The festive season is upon us and that means an excuse to eat, drink and be merry. But Christmas can also be an expensive time of year and with many household bills already rising, keeping our money safe and secure has never been more vital.

As we take advantage of the great deals and fantastic discounts available, we also need to be highly vigilant when shopping online. Criminal cyber scams are, sadly, active all year round but the Christmas shopping season is when they really come out in full force.

Cyber criminals operate by enticing you to click on a link that will load harmful software called malware on your tablet, smartphone and computer. They know most people will be suspicious of anything that looks dodgy, so they try to entice you with fake special offers that look like they’ve come from reputable retailers.

It can be tricky to spot a scam, and an accidental tap on your phone or click of the keyboard could spell trouble. Thankfully, our cyber security partner F-Secure has shared their top tips for keeping you safe online and surfing securely.

Christmas deals tend to flood our inboxes, so this is where you need to be careful.

According to Action Fraud (the fraud and cybercrime reporting centre), online shopping scams rocketed by 33% between April 2020 and March 2021, with more than £2.3 billion lost by victims due to the fraudsters.

The criminal’s main aim is to tempt you to click on a link by sending an email with an amazing offer in it. It could even look like a retailer you know. But once clicked, this could load malware on to your device without you knowing. When you continue to shop online and use your credit card and passwords to access your accounts, the malware will be logging the information and sending it to the criminal.

You also need to watch out for phishing scams, which is when criminals trick you into handing over personal details online, which are then used to take over an account or commit identity theft.

Consumer group Which? reported that three in five of us had received texts from fake delivery companies over the past year. These messages often contain a link that takes you to a scam website where you may be warned of a failed parcel delivery and asked to pay a cost. Often the websites pretend to be trusted and reputable brands such as DPD, Royal Mail or FedEx.

To avoid being caught out, don’t click on links in SMS messages, especially if they say you have limited time to respond – this is a common tactic used by scammers to pressure you. Check the URL of the link to make sure it matches the company website address. Do not call the number provided and under no circumstances hand over personal information such as your card details.

Try to use different browsers for conducting your shopping and banking transactions. It doesn’t matter if you are using Microsoft Edge, Chrome or Safari. Just make sure you use one for any financial transactions and a different one for things like social media, games and general browsing.

When you hear Christmas cookies, you may think of a delicious baked treat with chocolate chips.

But in internet terms, cookies are little blocks of data that websites put on your device to store information about you. Cookie banners pop up every time we visit a website and most of us will click to accept without thinking.

But the cookies will track you as you browse and monitor certain information about you – for instance, what was in your shopping cart, or even your login details. Plus, over time they can slow down your device, and you’ll also find yourself hit with targeted ads based on your shopping preferences.

Cookies also pose a security threat because hackers can gain access to your browser sessions and use them to steal personal data.

Many people are unaware that they should edit the security settings within their browser to enable safer internet surfing. Regardless of which browser you use, each gives you options to disable cookies and block security risks such as malware that can sneak in through infected pop-ups, plug-ins and extensions, compromising your security.

Most shopping sites will require you to set up an account with a login name and password to make a purchase.

But how many of us have set up a complicated password and then totally forgotten it? Or ended up using the same trusted password for most of our accounts?

Worryingly, F-Secure found that 41% of people use the same password on multiple accounts and 56% have the same password with only small variations. This means that if your login details get stolen from one site, it’s likely that other accounts could also be targeted.

It is important to have strong and unique passwords for all your accounts and make sure you update these regularly.

To give your online account additional protection, you may also be able to turn on a two-factor authentication. So, for instance, when logging in to an account on your laptop, you may be required to input a code that comes to your mobile phone or tablet as a text.

Taking advantage of public WiFi to shop online while you’re chilling in your favourite coffee shop may seem like a convenient option. But try to avoid making purchases in public as you could end up compromising the safety of your data and information. Cyber criminals often target public WiFi hot spots to steal confidential information, such as passwords or credit card details.

If you must use public WiFi then consider using a good VPN service, which is a virtual private network that will secure your connection and hide your IP address from prying eyes.

When your device tells you it’s time to update your software, do it. This might result in slight changes to the user interface that take time to adapt to, but it will also ensure that you are not leaving gaping security holes for criminals to sneak into your digital life.

Your smartphone, tablet, PC and Mac are all means by which cyber criminals can steal from you. Protect your devices with a robust security product like Virgin Media Internet Security. Virgin Media Internet Security doesn’t just protect you from viruses. It also has additional features like banking and shopping protection, which helps to keep you safe from phishing sites by letting you know that you’ve landed on the trusted banking or shopping website.

Find out more about Virgin Media Internet Security

To give you and your family peace of mind to shop, bank and browse safely this Christmas, why not add Virgin Media Internet Security to all of the family’s smartphones, tablets or computers. You can try it obligation free for the first 3 months as payment details are taken at the end of the trial period. After that, it’s just £3 per month or £30 a year – saving you £140 on the normal RRP.

Register now for Virgin Media Internet Security and before you can say “Ho! Ho! Ho!” you’ll be protected and safe to shop online to your heart’s content.