IDX CEO Tom Kelly Discusses Online Safety During the Holiday Shopping Season

As featured on Kitty O'Neal and KOIN AM Extra

With record-breaking online spending, holiday shopping is officially in full swing with more than 75% of Americans opting to shop from home to avoid crowded stores. And as with most digital trends, scammers are flocking to where the people are and taking full advantage of this online shopping frenzy.

Kelly suggests that consumers should stay extra vigilant with their credit card information while shopping online, warning against saving credit card information “to make it easier to check out”. Traditionally we think of credit card skimming and scams occurring in person, but these days, everyone is at risk for the digital version, where bad actors apply code to webpages in order to steal your financial information. Manually entering your card information with every purchase is a more secure route to take. The only exception would be payment platforms like Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and PayPal, all of which provide an additional layer of protection on your credit card information and are safer to use.

Package delivery scams are also on the rise as more packages than ever before are being delivered this year. Hackers impersonate shipping carriers to give “status updates” on packages. Kelly notes that consumers should stay cautious with opening emails and links from an unknown source.

Lastly, many business models are thriving on data mining and using our personal information to sell us things. It’s in the consumer's best interest to protect their digital privacy. Until the government passes legislation that begins to truly protect the digital rights of Americans, we can take action now to start protecting our digital privacy.