Robert Siciliano explains how scammers target shoppers on Cyber Monday. Watch for skimming devices at checkout, phishing emails, and unsecured websites without HTTPS. Use credit cards instead of debit, monitor your statements, and stick to known vendors.
Chapters
Live from the heart of New York City, it's The Morning Show with Mike and Juliette. Wednesday, Black Friday, one of the busiest days of the year for identity thieves. How to protect yourself from ID theft while you shop till you drop this holiday season. The day after tomorrow, of course, is Black Friday. That's what they call it, one of the biggest, uh, shopping days of the entire year. But did you know about Cyber Monday.
It is the Monday after Black Friday and the unofficial start of the online shopping season, marked by a huge spike in online spending.
But whether you shop in the store or online, remember, you're not the only one out there trying to get at your money. This Friday, the cash registers will be ringing in the holiday season. But before you go buy out the stores, beware. This is the most wonderful time of the year. Year for identity theft. And Black Friday is a big day for scams to go down. The reason? The stores are crowded and rushing shoppers are prone to distraction. But the potential for getting your identity stolen does not end once you leave the mall. Now there's such a thing as Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, where shoppers hit the web for deals. And no surprise, that day scammers are on the prowl too. Taking advantage of shoppers buying on unsecure websites. So heads up, we're gonna tell you everything you need to know to avoid getting your ID stolen. Because in this economy, no one can afford to get scammed. Boom!
Here to give us some tips on how to keep your personal info personal, please welcome identity theft expert Robert Siciliano. Hey, Robert. Friend of the show. So why is it that this time is especially dangerous?
Well, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the sheer volume of credit card transactions has the identity thieves' attention. And they are scamming you and I all day, every day, this time of the year.
So our personal info is flying all over the place. Let's start with the stores when we go to do those doorbusters on Black Friday.
Sure.
You kind of have to watch out for the clerks even.
Think about it. Your credit card information, you're giving it to all kinds of clerks. They could take that data, they could store it, they could copy it down. They could actually copy it in a wedge-type device, and now they can go online, they can, you know, What's a wedge-type device? Well, it actually, you know, looks like a credit card swipe machine that actually stores the magnetic information off the magnetic strip. It stores that credit card.
That actually happened to our producer, Patty. Yeah, they're like swiping off the numbers. Yeah, it's such a nightmare.
Additionally, there's, you know, phishing emails. You get an email that looks like it's, you know, supposed to be coming from a credit card company offering offers. You know, that could very well be a scam. All kinds of stuff right now.
Big, big, big issues with online ordering. What do you have to watch out for besides the phishing, and what else is there to watch out for?
Well, whenever you You're ordering anything online, make sure that it says "HTTPS" in the address bar, which means that is a secure page.
Okay. Can I go back to the store for just a second?
Let's go.
'Cause you know something happened to me. You got to watch out for the people standing behind you, too.
Shoulder surfing. Shoulder surfing's a really big problem. You have— you're in a store, you're in a retail store, you swipe your credit card information, they're looking at that credit card number. They may actually take out a camera phone, and they might actually record your credit card information.
Ugh, brother. All right, so look, we can protect ourselves on Black Friday. We just have to be careful. You have to pay attention to some things here, okay? Never sign up, you say, for new credit cards this time of year.
You are out of your mind to be providing your personal information this time of the year. First, if you are in a mall and you see a kiosk, you don't know if that's legit. You know, if they're asking you to sign up for a new credit card, you don't know if it's legit, you don't know who that person is.
Don't they have to clear it with the mall security and stuff like that?
They can set up a table anywhere, outside the mall, inside the mall. But you also get those online as well that'll say, "Come on, sign up, get a new credit card online right now." It might look legit, but chances are your bank or credit card company, they're not going to send you an email an email that looks like that, they know that scammers are taking advantage of the holiday season.
You say do not use debit cards. Now I thought we're hearing from the financial people, don't use credit cards, use cash, don't use debit cards.
Yeah, see, I don't use a debit card ever. I always use a credit card. Here's the problem. If your debit card is compromised, that is money out of your bank account.
True.
Okay, and you only have 30 days to refute those charges. If it is your credit card, it's the credit card company's money, and you have 60 days to refute those charges.
That makes sense.
And keep track of your money electronically.
Yeah, every single week during the holiday season especially, you need to pay attention to your statements online. Turn off the paper, right? Look at your recent activity online and save all of your receipts and look at each charge and refute them with an 86.
I check it almost every day, I'm so paranoid.
Yeah, and you should. As long as you're paying attention to those statements every single week, you refute those charges, generally you'll be in pretty good shape.
I can't stand going to the malls and going to all those huge superstores because I get crazy with all the people around. You're the same way. But I like to go on to like Crate and Barrel and stuff like that. I should be able to trust those websites, shouldn't I?
Well, generally you should. Do business with those who you know, who you like, and who you trust. If you're searching for a particular product online and you find some rogue website that you're not familiar with, might not be a good idea to enter personal information into that site. At least do some searches to find out if that's a legitimate vendor.
Once again, when you buy something, let's say on, you know, Pottery Barn dot com or Crate and Barrel, whatever it is, once you purchase something, it says HTTP PS.
PS, there should be a little lock saying that that's a secure page. Whenever you enter that credit card information, make sure it is a secured page.
Make sure those little letters are off to the left on the address bar.
Yeah.
Well, you know what helped me? Our computer tech guy put Firefox on my computer. What is Firefox?
Well, Firefox is another browser. Your browser is the gateway to the internet, and that browser needs to be secured. Your browser, like Internet Explorer, is one browser. Firefox is another. Firefox is better for consumers. Make sure on your PCs that you update your credit critical security patches on your operating system, making sure that your computer is also secure.
I had no idea that I should be doing that kind of stuff.
I'm going to give you Firefox later today on your computer.
