COLORADO SPRINGS — As the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear, consumers should take advantage of special deals and discounts.

Amidst this excitement, scammers have the opportunity to pocket your hard-earned money. It’s important to know how to protect your money, especially when shopping online on over a billion websites worldwide.

“There are so many ways to cheat. Criminals are continually evolving and improving their game, so you’re always dealing with technology issues,” said Nathan Roskop, chair of the Cybersecurity and Computer Networks Department at Pikes Peak State College.

From e-commerce to blogging sites, Roskop said his eyebrow is always raised when he uses the Internet.

“I’m very wary of going on websites in general,” Roskop said. “I’ll usually look at them and do a Google search on it.”

Taking these steps can help you avoid being taken advantage of during the most generous time of year.

1. Avoid pop-ups and ads

“Never click on pop-ups or ads,” he said. “I can buy a Google ad, and I get the first two or three lines and they’re ads. People pay money to get their ads. One of the things that companies can do, if they’re bad people, (they’ll) have (their) website up for two days, ask people to buy things, and then close up shop, take the money, and run.”

2. Use a credit card or virtual credit card when shopping online

“The debit card is directly linked to your bank account. Your credit card is not,” he said. “You can always dispute transactions with your credit card companies.” Especially if you’re doing a riskier transaction, you might want to consider a prepaid credit card, pay that $7, charge, and then use a prepaid credit card, because that $7 may be worth it, then they don’t. don’t do. You will not have access to a bank account if it is a bad website that is trying to scam you and not offer you a product. Many credit card companies offer sites where you can create virtual cards. You can actually create virtual credit card numbers for every merchant you use online. The advantage is that you don’t lose your entire credit card if this transaction fails.

3. Do your research to make sure the website is legitimate.

“The best thing I would recommend to consumers is to check Google reviews. They are a little more difficult to fake. If it is a legitimate company, it may have a Business Improvement Officethe BBB reviews. They’re going to review this website by other customers, just like you would use Yelp or one of those other review tools. You have to be careful because there are fake notes and such. But if you’re familiar with some of the new administrative policies they just implemented, some of these fake reviews are now illegal and against the law. Our federal government has stepped up its efforts to try to protect consumers a little more in this area.

4. Avoid unknown payment methods

“If a company said Payment: Paypal“, he said. Paypal is an e-commerce company. They carry out transactions electronically on behalf of the consumer. Theft also occurs between businesses, but from a consumer perspective, PayPal verifies these businesses before they can create an account. If I see a website that says to pay with Banda company like Shopify, WixI know they are using a multi-billion dollar company that is well aware of security risks and fraudulent transactions, so I will trust them.

5. Report any unauthorized transactions

“The Federal Trade Commission will be a large website that will provide advice to consumers for shopping online. Even the BBB will ensure security when shopping online. You can file a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center. I think it’s related to FBI and they will look into these complaints. You can also call your local police or sheriff’s office and let them know. File a police report. Usually you can do this online, but sometimes you may need to call one of the non-emergency numbers.

These steps aren’t foolproof, but they can help you avoid unauthorized transactions on your accounts. When in doubt, Roskop advises you to assess your comfort level by asking yourself a few questions.

“What I would encourage consumers to think about, every time they’re online, is what is your trust level? why do you trust a company? why should you trust this website? what does this website give you in terms of information to be able to trust them?” asks Roskop.

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