‘Tis the season to shop, travel and boost your cyber safety
Editorial staff, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management
- Fraudsters take advantage of increased online shopping and travel during the holidays.
- Avoid public Wi-Fi and do not share travel plans on social media.
- Use strong, unique passwords and multifactor authentication, and monitor accounts for suspicious activity.
The holiday season can be hectic, and with travel, family and festivities, it can be easy to let cyber safety take a backseat. It’s important to always keep security top of mind. Fraudsters take advantage of an increase in online shopping and travel – and a decrease in attention – to target potential victims.
In fact, one in five Americans say they’ve been scammed during a past holiday season, with an average loss of $840 per victim. Be alert for suspicious emails, calls or account activity, especially if the sender requests personal or financial information or asks for remote access to your computer.
Focusing on these areas can help protect your personal information and reduce your risk of fraud:
Travel
- Keep your plans private. Do not post your intended travel plans, itinerary or location updates on social media prior to or during your trip. Set family ground rules for social media so everyone does the same, especially with children and teenagers traveling with you.
- Use trusted travel and vacation home rental services, and only message and send funds through the site’s payment and messaging tools. Don’t fall for deals that seem too good to be true; domain names are inexpensive and easy for fraudsters to obtain in order to create fake travel sites that capture your information – and money.
- Avoid using public Wi-Fi at hotels, airports, cafes and on planes, as they are more likely to be compromised or spoofed.
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Online shopping
- Create strong and unique passwords across shopping and financial websites, and enable multifactor authentication wherever offered. Consider a password manager to help manage the passwords you have across online accounts.
- Avoid clicking links in ads, emails or pop-ups. Instead, type the retailer’s verified web address into your browser.
- Only make purchases from reputable sites, and look for “https” in the web address (but remember scammers can use it, too). Log out of websites and close the browser window after you complete a purchase.
Payments
- Treat transactions on payment apps as you would cash. Only send money to people you know and trust, and confirm the recipient’s username or contact information prior to completing the transaction.
- Set up online alerts on your financial accounts, and regularly monitor your credit and debit cards and bank statements for suspicious activity.
- Watch out for skimming devices on credit card readers, and opt to use the chip reader instead of the magnetic stripe for in-store purchases. A telltale sign that a skimmer has been attached to an ATM is that the card reader is loose; ensure you shield the keypad when entering your PIN or ZIP code.
Holiday scams
- Be wary of suspicious emails, text messages and social media posts from people or companies you don’t know. Fraudsters take advantage of the holiday season to increase their phishing attempts, so it’s important to keep in mind that messages may contain malware links or lead to surveys designed to collect personal information.
- Avoid charity scams. During year-end giving, charities solicit donations from existing and potential donors. If someone asks you to change how you donate, call the recipient on a known number, especially if the request is made at the last minute. Research the organization before donating to help make sure it’s legitimate.
- Be careful before downloading apps for well-known retailers, financial firms and products. Check app logos and descriptions for misspellings, missing letters or poor English, and look for other red flags, such as poor or few reviews, or links to apps from other retailers.
Remember, J.P. Morgan will never:
- Ask you to log in to the same computer with more than one user’s credentials
- Ask you to repeatedly submit login credentials
- Contact you about online problems, such as trouble logging in, unless you contacted us first
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