With Black Friday and Cyber Monday offering some of the best sales of the year, November is a great time to do your holiday shopping, as long as you do it safely by protecting your personal data. 

These days, we often opt to stay cozy indoors and shop online. Though it might be warmer to shop from your phone or computer at home, there are also hazards that arise while online. Cybercriminals lurk all around us. And if one gets ahold of your personal information, they may be able to do far more damage than an overcooked turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. Here are some things to keep in mind to protect yourself when shopping online.

Cybercriminals expect you’ll let your guard down while you’re shopping on a trusted site such as Amazon or Target, so be sure to double-check the spelling of the website’s URL so you don’t fall prey to cybercriminal ploys. You may realize you’re on an imposter website designed to collect your information, such as a site that uses “.net” instead of “.com.”

Furthermore, all your passwords should have a combination of numbers, lowercase, uppercase letters, and special characters to keep your accounts secure. We recommend using a password generator to craft a password that is harder for a cybercriminal to crack.

With your online shopping cart filled to the brim, be sure to check out FraudScout, a credit and identity monitoring service powered by CyberScout. FraudScout includes features such as annual credit report monitoring, social security number trace monitoring, and cyber monitoring – which scans the internet daily for potentially fraudulent transactions made with your stolen personal information. 

The FraudScout Silver Bundle is included, for one individual per household, for all Rockingham Insurance Homeowners, Mobile Homeowners, and Farm policyholders. To claim your Silver Bundle protection, visit this page. To learn more about Gold or Platinum bundles or about adding FraudScout services for other household members, contact your local Rockingham Insurance agent.