Wajeez Articles: 9 Holiday Shopping Identity Theft Prevention Tips
Holiday shopping season is upon us, and for that, IdentityHawk, a leading identity protection service, provides 9 holiday shopping identity theft prevention tips. The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is traditionally the most profitable part of the year for retailers; IdentityHawk is providing these tips so the holiday season isn’t the most profitable for identity thieves as well.
- Beware of skimming.
Skimming happens when a store clerk takes your card and runs it through a device that copies the information from the magnetic strip. Once the thief has the identity information, they can use it to make purchases. - Use cash or the same credit card for all your holiday buys.
Credit cards have more protection associated with them than debit cards. Cash doesn’t have identity information associated with it. - Check your credit card activity online regularly and often.
Make sure all the transactions reported on your card were made by you. If you find any, immediately contact the card issuer to dispute the charge. - Be careful using ATMs.
Identity thieves can manipulate ATMs to cause an ATM card to become stuck inside of the machine – until the thief retrieves it. Often, thieves will hide a small camera near the ATM to extract the victim’s PIN number. Gas pumps are also susceptible to this type of scam. - Patronize secure websites.
There are several ways that legitimate retailers indicate that transmittal of your credit card and other personal information is done safely using special technology that scrambles (encrypts) your details to thwart computer hackers. - Inspect the URL address.
If it starts with “https,” you’ll know it’s a secure site — the “s” at the end of “http” stands for “secure.” Otherwise, look for a closed padlock or an unbroken key in the browser window. - Do business with reputable companies.
Exercise some caution when dealing with a company you haven’t heard of or done business with. - Don’t disclose more personal information than is necessary.
For instance, never provide a Social Security number unless you’re applying for credit. (The less your personal information is floating around cyberspace, the less chance it can be abused by identity thieves intent on charging their purchases to your name.) - Keep personal passwords separate from shopping website passwords.
Some websites require you to register, sign in and create a password to access or return to their site. Never use the same password you use for your personal computer, or on sensitive sites like your online bank account, on shopping websites.
