Online Holiday Shopping 2020 – Get Ready! – Be Aware!

Published On November 23, 2020 | By Tom Huskerson | Now You Know

Holiday shopping season is also online scam season You need to be ready and aware to protect yourself because no one else is going to do it for you.

One of the most important things you can do is start now to develop good cyber security habits. Here are a few tips for shopping online that you should take with you into the new year.

  1. Focus on secure forms of purchase. Use a credit card online and not your debit card. Once the money is gone from your bank account its gone for good. With a credit card you can at least dispute the charge and get it removed from your bill.
  2. Don’t answer unsolicited email. This holiday season, as with all others, you will get a ga-gillion emails selling stuff. Be aware! if you don’t know the retailer, have not done business with them and can’t believe the deal they are offering them you better ignore them. If you feel you can’t pass up the deal then at least investigate the company. Then wait 24 hours before you buy the product. And don’t fall for urgency tricks. If you’re in hurry to buy something its probably not good for you or not what you think because you’re not thinking.
  3. Be careful of holiday charity scams. Someone’s child is starving and won’t have any gifts under the tree. A mother is broke and needs help due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are a million stories, Yes, please give if you can but do it through charities you know or your church. Don’t give away your money just because your heart hurts!
  4. Protect your privacy. One way to lose your personal information is to give it away. Nothing online is free anymore. You’re going to at least give up an email address. Also, be careful when you see holiday contests that ask for your personal information to win a prize.
  5. When shopping online be alert to duplicate or fake websites. It may not be Amazon.com you found but Anazom.com or some other clever trick. Check your web address (URL) carefully. You may not be where you think you are. Learn to spot a fake website before it spots you!
  6. Be aware of fake package delivery problems scams. Its pretty simple, you get an email of text message saying you have a package or letter that FedEdx, UPS or the post office is having trouble delivering to you. “Click on this link.” This could wreck you computer with spyware, ransomware or something else just as bad. If you were not expecting a package then you aren’t getting one.

This holiday season Get Ready! Be Aware!

Now you know

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About The Author

Tom Huskerson Bio Born in Richmond Virginia Tom Huskerson is a military veteran who settled in California after his discharge. Tom attended Santa Barbara City College where he began his writing career as a campus reporter. He worked as an intern news reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press writing feature stories before moving on to San Francisco. At San Francisco State University Tom studied broadcast communications and began to focus on the Internet. He completed his graduate thesis on Internet advertising. Tom was the first student to ever focus on the Internet as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. After graduation he went to work for Zona Research in California’s Silicone Valley. As a research associate Tom supported senior analyst writing on the latest developments in the Internet industry. During the dot com boom Tom worked for several web businesses as a market researcher and analyst. As a writer and researcher Tom has authored various technical works including a training program for Charles Schwab security. Other projects included professional presentations on workplace violence and hiring security contractors. Tom has also written both fiction and non-fiction works and blogging for a travel website. He has published two books of short stories and completed two novels. Tom is the owner of Scribe of Life Literature and EbonyCandle.com. Tom is not the chief editor for the OnTechStreet. com. A news and information blog that focuses on tech news for African-Americans. The blog is the result of his desire to inform the African American community of the dangers and benefits of the cyber age. In his blog Tom reports on information security, new and analysis, scams and hoaxes, legal happenings and various topics that arise from the age of information. Tom believes that technology is a necessary tool for black people and they should know what is happening. Tom writes believing that techno speak is for the professional and that valuable information can be communicated using plain language. As a result he has embraced the motto, Less Tech, More Knowledge.

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