How to stay off a hacker’s holiday list.

 Holiday season = shopping season. This year, online will be the main way to shop. This means inputting your payment details all over the internet — a hacker’s dream. Here are some tips to avoid being a sitting duck…

Q: What are ways I can avoid fraud and hacks while online shopping?

#1: Shop Safe

While this might seem obvious (AKA. duh, why wouldn’t you shop safe?), we’ve gotten so used to putting in our payment details online that we don’t even take a second look.

Well, make sure to LOOK, and check the site you’re on is secure:

• Read the reviews both on the site and on Google. If something’s wrong with it, trust people on the internet to vent about it.
• Look for the website’s contact information. If it is hard to find/non-existent, that’s a red flag.
• Look for a trust seal. This will look like an icon with the words “verified” or “secure”. Click on it and see if it takes you to a verification page, if it does, it's legit.

💡 Pro Tip: Look at a website's URL. If it starts with “https” the site is secured. If it's only “http” (no “s”) then proceed with caution.

#2: Monitor your accounts

Life gets busy, and looking through your statement is the least fun type of date with yourself. BUT, it takes less than 3 minutes to scan your statements from December (trust us, we tried it) AND you’ll notice if your credit card has been compromised.

If you see a charge you don’t recognize (you don’t remember the purchase or the merchant’s name is unfamiliar), give your bank or credit card company a call. If you catch it quickly, financial institutions lock your cards to prevent further charges and will issue you new payment info. 

#3: Get to know you credit report

Unfun fact: hackers sometimes won’t tap accounts you already have, but instead they’ll open up new accounts using your personal info. So the fraudulent activity may not show up on your statements. By checking your full report (not just your score) you can see if any new accounts have been opened with your information and help catch any new accounts that you didn’t authorize.

💡Pro Tip: Head to Equifax to get a full credit report. It is actually government mandated that every citizen is entitled to a FREE credit report annually.

2020 has been a year. The good news? By sticking with Monday MoneyDrops you can avoid at least one annoyance this year.

The MoneyGirls HQ wishes you an AHAP (as happy as possible) Holiday Season! We’re saying “ciao” until the new year and wishing you a calm end to your 2020. If you have a question though, call us, beep us, via email or DM.