RBC provides tips to protect consumers from online threats

Shopping online for the holidays this year? With the increase in online activities over the holiday season, it’s a safe bet that one can expect to see more online scams. To educate consumers on how to protect themselves, RBC has created some tips to help raise awareness about online threats.

“At busy times of the year, and especially during the holiday season, fraudsters ramp up their efforts to try to trick consumers into disclosing their personal or financial information,” said Jim O’Donnell, chief information security officer, RBC. “It’s important for Canadians to be vigilant when shopping or conducting transactions online.”

These tips can help consumers avoid the grinch from ruining their holiday shopping:

* Never provide your confidential or financial information over the Internet in response to unsolicited e-mails.

* Play it safe! If you don’t know the source of an e-mail or if it looks suspicious, do not open it.

* Be cautious! Even if you recognize a sender’s e-mail address, do not rely on that alone because addresses may be faked. Pay attention to the contents of the e-mail and be careful of any embedded links.

* Never click on a link in an e-mail that you suspect may be fake.

* Be sure! If you are unsure whether you are on a legitimate website, reopen your internet browser and type the company URL in the address bar yourself.

* Before you enter confidential or financial information online, check for the lock icon on your browser. Ensure the URL in the browser address bar starts with “https.”

* Be alert! Just because an e-mail or website appears to be from a legitimate company doesn’t mean it is. Phishing schemes are designed to look real to trick users into divulging personal information for the purpose of financial fraud or identity theft.

* Always follow safe computing practices.

* Follow RBC’s Phishing Tutorial for advice on how to recognize, report and protect against phishing at http://www.rbc.com/security/phishing.html