Yesterday I was able to attend an online press conference about shopping safely online this holiday season and I wanted to share the information with you all. This year online sales are supposed to skyrocket with about 42% of Americans buying at least one gift online this holiday season. So with this in mind here are a few tips to help ease your mind:
- Look for the “S” for Security: Make sure the sites you are shopping from are secure and have “HTTPS” in the URL. The “S” ensures security. Also, look for the padlock symbol and research shopping sites at locations such as shopzilla.com and pricegrabber.com.
- Stay Current on Security Software: Make sure you have the latest virus protection software updates from your provider before you start your holiday shopping.
- Think Before You Link: Employ a URL scanning tool to ensure you’re not clicking on links that lead to infected websites. Free tool here: http://free.avg.com/us-en/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition I thought this in particular was one of the best tips. As a blogger it will help me check links before I pass them on to all of you!
- Keep Your Private Information Private: Make sure you keep your personal information private. Create a separate e-mail account just for shopping and use a unique password. Keep records of your online shopping by printing confirmation pages and e-mail confirmations.
- Mix Up Your Passwords: Each e-mail, bank, credit card account should have a unique password. Write them down and store them in a secure location. One thing they mentioned during the press conference was using a phrase like “mykidisthebest!” Something easy to remember.
For more information and links to FREE AVG virus protection downloads(Can’t beat FREE!) be sure to visit: www.shop.org/shopsafely
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