Keep your holiday season merry by guarding against cybercriminals

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023 | 2 a.m.

We hate to be the bearers of stressful or anxiety-inducing news, but there are now less than 10 days remaining in the pre-Christmas holiday shopping season. Moreover, according to the U.S. Postal Service, today is the final day to postmark greetings cards and other first-class mail in order to have it received by Dec. 25.

Now that we’ve sent you scurrying to your favorite local storefront or online shopping site, we thought it appropriate to provide a few best practices to avoid falling prey to scammers, hackers, thieves, porch pirates and other Grinches looking to take away the joy of giving this holiday season.

• If you do your shopping online, AAA recommends taking a few basic precautions before providing your financial information to a website. Avoid using public Wi-Fi at airports or cafes that can be easily monitored by cybercriminals looking to steal your credit card number or passwords.
• Confirm that the address (or URL) of the website you’re using is secure and begins with “https” instead of “http.” The “s” stands for secure. Often, secure websites will display a padlock in the corner of the screen next to the URL. If you don’t see the padlock, you might reconsider entering your information on the site.
• If you see spelling errors, strange language choices or images on the website that don’t quite make sense, you should find a different company from which to purchase. This can all be signs of a “pharming” scam in which you are automatically redirected, without your consent, from a legitimate website to a copycat website designed to steal your financial information.
• Secure your most important online accounts with strong passwords and two-factor authorization that will keep people who only know basic information from accessing your account.

Whether you’re shopping online or at a brick-and-mortar store (we recommend locally owned small businesses), once you’re ready to make your purchases, AAA also has some advice for avoiding identity theft and other financial fraud.

• ν Rather than submitting your credit card number over and over again, consider using a payment service like PayPal, Apple Pay, Amazon payments, etc., because most merchants support them as an alternative to credit cards. That way, you only have your credit card number in a few locations and the payment platforms generally have strong protections in place against fraud.
• If you do use a card, use a credit card instead of a debit card. Debit cards provide direct access to your bank account and offer less protection from fraud than credit cards. If criminals empty your bank account, you could be left with no means of paying bills or providing for your family while you await the conclusion of a fraud investigation and reimbursement of your funds. Moreover, unlike debit cards, credit card holders rarely incur liability for fraud or theft of their information, meaning that stolen funds will usually be reimbursed in full.
• Don’t allow websites or browsers to store credit card information. By storing your information after your transaction is complete, your credit card number may be exposed to any future data or security breach.
• Check online credit card and bank statements regularly, especially during the holiday shopping season. Even small charges that are suspicious or unknown could point to much bigger problems. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), cybercriminals often test stolen credit card numbers by making small purchases to see if anyone notices. Catching a financial criminal early could save you a lot of headaches in the future.
• Don’t buy gift cards online unless you are 100% certain it’s from a trusted vendor. Scammers love gift cards because they’re almost impossible to trace or refund.

Once you’ve made your purchases, there are simple steps you can take to help avoid becoming a victim of one of the 2.5 million burglaries each year in the United States. Many of those, including stealing packages from front porches or out of mailboxes, are crimes of convenience, so the FBI provides the following steps for securing deliveries.

• Choose in-store pickup options that make the store liable for receiving and holding the package until you arrive to pick it up.
• Request the “signature delivery option” so that your packages can only be delivered when you or a loved one are at home.
• Sign up for text-based delivery notifications so that you know when your package has arrived, then bring it inside immediately or ask a neighbor to bring it inside their home.
• Have packages delivered to a back door, side door or other location that is less visible from the street, reducing the opportunity for criminals to see and easily snatch your gifts.

While there is no way to prevent every cybercrime, financial crime or theft, we can make it more difficult for criminals to succeed and thus lower our odds of becoming victims at a time that is supposed to be filled with joy.

Finally, if you’re in the position to spread the joy a little further, we hope you’ll consider using these same tips to help ensure the security of donations to a great charitable organization like Toys for Tots or a local food pantry. Every child in Southern Nevada deserves a warm meal and a gift to open during the holidays. We promise you won’t be disappointed by the gift of giving.