The most wonderful time of year… for scammers!

Written by Brandi Koloski, Marketing Assistant at i3 Business Solutions

Here it comes - The most wonderful time of year! This is the prime time to be with family and to be a little more joyous and giving than usual. The winter holidays are generally considered to be a wonderful time of year – but don’t let the overpowering scent of pine trees and peppermint take you off your guard.

With all of the hustle a bustle of transactions and online purchases, it should come as no surprise that the holidays are one of the easiest times to fall victim to a scam! So while you are rushing around getting those last minute gifts, keep these few tips in mind.

Careful when shopping on your mobile device (yes, tablets included.)

The biggest thing to be weary of when shopping on a mobile browser are the plethora of fake websites! Mobile browsers are much smaller in size, causing an inability to see the whole URL of the page they are visiting.

More mobile mayhem: watch out for bogus apps!

Fake mobile applications can contain viruses and malware that can steal your personal information AND even lock you out of your own phone.

A best practice in downloading new applications

• Check out the developer – if you haven’t heard of them, maybe think twice.
• Another easy way to spot a scam come as clues in what exactly the application is asking permission to use on your device: should they really be asking to access your contacts, texts, or credit card information? Probably not.
• Lastly, one dead giveaway is spelling and grammatical errors in the description of the application.

Did you receive a questionable email link? Don’t click it!

If you are receiving unsolicited emails, don’t click on any of the links, no matter how attractive or legit you think the email is. These links can appear to come from familiar retailers but lead you to a bogus website.

Want more holiday shopping tips? Check out our previous blog: Holiday Shopping PSA

If you have any questions on how to further protect your security, please feel free to reach out to us! That's exactly what we are here for.