Protect Yourself From Thieves While Online Shopping!

Christmas time is a real holiday for scammers and phishers and ne'er-do-wells. Protect yourself!

Here are some tips to make your online shopping safer:

• Use a credit card instead of your debit card. Fraudulent charges can take some time to recoup and that can raise hell with your checking account and lead to bounced checks.
• Password reuse is a bigger danger than weak ones! Choose strong passwords and change them often.
• Stick to stores that you recognize. You can help verify a legit site by looking for https://, as opposed to http://  at the beginning of the URL.
• Keep your browser up to date.
• Be aware of charity scams, they pop up like crazy around the holidays. Always check the legitimacy of their site.
• Check your location and privacy settings, many apps and websites will automatically share your GPS location by default.
• Check your statements frequently.
• Add Security Apps, install Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware software.
• Enable timeouts on your mobile phone. If you shop using your phone, enable a lock screen password in case it gets lost or stolen.

Happy Cyber Shopping!