Watch For Scams While Shopping Online This Holiday Season
DETROIT (WWJ) -- With online shopping comes the risk of your data being breached, having your personal information stolen or having your computer infected with malware.
Barbara McQuaid, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, says that if an online deal sounds too good to be true, it often is.
"If you shop around a bit on the internet, you can learn the range of reasonable prices for an item," McQuaid said. "If something is drastically less than that it probably is too good to be true, the merchandise might be counterfeit or may not be shipped to you at all."
McQuaid said that online consumers should try to purchase items from "reputable sellers" and be extra vigilant in keeping an eye on their credit card and bank account statements for any suspicious charges that may appear.
Among the biggest online scams is what's known as online phishing, emails that look like they are from a legitimate retailer, but can harm your computer and your information.
"The very common one you see this time of year is information about a package being shipped -- 'Click Here To Track Your Package,'" McQuaid said. "When you click, it can release malware into your computer or take some of the data from your computer. If you're not expecting a package then clicking on the suspicious email is probably not a good idea."
Co-managing partner of Complete Data Products, Neal Doshi offered his advice to stay safe not only on Cyber Monday, but all year round:
"Make sure that you are logging into from a secure wi-fi or direct connect, you don't want to be logging in from a public wi-fi spot – it's very easy and very common that people are sitting there surfing those areas to steal information, whether it's credit card information or like that," Doshi noted.