Going online today for great sales? Make sure you’re not only equipped to buy, but also to buy safely. Here’s some tips to remember.
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In Canada, today is Boxing Day, when many retailers offer in-store and online discounts on a wide range of products. I expect there will be big sales in the U.S. as well. Which means you’ve not only to shop smart, you’ve also got to shop safely. Got a product in mind and doing an Internet search for the best price? Well, beware of prices that are too good to be true. Online scammers set up dummy websites and ads offering popular items far below market value. They may send you a used product – or nothing — because what they want is your credit card number. So first, can you trust the site? Is it a real site of a trusted retailer or a fake copy of the company’s site? When you go to pay, does the page send you to an odd payment site? If you need to set up an account to buy, use a unique and strong password. And never pay for items purchased online with wire transfers, money orders or cash.
Stay Safe Online offers these shopping tips
Get Cyber Safe offers these tips for protecting your online identity
Finally, if you’re buying an Internet-connected device after you get it change the default password to something strong that you don’t use on other devices, and make sure
On Friday I’ll talk in more detail about how to make sure everything you own that connects is safe.
Until then, have a great holiday.
That’s it for Cyber Security Today. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or add us to your Flash Briefing on your smart speaker. Thanks for listening. I’m Howard Solomon