News poll: Overwhelming consensus to beef up security for holidays

YARMOUTH, Maine — The holidays are a time of large financial transactions, making it a prime target for fraud and theft, say the respondents to a recent SSN News Poll. 

Half of respondents say they support enabling two-factor authentication to protect online accounts and one-quarter say making purchases with a credit card with fraud protection are key precautions to take during the holiday season. The remaining respondents were split evenly between avoiding public Wi-Fi and monitoring financial accounts regularly. 

“It’s no secret that shopping ramps up during the holidays, but scams do too,” the North Carolina Department of Justice wrote. “Be careful about how and where you share information and beware of fraudulent retailers and organizations.” 

When it comes to protecting packages from porch pirates, respondents were split evenly at 37.5% each on scheduling delivery times for when someone is present in the home, and installing new security hardware, such as a new doorbell camera or standard security camera.  

Twenty five percent of respondents suggested using package lockers or secure pick-up locations, and none trusted their neighbors to collect their packages. 

Time of day may also provide insight into package theft, according to research conducted by the Brookings Institution, which found that, “shifting daylight from the morning to the early evening has pretty hefty returns for public safety.” 

“When DST begins in the spring, robbery rates for the entire day fall an average of 7 percent, with a much larger 27 percent drop during the evening hour that gained some extra sunlight,” it stated.