Holiday shopping season is officially here, and while it’s a super busy process, it’s also essential to make sure you’re staying safe.
As it turns out, there are a lot of little ‘mistakes’ you can make while holiday shopping that can come back to bite you later down the line. Around this time of year, we make a lot of purchases, both in person and online, sharing our payment information and doing whatever it takes to ensure gifts get to your home on time. We spoke with tech experts about three holiday shopping errors to avoid so you can keep yourself safe from cybercriminals. Read more about them below.
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1. Using The Same Information When Signing Up For Company Accounts
Since there are usually a lot of gifts and merchandise to buy during the holidays, people tend to try to find any sort of deal they can get. Many retailers and other companies will offer specials and discounts if they create a membership with them and sign up for an account. Tech expert Aimee Simpson notes it's best to ensure you don't use the same information over and over again.
"A common mistake people make while holiday shopping is signing up for lots of company accounts with the same details," she says. "Every time you create an account and log in with the same password, you're creating another opportunity for malicious actors. If they manage to breach into one of these sites and find your username and password, the fact that you use it everywhere means they now have unbridled access to all of your devices and accounts."
2. Letting Online Retailers Keep Your Payment Information
As you're checking out gifts and products online, it can be tempting to let them keep your payment information for a quicker checkout process in the future. Although this is convenient, tech experts advise against it, especially for third-party websites or apps.
"Retailers make it easy to save your payment details, but every place your card is stored becomes another doorway for attackers," says tech expert Cody Tyler. "A single breach can expose years of saved data. Use digital wallets or one-time payments instead of storing cards across dozens of sites."
