BELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Cyber Monday shopping can be fun for some, while others say the hassle is not worth the reward. Here are some tips from our experts:
- Use a private network connection;
- Purchase items with a Credit Card and not a Debit card;
- Use different passwords for different sites.
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“My husband had an Amazon wish list so I’ll be pulling stuff from his Amazon wish list,” said Carol Scheler, a Cyber Security Master Instructor with Texas State Technical College. She says she is excited to shop. But others say online shopping is not up their alley.
“I’m not shopping for nothing I’m hanging out with my kid, I got at least 12 of them in the truck and I’m trying to feed 3 of them,” said Bill, a Bell county neighbor.
If you decide to try some of the Cyber Monday deals, it's important to keep your money and information safe. Experts advise to use a secured connection at a private location and use a credit card so it's easier to dispute unknown charges. It is also important to make sure sites have "HTTPS" in the browser bar, for a secure website.
“That tells you that the connection is secure that's what the S stands for, it’s encrypted so if somebody were to try and intercept all they are going to get is garbage,” said Scheler.
With many of our neighbors shopping, you may see an error message because of the load on servers.
“Please try again later, just keep in mind that on their end more than likely, and not on your end because if it was on your end you would not be able to access the internet,” said Scheler.
The holiday season is also one of the busiest for hackers to steal bank accounts and personal information. Scheler says there is no way to know who has become a victim until after the fact, but emails are also one of the easiest ways to trick someone.
“If the font looks weird or the site looks a little different you know the link that you are used to please don’t click on it,” said Scheler.
