method you used on which website. That way, if there’s suspicious activity on your card or account later, you can trace it back to which site you may have used. It’s also a good idea to know ahead of time what kinds of consumer protection are in place in case of fraud. Will your credit card company stand up for you if someone steals your information or racks up extra charges? Will they protect you if the website you used was a scam and they never send your purchases? Find out the rules and regulations—as well as what kinds of money-saving deals and discounts, if any—are in place before you use it. 3. Know what you’re clicking – Fake websites, copycat websites that look like real retailers’ sites, and bogus ads that only lead to click-revenue are the bane of every shopper’s existence at this time of year. Look for the site’s HTTPS designation before you enter any payment details, and make sure this is a reputable company before you pay for anything. A quick Google search for the name of the company or a check of the BBB’s scam tracker can tell you if there are any dissatisfied customers out there.

Contact the Identity Theft Resource Center for toll-free, no-cost assistance at (888) 400-5530. For on-the-go assistance, check out the free ID Theft Help App from ITRC.