FBI Shares 25 Tips to Protect Yourself from Cybercrime This Holiday Season

Press release from the FBI – Sacramento Office: 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Sacramento Field Office is providing 25 tips to help residents of Northern and Central California stay safe while navigating the online environment this holiday season. The internet conveniently puts the world at our fingertips, but that connectivity can leave us vulnerable to cybercriminals who develop schemes to steal our money.

“Every person should be aware of how cybercriminals are targeting the American public and have a good defensive plan to stay safe while online,” said Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. “Our goal is to empower the public to thwart cybercriminals’ attempts but we also encourage the public to get more information and report cybercrime to IC3.gov.”

In 2023, The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 880,418 complaints, with potential losses exceeding $12.5 billion. This is a nearly 10% increase in complaints received and represents a 22% increase in losses as compared to 2022.

Awareness and prevention are essential for a good defense against cyber criminals. To keep your holidays happy, the following 25 tips will help you and your family defend against cyber criminals:

1. There is no substitute for password security. Use unique, complex passwords for each account – using a password management tool, when possible – and secure accounts with multi-factor authentication, when available.
2. If you receive a device with a factory-set password for the holidays, reset the password with a unique, complex password.
3. Never store your credit card info online. The convenience is not worth potential compromise of your account.
4. Scrutinize all URL addresses and email addresses. Criminals often use addresses that are close to legitimate accounts to confuse potential victims.
5. Ignore unsolicited emails, texts, and calls. Criminals spam multiple accounts and numbers in the hope of hooking victims. When in doubt, contact the known, legitimate creditor, business, bank, or shipper using the numbers on your statements or official websites. Do not call numbers offered during unsolicited communication.
6. Never post travel plans or photos of tickets online. These posts offer information about your absence from your home and criminals can steal information from the bar codes of tickets. Post comments and photos when you get home.
7. Cross-check charities prior to donating. To ensure your money serves people truly in need and not someone taking advantage of your goodwill, ensure the charity is a registered nonprofit organization.
8. Be careful what you click. Clicks can initiate downloads of malware or send you to a false website.
9. Be cautious about what you download. Some apps may provide a criminal with more access to your device than you may realize.
10. Beware of too good to be true offers on hard-to-find goods on unfamiliar sites. These sites may be interested in your credit card information, not your business.
11. Do not buy animals online from distant, unregistered breeders. Cross-check the breeder’s information with breeders’ associations to determine legitimacy. The animal you may think you are purchasing may not exist and may never be delivered.
12. Never make a large purchase for delivery such as a vehicle sight-unseen on the internet. Criminals may make false claims about a vehicle that may not exist and its alleged delivery to steal your money.
13. Beware of purchasing online vouchers, gift cards, and tickets through social media or third-party auction sites.
14. When purchasing gift cards from a rack, carefully inspect the gift card to ensure it has not been tampered with in any way.
15. Be cautious of work-from-home or secret shopper job offers. In some cases, criminals are using these offers to steal your personal information or trick you into making gift card or banking transactions.
16. Beware of remote money management jobs that involve receiving and redistributing funds. You may be an unwitting participant in a criminal scheme, acting as a money mule.
17. Completing a transaction with a gift card is like completing it with cash. It is untraceable, unsecured, and cannot be recovered. Beware of anyone who asks you to obtain gift cards to complete a transaction or pay a fee.
18. When dating online, never send money to anyone you have not met in real life for any reason. Criminals often leverage dating sites to exploit well-meaning but vulnerable victims.
19. Be cautious with cryptocurrency investment schemes, especially those requiring an application download promoted by someone you recently met.
20. Beware of individuals who claim to be located overseas and need your assistance with sending or receiving money on their behalf.
21. Ignore pop-up messages or unsolicited phone calls from individuals purporting to be law enforcement or tech support. Do not give anyone remote access to your computer.
22. Locking your credit is free and can prevent someone from opening a credit account in your name without your knowledge.
23. Always hang up on calls purporting to be law enforcement that involves any form of financial transaction. Law enforcement will not demand fines to be paid over the phone or for you to open accounts to transfer money into.
24. Scrutinize social media posts before sharing them. Your post may legitimize a criminal’s fake charity or business post for your network.
25. Always report suspected scams to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center provides a portal for reporting cybercrime, offers public service announcements regarding current cybercrime concerns, and collects data regarding cybercrime. When the individual complaints are combined with other data, the FBI connects complaints, investigates reported crimes, tracks trends and threats, and, in some cases, even freezes stolen funds. The IC3 also shares reports of crime throughout its vast network of FBI field offices and law enforcement partners.