By Louis Costantini, Sharp: As the holidays quickly approach, it’s time to get your family and friends’ gift lists out and start looking into the deals that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have to offer. Online shopping has exponentially grown over the past few years, and the 2021 holiday looks to be no different. According to Statista, “in 2020, Cyber Monday became the biggest online shopping day in U.S. history, hitting approximately 10.8 billion U.S. dollars in online sales. This record is forecast to reach new highs in 2021. In the five-day period from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday, known as Cyber 5, online sales are projected to increase by almost 14 percent compared to the previous year, totaling about 39 billion U.S. dollars.”
In this digital era, the need to wake up at 2 a.m., pack a duffle bag full of camping gear and load the car full of snacks and essentials to get early deals at stores are long gone. Additionally, the worry about massive crowds (especially during a pandemic), long lines, empty shelves and the occasional pickpocket are a thing of the past. However, online shopping isn’t completely without worry, and there are still many reasons to safeguard your financial and personal information while shopping online.
Below, you will find six online shopping tips to help avoid data breaches and fraudulent charges by keeping your information out of the hands of people who made the naughty list this year.
Avoid Phishing Emails with Suspicious Offers
We have all seen “Liquidation Sale!” “90% Off Retail!” “Buy 1 Get 10 FREE!” email subject lines in our inboxes. Phishing emails contain links that attempt to redirect to a new page without your knowledge. These pages resemble the genuine site, and an unsuspecting shopper will fall victim to malware or online fraud by submitting banking or personal information. When interacting with an e-commerce email, check both the sender’s email address to make sure it matches the company and that the URL in your web browser or mobile phone’s search bar represents the site you intended to visit. Just remember, if the offer is too good to be true, it probably is.
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SOURCE Sharp Electronics Corporation
