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Nassau County Sheriff offers safety tips for online, in-person shopping this holiday season

You should use your own device to shop online and avoid public Wi-Fi networks because hackers can easily get your information.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Some of us have been victims of being scammed or hacked during the holidays. You get a text or call from your bank asking if you've been buying cashmere dog sweaters or dozens of cultured pearl-encrusted silverware, and we all know as soon as we get that message our credit has been hacked. 

That starts a spiral of frustrating phone calls to every business we buy stuff from. Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper has some tips to avoid grinches trying to get a hand on your wallet. 

Getting our family and friends the perfect gift in 2020 will look a lot different for many of us with more and more people turning to online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic. 

“Sometimes when you see something that’s too good to be true, it usually is," Leeper said.

Leeper says to make sure the URL of a website begins with "https." You know it's secure when you see an "s" instead of "http."

“Sometimes you’ll want to click on an ad or something like that," Leeper said. "It’s better not to do that. You want to go to the company website before you click to make sure you’re on a secure site.”

Cybersecurity company McAfee reports a whopping 41 percent of Americans fell victim to an e-mail phishing scam in 2019. That's when a victim received a message to enter a payment or personal information on a fraudulent website designed to look like a real one. 

“If you receive emails or texts just out of the blue from people you don’t know or you haven’t solicited, that’s a warning sign to not click on those sites," Leeper said.

Leeper has several tips for those of us who prefer to still shop in person. 

“Make sure you always lock your vehicle," Leeper said. "Be aware of your surroundings. If you see suspicious people, don’t stop. Wait until you can get to an area where you think it’s safe.”

You should use your own device to shop online and avoid public Wi-Fi networks, such as at a library or coffee shop because hackers can easily get your information.

Leeper says the safest way to pay for your holiday shopping is with a credit card because credit cards offer more protection than debit cards. Your bank account could be wiped out by the time to realize a hacker got your debit card information. 

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