5 ways to safely shop online this holiday season

‘Tis the season for holiday shopping, and many of us are keeping an eye out for good deals, new trends and clever gift ideas online. But we also need to be on the lookout for something much less merry: cybercriminals, who are ringing in the season by targeting online holiday shoppers.

So we’re sharing five ways to help you safely shop on Google — including how to securely browse websites, protect your personal and payment information, and avoid scams and phishing attempts.

1. Guard your card information

Roughly a fourth of U.S. consumers have experienced credit card or identity theft when online shopping. One way to combat this is to use a virtual card number.

If you check out with autofill on Chrome with an eligible card, Google will give you the option to generate a unique virtual card number to process your transaction, while keeping your actual card number hidden and protected. You can do this when you’re shopping in person, too. If you store your card in Google Wallet, it’ll automatically generate a virtual card number that you can just tap to pay with everywhere Google Pay is accepted.

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