NORFOLK, Va. — Amazon Prime Day is when millions of people point and click their way into some of the best online shopping deals of the year. But, it’s also a time when hackers are looking to take advantage of the uptick in internet traffic.
According to Check Point, the number of newly registered domains containing the words "Amazon" and "Prime" doubled in the last 30 days, and a big percentage of those were found to be malicious.
Here are some tips to help you avoid being a victim, even outside of Prime Day.
- Watch for misspellings of Amazon.com. Sites that may have .co instead of .com in their URL, for example, are typically going to be fraudulent sites.
- Look for the "lock." A reputable shopping site will always use what’s called a SSL encryption to protect your personal info. If you don’t see a little padlock next to the website URL, that’s a red flag.
- Change your password. If you haven’t in a while, it’s a good idea to create something tougher to crack.
- Avoid shopping on public WiFi. If you’re on the go at a coffee shop, a hotel, or an airport it’s probably best to wait until you’re home. The easier it is for you to join a network, the easier it is for hackers to intercept emails, payment details, and passwords.