Each minute of our life is a lesson but most of us fail to read it. I thought I would just add my daily lessons & the lessons that I learned by seeing the people around here. So it may be useful for you and as memories for me.
Black Friday 2022 is almost here, and in the run-up to the huge sales day an alert has been put out about scams and tricks that shoppers need to be aware of. Taking few precaution steps could help you save a lot of time, money and stress – gives shoppers help on phishing scams, e-mail security and where best to spend their hard-earned cash.
Black Friday is a major shopping event that originated in the USA but has since grown in popularity in the Europe. It falls on November 25 this year, but many retailers have already started launching early deals to entice customers to start spending.
Don’t get caught up in the moment and forget about your online safety, Black Friday bogus has become a massive trend in the cyber-criminal world. Online buying doesn’t have to lead to offline crying! Take a few moments to control the chaos and make sure you are not the next target of an online scammer.
With more people expected to shop online this year, cybercriminals have ramped up their scams ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The amount of money spent over this cyber weekend is escalating year on year, and last year in the UK, shoppers spent a staggering £2.5billion, an increase of 3.4% on the previous year.
Cybercriminals follow the money and this weekend of crazed spending provides them with the perfect opportunity to scam a large number of people. According to Barclays, nearly a quarter of 18-34-year-olds have fallen for a Black Friday scam in the past five years and shoppers lose on average £661 after falling victim to such frauds.
With attacks becoming more sophisticated, shoppers need to be extra cautious when looking for the latest bargains online. If you’re planning on being a shopper yourself during the holiday season, take a few precautions to keep your data safe.
Below are few Cyber Safety tips to keep you safe online this Black Friday and Cyber Monday:
- Only deal with retail companies you trust. Understand how they operate.
- Watch out for fake websites. Think before you click
- Learn to look for signs of suspicious emails, phone calls, text messages and websites
- Use secure payment methods. Do not provide all your details which is feel not looking right.
- Avoid deals that are too good to be true
- Be selective about who you do business with
- Do not provide more information than you need to avoid setting up an account if you don’t have to
- Watch out for social media scams
- Use different passwords for different websites
- Consider using credit cards rather than debit cards as they may offer more protection
- Be very wary of using free wi-fi because these networks are often compromised by hackers
- Keep an eye on your bank account in case of unauthorised activity.
- Look for some sort of “Safe Shopping” badge on the site that shows they’re looking out for your safety
- Remember to use a unique password for every online account.Try to enable two-factor authentication.
- Make sure the website is using HTTPS in the URL. This ensures that the data transferred between the web browser and the website is encrypted.
Shop until you drop, but NEVER drop your guard!
With the right precautions, you can walk away from Black Friday with great deals – and your data still protected.
Please feel free to share your story and any lessons you learned, experienced, you came across in your life in the comments below. If you enjoyed this or any other posts, I’d be honored if you’d share them with your family, friends, and followers!
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