Guest written by Shivika Chopra
Since 2010 online holiday shopping has increased by approximately 10%. $60 billion is expected to be shelled out this year on Christmas presents. Of this amount, an estimated $10 million will slip away silently into the pockets of cyber criminals.
The number of cybercrimes such as non-delivery of paid merchandise, identity theft, and advanced fee fraud is on the rise. Top targets include: Amazon, Staples, Apple, Dell and Office Depot.
Even the FBI blogged about some holiday shopping tips & tricks! Here are a few:
- Directly type in the URL, as opposed to searching the shop through a search engine
- Use internet security software that protect you when browsing
- Check the URL for https, vs the traditional http
Thankfully, we commoners are not the only ones that are being hacked and looted. Lady Gaga was the victim of a cyber attack last week as her Twitter account was hacked. Gaga has 17 million followers and she posted a tweet in the late morning about offering a free iPad2 to her followers to celebrate the holiday season. The link inside the tweet lead to a potentially malicious website. We sincerely hope you didn’t fall for that one! Merry Christmas everyone, wishing you secure shopping times ahead!
