What will you be buying online this Christmas?

Unfortunately, November and December are also the busiest time for fraudsters – who exploit the fact that you’re distracted and will do anything to find a bargain.

That’s why we’re working with Get Safe Online to bring you expert, easy-to-follow safety tips to help protect you from falling victim to seasonal scams, such as fraudulent shopping websites, fake goods, convincing phishing emails and adverts for offers that are too good to be true.

• Don’t pay for anything by transferring money directly to people or companies you don’t know. The safest way to pay for anything is by credit card.
• Make sure shopping websites are authentic, by carefully checking the address is spelled correctly.
• Ensure that payment pages are secure, by checking that addresses begin with ‘https’ (‘s’ is for secure) and there’s a closed padlock in the address bar.
• When you’ve finished paying, log out of your account. Simply closing the page may not do this automatically.
• Don’t buy fakes intentionally, or get duped into buying them, however cheap or ‘authentic’ they may seem.
• Watch out for unexpected emails, texts or posts urging you to click on a link or attachment. For example, at this time of year, fake parcel firm delivery messages containing harmful attachments disguised as delivery notes are commonplace.

For more information on buying safely online, visit https://www.getsafeonline.org/christmas/

If you think you’ve been a victim of online fraud, report it to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre on 0300 123 20 40 or at www.actionfraud.police.uk