Happy Thanksgiving Panthers! With the holiday season swiftly approaching many of us are gearing up to shop till we drop. Some online retailers are even extending their holiday deals from the traditional Black Friday shopping day to a weeklong event, which is music to the ears of shopaholics everywhere.

With that being said, it’s important to learn and watch out for the signs of shopping scams.

Scammers take advantage of the holiday shopping season by using fake websites, malicious links, and fake charities to poach on unsuspecting shoppers. Their goal: obtain personal information, steal your identity, access your financial information, compromise your data, insert malicious software, and take your money.

Fortunately, there are ways you can protect yourself against malicious actors when shopping online. The United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has created a guide with four actions you can take to practice good cyber hygiene which are: turn on multi-factor authentication, keep software updated, think before you click, and use strong passwords. Please review the full four step guide here.

Additionally, CISA has created a guide of three recommendations and some video resources specifically tailored to holiday online shopping scams. Please review the full article about holiday online shopping here:

Check your devices

Only shop through trusted sources

Use safe methods for purchasing

Happy Shopping!