Shopping online this holiday season? Beware of
identity thieves.
Consumers are already doing more of their holiday
shopping online. Even so, Cyber Monday, the Monday
after Thanksgiving, is expected to be the busiest online
shopping day of the season as retailers roll out a number
of specials to take advantage.
Be warned, though, scammers and hackers are gearing
up for Cyber Monday, too. One expert says Cyber
Monday may be the most dangerous day of the year
when it comes to having your identity stolen.
HOT OFF PRESS
“The best way to be secure on Cyber Monday?
Yank the plug out,” says Bob Bunge, a cyber
security specialist and engineering professor at
DeVry University.
While it’s true that scammers run their “phishing”
attacks all year long, Bunge and other security experts
he consults with have seen the intensity level build since
the start of the holiday shopping season. The reason is
that so many retailers are offering deals on Black Friday
or earlier. Bunge says he expects activity to spike on
Cyber Monday.
“The reason is consumers are expecting to get a bunch
of good offers from retailers they’ve done business
with,” Bunge says. “It’s the one day of the year that if
Walmart says they’ll sell you a TV for $10 and you might
be inclined to believe it. Only it isn’t Walmart making
the offer.”
Instead, it could be someone in another country hoping
you will click a link in the email, which could either
send you to a bogus site, and entice you into revealing
sensitive information. The links in these emails may
lead you to accidentally download malicious software
to your computer, giving criminals access to information
you wish to keep private and secure.
Visit the Federal Trade Commission website, http://
www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0003-phishing
to learn more about how to protect your sensitive
information. While you are there, visit http://
www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0009-computersecurity to learn how to protect your computer from
malicious software.
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