The holiday shopping season is well underway, and many are choosing to shop primarily online due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Online shopping opens the door to the scammers, hackers, and cybercriminals that would love to steal your credit card info so they can fill their stockings this Christmas or sell your info on the Dark Web.

Here are a few quick tips for safe online shopping this holiday season.

5 Tips for Safe Online Shopping

1. Only shop on trusted sites. Those great deals at those other sites most likely are too good to be true. Stick with what you know.

2. Make sure those trusted sites have secure URLs. That means https (s means secure). Anything else could be intercepted by hackers.

3. Use a secure connection. If you’re on Wi-Fi, make sure it’s a trusted source. Starbucks, the airport, or a random hotspot may be a fake network just trying to capture your info as you shop.

4. Use a credit card, not a debit card. Credit cards are protected against fraud. Debit cards are not.

5. After your purchase, watch your account for any anomalies.

Use these tips to make your days merry and bright. Happy shopping!

Teknologize is a Managed Service Provider with clients throughout the Pacific Northwest with offices located in the Tri-Cities and Yakima, Washington 509.396.6640 and Bend, Oregon 541.848.6072.