Christmas shopping appeared to start early this year according to the ONS in what was seen as a rare piece of evidence on the economy’s resolve. They detailed that in October, the year-on-year growth rate in the volume of retail sales saw a strong increase of 5.8 percent, with feedback from a range of businesses suggesting consumers had started Christmas shopping earlier in 2020, further helped by early discounting from a range of stores.
Retail activity may continue to ramp up in the coming weeks as Christmas approaches and consumers look out for any last minute deals.
Unfortunately, this demand is also likely to increase opportunities for fraudsters to take advantage of well-meaning shoppers.
On this, FICO, the global analytics software provider, predicts ecommerce is likely to grow as the country comes out of its second lockdown.
As physical shopping is limits, they highlight previously high levels of “festive footfall” are likely to convert into hours of screen time as consumers are let loose.
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Revisit password habits
Many consumers are likely to roll their eyes as passwords are highlighted, given the seemingly endless number of them that’s needed for the modern world.
Trying to remember different passwords and update them regularly can be a chore but the importance of doing so cannot be understated as Matt explained: “It turns out that long passwords are even more important than strong passwords.
“The length and strength of a password, combined, is the strongest deterrent to a hacker cracking your password with brute-force computing power.
“It’s also important is to use a unique password for each of your accounts, particularly important ones; not just bank accounts but PayPal, Klarna, Gmail and Amazon.”
Use trusted payment methods and be sceptical
Matt concluded his advice by nailing down the basics: “Do your research, read the reviews, and check Google carefully to see if the app is a scam.
“If in doubt, use well established methods like PayPal, Apple Pay, Amazon pay, Ideal and any other local providers.
“It’s the season of giving. And during a pandemic fraudsters are bound to capitalise on the opportunities to scam the most giving and caring.
“Although GoFundMe states 2 that ‘the overwhelming majority of fundraisers on our platform are safe and legitimate,’ scams do happen there and many other places.
“To protect yourself from charity and disaster relief fraud make sure the donation website is legitimate. It’s very easy for criminals to create lookalike websites that siphon off credit card and personal information, which can then be quickly used to run up fraudulent transactions.
“Everyone needs to monitor their credit reports and their finances. Not just to stay informed about credit history, but also to spot anything suspicious as quickly as possible.”
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