48% of people have been scammed while holiday shopping online – what to watch for

The holiday shopping season is almost upon us, and with all the great sales and promotions come the usual cyber scams. While generally quick and convenient, shopping online can leave you vulnerable to scammers if you’re not cautious. Based on a consumer survey, a new report from Norton looks at how scams are a common concern among shoppers and how to protect yourself while holiday shopping online.

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For its 2024 Cyber Safety Insights Report, Norton incorporated the results of a survey conducted on behalf of Gen Digital, which owns Norton and other security brands. The survey was conducted online in August and September and reached more than 12,000 adults across 12 countries, including the US, UK, Italy, Mexico, and Japan.

Almost half of people in the US will do most of their holiday shopping between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But that’s also the busiest time of the year for scammers. Among the consumers polled, 48% revealed that they’ve been targeted by a scam while shopping online for the holidays. Further, 53% said they’re worried about Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping scams.

Some of the fears cited by the respondents include seeing their personal information compromised, becoming the victim of a cybercrime, older family members and relatives falling for a scam, being scammed by a third-party retailer, AI shopping scams, and their social media feeds getting hit by scammy advertisements.

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The survey also shed light on the types of scams that have victimized people in the past. Across the world, 39% of the respondents said they fell victim to an online shopping scam, 26% to a phishing scam, and 23% to a package delivery scam. Other common types of fraud included an overpayment or refund scam, a gift card scam, and an instant payment scam.

While scams can be found in a variety of places online, there are particular spots where scammers like to launch their attacks. Among the respondents, 40% pointed to social media as the top scam hotspot, 35% cited third-party websites, 30% listed email, and 28% named text messaging.

To protect yourself against scams while holiday shopping online, Norton offers the following tips:

1. Be careful when shopping at an unrecognized retailer. Make sure to check out the details, ratings, and reviews of unfamiliar online stores. Be skeptical if you see too many five-star reviews.
2. Make sure the website for an online retailer uses the more secure “https” protocol. Also, check the payment page before purchasing an item to confirm that it uses https as well.
3. Always watch out for deals that are too good to be true. Be skeptical of in-demand gift products being sold at extremely low prices. Remember the adage, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
4. Use a VPN on a public network. If shopping online via a public Wi-Fi network, use and activate a VPN. This will better safeguard your online privacy and protect your personal and financial information.
5. Use strong and complex passwords. Protect your activity at shopping and financial sites by creating strong and unique passwords that are more difficult to hack. For now, your best bet is to turn to a password manager to devise and keep track of your website and account passwords
6. Use secure software that will alert you to scams. Beyond just hunting for viruses, certain security products will warn you of potential scams at suspicious or malicious websites.

“The holidays can be a hectic time, and when we are busy or looking for ways to save money, sometimes we let our guard down,” Leyla Bilge, Research Director at Gen Digital, said in a press release. “This Cyber Safety Sunday, we encourage everyone to take a few simple steps that will go a long way to help you stay safe online this season. Stick to sites you trust, stay educated on common scams, update passwords, set fraud alerts and always think twice before sharing your personal information.”