{"id":82903,"date":"2017-12-04T09:00:08","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T17:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=82903"},"modified":"2025-08-13T22:56:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T05:56:29","slug":"protecting-personal-identity-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/privacy-identity-protection\/protecting-personal-identity-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Your Personal Identity During Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

December is finally upon us, which means the holidays are coming. While we\u2019ll all be thinking about others during this time, it\u2019s not selfish to be thinking about yourself when it comes to protecting your identity. The plethora of massive data breaches — and the millions of consumers they impact — remind us just how important this is. And with the holidays, the risk for identity fraud is only going to increase, since digitally connected consumers, who are likely to do their holiday shopping online, are 30% more likely to be a fraud victims, according to Javelin research.<\/p>\n

So, how exactly do you ensure your identity stays yours during the holiday season? While EMV or \u2018chipped\u2019 cards have been helping to reduce fraud at brick-and-mortar retail, undeterred fraudsters have focused their efforts online. In fact, they\u2019ve increased \u201ccard-not-present\u201d fraud<\/a> (which is when the customer does not physically present the card to the merchant during the fraudulent transaction) by 40% in 2016, according to Javelin research.<\/p>\n

Worse yet, Account Takeover fraud<\/a>, which is when a fraudster uses a victim\u2019s account information (e.g., a credit card number) to obtain products and services using that person\u2019s existing accounts, spiked by 61%. This just goes to show that fraudsters are the worst kind of innovators. And this also means that, with ever-increasing holiday gifts being purchased online, equipping yourself with identity theft protection tools is more important than ever.<\/p>\n

Best Security Practices<\/h2>\n

Therefore, as a savvy consumer, it\u2019s important to take a proactive approach to protecting your identity and it all starts with following these best practices:<\/p>\n