Christmas is a time to share with your family, and to celebrate your appreciation you buy gifts for your loved ones. The races begin between preparations for Christmas dinners and hurried purchases, without a doubt we decided to make purchases via internet. The cybercriminals are aware of your Christmas stress and will take advantage to access your information. There is no need to be a victim of stress! Follow these basic cybersecurity measures to carry out your Christmas shopping safely so you can enjoy this time of year peacefully.
Make your Christmas shopping online safely:
One way to save time for our Christmas shopping is to buy items online. This allows us to avoid travelling to shopping centers that are full of people as you look for gifts that can cost you hours out of the day. If you decide to do your shopping online, follow these recommendations below:
- No matter how hurry you are, do not connect with a public Wi-Fi to make purchases, it is preferable to do so from a secure network with your devices or with a trusted one. If it is extremely necessary, do it using a VPN.
- Choose websites from well-known and reputable brands, one way to find out if the site is credible is to review the comments of other users who have made purchases on the site before. In addition, if you follow these tips you can identify a secure web page to make your purchases.
- It is also important to check that they have a transparent system for tracking orders.
- Use prepaid cards: Some banks offer virtual prepaid cards, these provide greater security because they can be charged with the exact amount you need for your purchase.
Christmas shopping physical stores with a credit card
With the rise of cyber attacks, every day they become more serious and more complex. It is not surprising that large numbers of the population resist shopping online, the problem is that the dangers are also present in the purchases we make in physical stores, so we must be cautious at all times.
Beware of Skimmers:
One of the ways that criminals have to attack is through “skimmers”. These are devices very similar to the usual payment terminal but they are designed to read the card when passing scanning it. They capture your PIN number and bank details when a simple card transaction is made.
If the establishment says they have had problems with the payment terminal all day or very often, it may be because a “Skimmer” has been implanted in the reader, making it necessary for you to swipe your card more times than usual for it to capture the data.
Keep distance when you pay with contactless payment systems:
The contactless payment system are in danger too, there is a technology called “near-field communications”, which can be controlled or captured remotely. For this, the person who tries to intercept the payment information needs to be close to the victim. So if you are using this payment system, look around and insist that no one is by your side when you go to pay.
Avoid using the magnetic stripe of the card:
It is unusual to use magnetic stripe cards because almost all have chips instead. However, cybercriminals can disable the chip reader or cause an error message to appear, thus forcing you to re-pass the card using the magnetic stripe. If the payment device has been enabled to read chips, but still shows an error message, you should consider another form of payment.
We must be aware that cybersecurity is present at all times and all areas of our lives, if we take the proper precautions each day, we can enjoy our holidays in peace.