HOLIDAY CYBER SAFETY

HOLIDAY CYBER SAFETY

HOLIDAY CYBER SAFETY

 

What a beautiful time of the year when we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa with family and friends and do our best to give each person on our shopping list THE perfect gift. To find that perfect gift we can fight the traffic and crowds at the mall or save time and aggravation by shopping online. Let’s go with the online approach. To successfully shop on line it is important for you to be aware of cyber criminals and the inventive and aggressive methods they employ to steal your
money and identity, and there are many. What are some of the popular schemes? The Fraudulent Classified Ads or Auction Sales and Nondelivered Merchandise are two that are easy to fall victim to. Let me explain; the Fraudulent Classified Ads or Auction Sales is a scam where the seller post items that are stolen or is purchased with a stolen credit card. The Nondelivered Merchandise is a scam where merchandise is sold that does not exist. The buyer purchases items online which is never delivered. How do you avoid becoming a victim and totally ruining your holiday shopping?

Well, here are a few tips to best protect yourself:

 

● Get to know as much about the seller as possible. Start with a Google search paying
special attention ratings, comments or complains. Research the BBB, many scam “artist” are listed on the FBI web site at ( www.fbi.gov/scamssafety/fraud ) or research your states business licenses sitesFlorida residents can log on to www.sunbiz.org or myfloridalicense.com.

● It is best to play it safe and buy from reputable companies you are familiar or have done business with in the past.

● Avoid companies that do not have a physical address. No company is based in a post office box.

● Send an email to make sure it is valid and call the contact number to make sure the
company even exist.

● Don’t base your decision to do business with a company on their web site. It is easy to set up a flashy web site which is just that…flash.

● When possible pay with your credit card so you can dispute the charge if there is a
problem.

● Avoid dealing with foreign companies. It is almost impossible to verify the legitimacy or get a refund from companies not in the US.

● Never respond to special investment offers because there is a real possibility the
“company” is only after your banking information to seal your identity.

● Beware of price differences, for example a designer hand bag for $19.99 which sells at Macy’s for $125.00 is, in all likelihood, fake.

● The old saying: “If it is to good to be true, it is.” applied back in the day and still does today. Shopping online can really simplify your holiday preparations if it is done with caution and due diligence.

 

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