The RCMP is advising holiday shoppers to be cautious of how they purchase gifts online this season.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are approaching rapidly, and more people shopping online because of the pandemic.
The RCMP has released the following tips people can use to help protect themselves from the theft and fraud:
- Avoid making purchases on public wi-fi, try to shop when connected to personal or trusted internet sources;
- Research any suspicious retailers by checking their reviews and return policies;
- Only make purchases on sites with domain names starting with https instead of http;
- Check financial statements to see if there is any irregular activity or unapproved transactions;
- Use strong passwords when creating online accounts;
- Be aware of deals that may be “too good to be true” because they probably are
Last year in Alberta, there were more than 1,200 reported incidents of fraud over $5,000, nearly 6,000 cases of fraud lesser than or equal to $5,000 and more than 70 reports of unauthorized credit card use.