Online Shopping Last Minute for Mother’s Day? Be Safe and Cautious

Mother’s Day is a few days away and if you are a last minute shopper, you may be taking to the Internet to try and find that special gift for Mom. However, when you’re searching last minute for great gift ideas, Internet safety isn’t always the first thing on your mind. Don’t let your last minute shopping frenzy lead you down a path of bad security decisions. Shop safe with these tips from Kaspersky Lab:

Deals That are Too Good to be True

It’s common to receive promotional materials from retailers, either through email or social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter; however, it’s also common for cybercriminals to abuse this distribution method by sending out mass amounts of fake emails that are disguised as legitimate messages from these companies. Once you click on the link to view the offer, you’ll be redirected to a malicious site instead of the retailer’s. Not only can your PC and financial information be at risk, but the malicious link will try to automatically spread itself to all your friends to snare more victims.

Public Wi-Fi Wariness

Smartphones and tablets can help you stay on top of deals and retail availability while at the mall searching for that hard-to-find gift. However, cyber criminals know consumers are more likely to visit sites with login accounts or financial information during busy shopping times, like Mother’s Day. They can easily monitor all the information sent across public Wi-Fi networks, which can include your bank account or credit card number.

Secure Smartphones and Tablets

Finally settled on buying a new smartphone or tablet for Mom? Remember that these pocket-sized PCs need to be protected with security software. Why? Once a malicious program or application installs on your tablet, it can’t wait for you to access your bank account and steal your password. This is especially relevant on Android devices.

TIPS

• If you see a deal being promoted, go to the retailer’s official website to confirm it’s a legitimate offer. Or, better yet, do it the old fashioned way and type in the URL in the address bar. This prevents you from visiting a potentially fake and malicious website.
• Don’t click on shared links without knowing that your friend purposefully shared it. If a deal seems too good to be true… it probably is.
• Use total protection of your PC, which includes features such as Safe Money to help secure financial transactions and data, and password manager to provide further protection for your digital identity.
• When shopping in a physical store, use your cellular network offering like 3G/4G, instead of public Wi-Fi.
• Any mobile computing device used to connect to the Internet should have security software installed on it – this includes any mobile computing device used to purchase things from sites such as eBay, PayPal and Amazon. Use VPNs to protect online transactions
• Be sure Mom’s new Android smartphone or tablet is protected with a premium security solution such as Kaspersky Mobile Security or Kaspersky Tablet Security.