Whilst Black Friday and Cyber Monday are an excellent opportunity to grab some pre-Christmas bargains, phishing emails and scams are also in abundance as criminals look to take advantage of online shoppers.
Here are top tips from the Financial and Cyber Crime Group on how to stay safe while shopping the online sales.
- Shop with reputable retailers or stores you've used before. Double check those marketing emails you are sent or those social media pop up ads to ensure they are from legitimate stores - look at the email address, hover over any links without clicking on them to see where you are getting sent to. Criminals often use tricks like putting a "r" and "n" together to look like an "m" or adding a "1" instead of a lower case "L" to mimic genuine retailers' websites.
- If you find a bargain, add it to your cart, but don't go directly to the payment page - check out the rest of the site by using a search engine, look at the URL, see what other items are for sale, don't be pressured into making a rash decision through fear of missing out.
- Make sure that the payment details are encrypted - look for the prefix "https" in the URL and a padlock icon in the URL bar and use a secure payment method.
Stop and think before making a purchase and be sceptical of a deal that seems too good to be true as chances are it probably is.
Stay safe online and we hope you grab yourself a legitimate deal.
To learn more about scams, visit www.scamwatch.gov.au or the Queensland Police Service's R U in Control campaign at www.police.qld.gov.au/safety-and-preventing-crime/r-u-in-control.
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