With holiday online purchases expected to increase this year, and $9.4 million in projected online spending today alone, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office wants to provide tips to help residents protect themselves (and your bank accounts):
• Use a secure network to conduct transactions, not a public WiFi network
• When creating usernames and passwords, make sure they are unique. Resist the convenience of using the same user ID's and passwords for multiple accounts.
• If given the option, take the extra time to enable the two-step authentication feature, which will send a code to your cell phone to insure you are the same person attempting to make an online purchase.
• Monitor your credit card accounts closely. Question and check into any unfamiliar or unauthorized transactions. You can also use a notification feature on many sites, such as Amazon, which will send you a text notification any time a purchase is made to your account.
• Be aware of fraudulent websites that may look like a familiar store. The legitimate URL should start with HTTPS and should also have a lock symbol next to the address.
"As we've mentioned in the past, I again want to remind residents to never give out their bank account, address, social security, phone number or other information to an unknown person over the telephone," stated Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves.
"Many times scammers may have a portion of the information, and only need one more thing in order to carry out their scam."
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