RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia Information and Technologies Agency, or VITA, and Virginia State Police are advising shoppers to be cautious when making purchases.
According to VITA, “the holidays are a prime opportunity for hackers and bad actors to strike.” The agency says online scammers defraud online shoppers through emails and fake websites.
Hackers also promote deals that seem too good to be true to entice consumers.
“With prices on the rise and everyone looking for the best deals for the holidays, criminals are taking full advantage of the moment,” said Virginia State Police High Tech Crimes Captain Alan C. Worsham.
Here are some tips that VITA shared on how to protect yourself while shopping:
- Do business with reputable vendors – Before providing any personal or financial information, make sure that you are interacting with a reputable, established vendor.
- Make sure your information is being encrypted – Good indicators that your information will be encrypted include a website URL that begins with “https:”; and a padlock icon. If the padlock is closed, the information is encrypted.
- Watch out for emails requesting information – Cyber criminals may attempt to gather information by sending emails requesting that you confirm purchase or account information.
- Use a credit card – There are laws to limit your liability for fraudulent credit card charges, but you may not have the same level of protection for your debit cards.
