McAfee had commissioned a study titled, “2012 Holiday Shopping Study” to find out the online habits and behaviors of Indians, especially those planning to use the Internet and mobile devices to shop this holiday season. In light of these findings, McAfee exposes the Top 12 Scams of Christmas that cyber crooks have planned to swindle those who shop online this holiday season.
There are some interesting findings from the survey that I’d like to draw your attention to:
- Indian respondents scored the highest amongst all countries in terms of resorting to smart phones to purchase holiday gifts for others for end of year celebrations
- Though most Indians professed a degree of concern regarding the probable loss of personal information while using an app on a smartphone or tablet, still 95% of them are willing to provide some level of personal information if that can get them discounts, free gifts etc!
- Indians are also more likely to be a victim of a cyber scam. More than 23% of polled Indians have been victims and almost 25% of the respondents know someone who has been a victim
- 40% of those Indians who plan on shopping online during the 2012 holiday season plan on using a PC (50%) will use a tablet (23%) and/or 38% will use their smartphones
So what should these shoppers be wary of? Here’s is an interesting infographics to reveal just that…
5 simple things to do to stay safe while shopping online:
- Ensure you have an advanced security software installed
- Check the site, ask around, read reviews before carrying out transactions
- Always be suspicious of free gifts, tempting offers and massive discounts-there’s never any free meal. Don’t fill up survey forms to win free iPads, for that’s a clever way to details
- Check shipping and return policies and read buyer reviews for the products
- Do not share credit card details and other sensitive data like birth date. Use your credit card for transactions, rather than your debit card
Have you started using McAfee SiteAdvisor? If not, download it pronto. It will tell you which sites are unsafe or have malicious content. Just steer clear of them. Happy shopping!!