ROANOKE, Va. – E-commerce is ramping up on Cyber Monday, especially this year.
With more people at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more people may buy online, cyber security expert Luiz DaSilva said.
“I expect that since most of our lives are now lived online these days. We are going to see greater volume of shopping this Cyber Monday,” said DaSilva, the executive director of Commonwealth Cyber Initiative.
Before you rush to grab your credit card, DaSilva said you need to practice “cyber hygiene” to avoid getting scammed.
Avoid phishing scams by not clicking on unknown links, especially through emails.
When you are ready to buy, take a look at the address bar and make sure you see “https.”
This means when you type in your personal credit card information it will be encrypted. An added layer of protection the website is providing you.
“If you have access to a virtual private network that would be a more secure way to connect especially if you are in some public space,” DaSilva said.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the postal service is expecting an extra 20 to 30% of business on top of their normal flow this year in the district, according to USPS Appalachian District Spokesperson Tad Kelley.
“Traditionally the day after Thanksgiving is the beginning of the holiday mailing season,” Kelley said. “And from what we received today they did not disappoint.”
Kelley said to prepare for the heavy load they enhanced their scanner’s technology to track packages better.
Also, workers will now deliver seven days a week.
“On Sunday we can deliver a lot of these packages without your regular traditional mail and go into Monday clean in our units ready for another rush of packages, if you will,” Kelley said.