Today is Cyber Monday meaning a lot of people are hitting the stores, but not in person, they're doing it online. Cyber security experts want to make sure you are taking steps to protect your personal and banking information from scammers.
"Once again, it goes back to educating yourself, and being responsible when you're on the internet,” said Officer Tim Broadway with the Reno Police Department.
Americans are expected to spend $3 billion in online shopping Monday, that’s 12% more than last year. All of that online shopping has impacted Black Friday sales. A National Retail Federation Survey found that more people shopped online than in stores this weekend.
So how can you stay safe while shopping online?
The Washoe County Sheriff's Office has the following advice for online shoppers today:
- Read your credit card statements as soon as you get them to make sure there are no unauthorized charges. If there is a discrepancy, report it immediately.
- Always type a website address yourself or access it through trusted search engines.
- Never click on an email link, taking you to a purchase site. The link may take you to a fraudulent site.
- Don't allow online sites to maintain your credit card information. Although it's convenient, this is risky.
- When having items shipped to your residence, make sure they are taken inside timely, preventing thieves from taking them or realizing nobody is home and potentially leaving yourself exposed to a burglary.
- Always use a credit card instead of debit or check. Credit cards have an additional level of consumer protection in the event of a fraudulent purchase or disputed transactions.
- "Don't use public Wi-Fi,” said Broadway. “You don't know how secure those are. Make sure you're using your Wi-Fi that you're comfortable with that you're logged into and you know it's secure."
- If it just looks too good to be true, it probably is.
