Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

As hackers exploit the holidays, how to protect yourself online

Holiday Shopping Cyber Monday

Michael Dwyer / AP

In this Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, file photo, Tashalee Rodriguez, of Boston, uses a smartphone app while shopping at Macy’s in downtown Boston.

Reports detailing the breach of more than a billion Yahoo user accounts last week provide a sober reminder of the need to protect your personal information, especially during the retail-heavy holiday season.

A recent study by Wallethub, a website specializing in credit scores and credit reports, shows that Nevada ranks fifth in the nation for trouble related to identity theft and fraud, trailing Washington, D.C, California, Florida, and Massachusetts.

"Nevada's overall ranking is mostly due to its fraud statistics,” said Jill Gonzalez, an analyst with WalletHub.

Nevada experienced the sixth-highest number of fraud complaints in the country at almost 837 per 100,000 residents and the eighth-highest average amount lost to fraud at $1,338. For identity theft, Nevada fares better in the report, with 125 identity-theft complaints per 100,000 residents ranking 20th nationally and an average loss of $5,497 placing 14th. WalletHub compiled data from the Federal Trade Commission, Internet Crime Complaint Center and National Conference of State Legislatures for its rankings.

Statistics from the Nevada Crime and Corrections Department offer a slightly bleaker picture, showing the state ranked third in the nation in consumer fraud complaints and fifth in identity theft complaints per 100,000 residents in 2015.

No matter which measure is used, the threat posed is significant. Every second, 12 people become victims of cyber fraud, according to Paul Stowell, chief market strategist and senior vice president with City National Bank in Las Vegas. That equates to more than 1 million people per day globally and $115 billion in costs each year.

The holiday season offers increased opportunity for hackers and thieves to grab personal information because of the jump in online shopping. Holiday online sales are expected to grow more than 17 percent and comprise nearly 11 percent of total holiday retail sales, according to research from CBRE. Of those online sales, just under 30 percent will be from mobile devices — a year-over-year jump of more than 43 percent in what is being called ‘m-commerce.’

"Consumers need to be very cautious when shopping online, especially during this time of year,” Gonzalez said. “It's important to use well-known websites, URLs containing 'https' rather than 'http' (the 's' stands for 'secure.') It's also important to safeguard their primary email address that retail sites are linked to. If that email is breached, it has a snowball effect on anything linked to it."

WalletHub offers additional tips for protecting yourself:

• Email security. Your primary email address will likely serve as your username and means of resetting your password on other websites, so if it’s vulnerable, all of your other accounts will be, too. Use an especially secure password and establish two-step verification for this account.

• Credit monitoring. Credit monitoring is the best way to keep tabs on your credit report, providing peace of mind in the form of alerts about important changes to your file, including potential signs of identity theft.

• Account alerts and updated contact information. Setting up online management for all of your financial accounts such as credit cards, loans and Social Security, and keeping your phone number, email address and street address up to date will make them harder for identity thieves to hijack. Establishing alerts for changes to your contact information and other suspicious account activity will serve as a safeguard.

• Common sense online. Don’t open emails you don’t recognize. Don’t download files from untrustworthy sources. Don’t send account numbers and passwords via email or messenger applications.

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