Cyber Monday may be over, but the holiday shopping season has only just begun for many consumers.
According to USA Today's interview with IBM Smarter commerce, retailers are keeping some inventory and working on promotions to entice consumers to shop all week long.
University of Colorado Denver cyber security expert Jason Lewis said that during the holiday season, there may be an uptick in schemes to acquire personal information from online shoppers. To protect yourself online, Lewis has a list of ten security tips to follow:
But if consumers had to follow only one of his tips, Lewis said they should not believe deals that look too good to be true.
"Realistically, a legitimate business can't offer you much of a discount over what Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, can offer you. So if it's substantially cheaper than what one of the traditional retailers is offering, it should raise some red flags," Lewis said.
Many consumers also use the same user names and passwords for shopping as for their banking and email, which causes problems if they are compromised, according to Lewis.
Hazel Heckers, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's victim advocate, told "Colorado Matters" in October that about one in four Coloradans might be a victim of identity theft.
"The cost is anywhere from a few hours of their time to days and weeks and thousands of dollars if it is a more serious identity theft," she said.
This October, the federal government increased efforts to protect online consumers. President Obama signed a consumer financial protection Executive Order intended to increase government investment in technologies that increase the financial protections online.
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